Press release - 28/07/2025 New Max Planck Center with South Korea deepens biomedical research Scientists at the Max Planck Institutes for Medical Research in Heidelberg with its new departments based in Heilbronn, and for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar in Bonn, and at the Institute for Basic Science at Yonsei University in Seoul will pool their expertise in future. The aim of the new Max Planck Center is to visualize cellular processes deep within human tissue and influence them in a targeted manner — without damaging the tissue.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-max-planck-center-south-korea-deepens-biomedical-research
Press release - 22/07/2025 Colorectal cancer in type 2 diabetes: An insightful look into the microenvironment of tumors Diabetics have a higher risk of colorectal cancer and often a poorer prognosis after developing the disease. The biological mechanisms behind this association were largely unknown. A research team at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) has now discovered that tumors with a low number of immune cells appear to be particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of diabetes. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/colorectal-cancer-type-2-diabetes-insightful-look-microenvironment-tumors
Press release - 21/07/2025 Cancer Cachexia: Liver Identified as Driver of Body Wasting Many people with cancer experience dramatic loss of muscle and fat tissue. In many cases, even the heart muscle is affected. This wasting syndrome, affects around half of all cancer patients. Researchers from Helmholtz Munich, in collaboration with Heidelberg University Hospital, the Technical University of Munich, and the German Center for Diabetes Research, have now identified a previously overlooked driver of cachexia: the liver. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cancer-cachexia-liver-identified-driver-body-wasting
Press release - 15/07/2025 Mapping the metabolism of blood stem cells Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg and ETH Zürich have created the first integrated map detailing the metabolic and molecular changes in human blood stem cells as they age, specialize, or turn cancerous. Their innovative research, made possible by highly sensitive low-input techniques, identifies the nutrient choline, as a key player in preserving youthful stem cell traits. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/mapping-metabolism-blood-stem-cells
Press release - 09/07/2025 The evolution of cancer cells decoded Cancer can take decades for cancer-promoting changes in the genome to eventually lead to the formation of a malignant tumor. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center have now developed a method that allows for the first time to reconstruct the temporal development—the evolution—of cancerous cells from a single tissue sample. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/evolution-cancer-cells-decoded
Press release - 25/06/2025 Otto Hahn Medal for Jonas Wilhelm For his outstanding achievements in his doctorate at the interface between chemistry and biology, Jonas Wilhelm is awarded an Otto Hahn Medal 2025 by the Max Planck Society. He wrote his thesis in the department Chemical Biology of Kai Johnsson at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research. In his doctorate, Jonas Wilhelm developed a molecular tool, a biosensor that records and permanently stores biological activities at the cellular level.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/otto-hahn-medal-jonas-wilhelm
Press release - 13/05/2025 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Research Dr Dr Varun Venkataramani and Dr Moritz Mall have been awarded this year’s Hella Bühler Prize for their outstanding research on the interaction between nerve and tumor cells and on tumor plasticity. The award granted by Heidelberg University goes to young researchers from the Heidelberg research location who have already drawn attention to themselves through the outstanding scientific quality of their cancer research. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/award-outstanding-contributions-cancer-research
Press release - 12/05/2025 NMI expertise for new VDI guideline on bioprinting - now available VDI Guideline 5708 “Bioprinting, methods and definitions”: What sounds technical and sober at first glance is an important step forward in the future field of 3D bioprinting. The guideline was developed under Dr. Hanna Hartmann from the NMI in Reutlingen and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Groll from the University Hospital of Würzburg. It creates a binding, practical basis for reproducible and quality-assured bioprinting procedures.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/nmi-expertise-new-vdi-guideline-bioprinting-now-available
Press release - 02/04/2025 New antibiotic for multidrug resistant superbug Researchers from the universities in Konstanz and Vienna discover a new class of antibiotic that selectively targets Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhoea. These substances trigger a self-destruction program, which also operates in multi-resistant variants of the pathogen. The novel findings are published in the current issue of Nature Microbiology.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-antibiotic-multidrug-resistant-superbug
Press release - 17/03/2025 RNA Origami: Artificial Cytoskeletons to Build Synthetic Cells With the goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses RNA biomolecule to fold new building blocks, making protein synthesis superfluous. In pursuit of the artificial cell, a research team has cleared a crucial hurdle. Using the new RNA origami technique, they succeeded in producing nanotubes that fold into cytoskeleton-like structures.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/rna-origami-artificial-cytoskeletons-build-synthetic-cells
Press release - 06/03/2025 New insights into the cellular mechanism of action of psilocybin A recent study by the Hector Institute for Translational Brain Research at the CIMH provides the first cellular insights into how psilocin promotes the growth and networking of human nerve cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-insights-cellular-mechanism-action-psilocybin
Press release - 05/03/2025 Frank Winkler receives the Brain Prize 2025 This year, the Brain Prize worth more than one million euros, honors pioneering work on nervous system-cancer interactions: Neurologist Frank Winkler, who researches at the Heidelberg University and at the German Cancer Research Center and treats patients with brain tumors at the Heidelberg University Hospital, discovered that nerve cells in the brain communicate with brain tumor cells. This causes the disease to progress.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/frank-winkler-receives-brain-prize-2025
