In severe COVID-19 cases, neutrophils work around the clock

Scientists were able to track over time what happens in molecular biology from the onset of infection to organ damage

19-Jun-2024 - The course of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections depends not only on how aggressive the virus is, but also on the immune response of the infected individual. Using single-cell analyses, a group of researchers led by Samantha Praktiknjo of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), Markus ...

AI analysis of cancer mutations may improve therapy

"A single test tells us something about the cellular mechanisms involved in cancer formation"

27-Jan-2023 - Combining single-cell data with a self-learning algorithm reveals how structural changes in chromosomes can trigger cancer. This new method could pave the way for personalized cancer treatments, writes a team led by Ashley Sanders in “Nature Biotechnology”. Cancer has many faces – no wonder, ...

Tracking RNA through space and time

Completely new avenues for studying such things as the mechanism of action of drug therapies

10-Jun-2021 - A research team at the MDC has succeeded in tracking genes through space and time within a one-cell zebrafish embryo – even before cell division occurs. They have now described a method in the journal “Nature Communications” that may one day allow scientists to measure cell response to drugs, for ...

3D maps of gene activity

22-Nov-2019 - A three-dimensional computer model enables scientists to quickly determine which genes are active in which cells, and their precise location within an organ. A team led by Nikolaus Rajewsky, Berlin, and Nir Friedman, Jerusalem, has published the new method and their insights gained from this in ...

FLAM-seq: the full picture of messenger RNA and their tails

19-Aug-2019 - Researchers in MDC’sBerlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology(BIMSB)have developed atoolenablingaccurate sequencing ofmessenger RNA along withtheirtails for the first time.ProfessorNikolausRajewskyand his team described this new tool, called full-length poly(A) and mRNA ...

Reconstructing life at its beginning, cell by cell

04-Sep-2017 - In a technological tour de force, Berlin scientists have created a virtual model of an early fly embryo. Its interactive interface allows researchers to explore the blueprint that underlies development at unprecedented spatial resolution and predict which cells express which genes. After 13 rapid ...