Press release - 25/02/2025 Self-healing hearts How Zebrafish regenerate heart muscle cells Zebrafish can completely replace damaged heart muscle cells: The affected organ becomes fully functional again. Researchers at Ulm University have discovered that a specific cell-to-cell communication signal helps them to cope better with replication stress. This stress inhibits tissue regeneration in humans and mammals as they age. In Zebrafish a signalling protein ensures that the cells of the damaged organ continue to divide and thus multiply.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/self-healing-hearts-how-zebrafish-regenerate-heart-muscle-cells
Press release - 13/02/2025 Guardian molecule keeps cells on track – new perspectives for the treatment of liver cancer A guardian molecule ensures that liver cells do not lose their identity. The discovery is of great importance for cancer medicine because a change of identity of cells has come into focus as a fundamental principle of carcinogenesis for several years. The research team was able to show that the newly discovered guardian is so powerful that it can slow down highly potent cancer drivers and cause malignant liver tumors to regress in mice.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/guardian-molecule-keeps-cells-track-new-perspectives-treatment-liver-cancer
Press release - 07/02/2025 Spliceosome: How cells avoid errors when manufacturing mRNA The spliceosome, ensures that the genetic information from the genome, after being transcribed into mRNA precursors, is correctly assembled into mature mRNA. Splicing is a basic requirement for producing proteins. Researchers at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have succeeded for the first time in depicting a faultily “blocked” spliceosome at high resolution and reconstructing how it is recognized and eliminated in the cell. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/spliceosome-how-cells-avoid-errors-when-manufacturing-mrna
Press release - 07/01/2025 Researchers have a better understanding of how our cells dispose of waste while developing ways to control it A research team from Freiburg and Frankfurt has discovered how cells recognise and internally break down waste. The results are relevant for the development of therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/researchers-have-better-understanding-how-our-cells-dispose-waste-while-developing-ways-control-it
Press release - 09/12/2024 Brain tumour cells rapidly integrate into brain-wide neuronal circuits Researchers at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg University Hospital have used modified rabies viruses to label glioblastoma tumour cells and their direct cell contacts in the mouse brain. The new method showed that the tumour cells are connected to different types of nerve cells throughout the entire brain at a very early stage of the disease. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/brain-tumour-cells-rapidly-integrate-brain-wide-neuronal-circuits
Press release - 28/11/2024 Molecular biology: New interdisciplinary Research Training Group investigates cellular regulation Cell division, cell differentiation, cell repair and cell death play fundamental roles in the human organism, its development, health and reproduction. Cellular transformation processes are governed by two regulatory mechanisms: chromatin modifications and cell signaling networks. The EpiSignal Research Training Group sheds light on the hitherto little-researched interplay between these two complex systems.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/molecular-biology-new-interdisciplinary-research-training-group-investigates-cellular-regulation
Press release - 26/11/2024 Collaborative research centres on kidney and brain prolonged On 25 November, the German Research Foundation (DFG) announced the continued funding of two existing Collaborative Research Centres (CRC) at the University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Medicine. In CRC 1453 Nephrogenetics (NephGen), doctors and researchers are using genetic information to search for mechanisms underlying kidney diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/collaborative-research-centres-kidney-and-brain-prolonged
Press release - 05/11/2024 How biomedical innovation improves preclinical research 3D tumor models, simulations of drug responses or plant stems used for testing heart stents: the 3R-BioMedicUS center at the University of Stuttgart is developing innovative biomedical approaches to improve preclinical studies, to be seen in the new video.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/how-biomedical-innovation-improves-preclinical-research
Press release - 05/11/2024 Heidelberg scientist receives highly endowed EC synergy grant Heidelberg scientist Dr Venera Weinhardt has received an ERC Synergy Grant for a pioneering biomedical research project. The European Research Council (ERC) is granting this funding to advance soft X-ray microscopy. This imaging technique along with other innovations will be used to investigate the hepatitis E virus. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/heidelberg-scientist-receives-highly-endowed-ec-synergy-grant
Press release - 30/10/2024 Diabetes switch in DNA: Non-coding region in the genome influences ONECUT1 gene They are underestimated genetic control elements: it is known that changes in the genome can trigger diabetes. But now researchers at the University Hospital Ulm and the INSERM Cochin Institute in Paris have shown that a previously under-researched region of the genome also plays a crucial role in the development of this disease. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/diabetes-switch-dna-non-coding-region-genome-influences-onecut1-gene
Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases - 25/09/2024 Proinflammatory regulatory T lymphocytes as a therapeutic target in Crohn's disease Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases are very stressful for those affected and increase the risk of bowel cancer. PD Dr. Robyn Laura Kosinsky from the Bosch Health Campus in Stuttgart, together with researchers from the USA, identified disfunctional regulatory T cells as important drivers of inflammation in Crohn's disease. They also found that with the help of an epigenetically active drug, it was possible to restore the cells’ original…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/proinflammatory-regulatory-t-lymphocytes-therapeutic-target-crohns-disease
Press release - 05/09/2024 Cohesion at the cellular level: flexible yet stable Research teams from the Universities of Konstanz and Potsdam are analyzing how proteins work together to enable our cells to both stick and move. The marker protein paxillin is at the centre of their interest.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cohesion-cellular-level-flexible-yet-stable
Press release - 04/09/2024 Epigenetic changes reprogram astrocytes into brain stem cells With mice, researchers showed that experimentally induced lack of blood flow in the brain epigenetically reprograms astrocytes into brain stem cells, which in turn can give rise to nerve progenitor cells. This discovery shows that astrocytes could potentially be used in regenerative medicine to replace damaged nerve cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/epigenetic-changes-reprogram-astrocytes-brain-stem-cells