Red biotechnology

Can Aztekin and his team have discovered how oxygen-sensing explains why amphibians regenerate limbs and mammals do not.

Photoimmunotherapy - 09/04/2026

Switching off tumours with light: how photons can be used to target prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in Germany. Relapses and the harsh side effects of traditional treatments remain a major challenge, even with advanced surgical techniques. At the University of Freiburg, Dr. Wolf is pioneering the development of photoimmunotherapy. Photoimmunotherapy combines light, antibodies and a specialised dye to precisely target tumour cells - simultaneously 'waking up' the immune system.

For over a decade, a class of drugs called BET inhibitors has been tested in cancer trials with high expectations. The biology looked promising. Many cancers depend on oncogenes that (BET) proteins help activate, so blocking BET proteins should slow tumor growth. In the lab, it often did. In patients, results were mostly disappointing: limited responses, significant side effects, and no clear way to predict which tumors would respond at all.

Researchers in Freiburg have found a way to selectively replace defective immune cells in the blood vessels of the brain using an animal model. This is an important first step towards cell therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Immunology.

Proof-of-concept study of organoid technology - 26/03/2026

Can organoids improve the treatment of pancreatic cancer?

A clinical trial called UNITEPANC is exploring whether organoid-based approaches can improve the treatment of pancreatic cancer. BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg spoke with the study’s principal investigator and pancreatic cancer specialist, Prof. Dr. Thomas Seufferlein of University Hospital Ulm, to discuss the disease more broadly along with the specific aims of the trial. The interview was conducted by Walter Pytlik on behalf of BIOPRO.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in mapping the organization of immune cells in human lymph nodes. The study was led by scientists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf University Hospital, the DKFZ, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) in Berlin. They were able to demonstrate why the architecture of healthy lymph nodes is altered in malignant lymphomas.

In ovarian cancer, immunotherapies using checkpoint inhibitors have so far been effective in only a small number of patients. Researchers at the HI-TRON Mainz* have now discovered that lipid metabolism processes in the tumor microenvironment play a decisive role in how well such therapies work. The findings open up new avenues for using immunotherapies in a more targeted manner, increasing their effectiveness, and overcoming resistance.

Traumatic brain injuries often lead to complications with long-lasting consequences on memory, concentration and movement control. Detrimental secondary inflammatory reactions at the injured tissue sites are often responsible for this. Researchers from Ulm have now shown that a transcription factor plays a key role in reactions to TBI. When this gene regulator is activated, an elevated neuroimmune response promotes inflammation.

Why does heart function often continue to deteriorate after a heart attack, even though blood flow has been restored? A research team from the DZHK sites Heidelberg and North has now identified an important mechanism: an inflammatory switch in cardiomyocytes can impair cellular energy production and thereby drive the development of heart failure. The results were published in Nature Communications.

In the earliest phase of creating human proteins, the protein complex NAC performs an essential task by starting the first steps towards folding proteins into their correct three-dimensional structures. This discovery was made by an international research team led by scientists from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University.

The Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute for Clinical Pharmacology (IKP) at the Bosch Health Campus in Stuttgart is leading Europe’s first EU project to systematically integrate pharmacogenomics into molecular tumor boards (MTB). The goal of PGxMTB is to systematically incorporate patients’ genetic factors into treatment decisions, thereby making cancer therapies safer and more effective.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) belong to a spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases with overlapping symptoms. Many patients have a common hallmark: A protein called TDP-43 clumps together in the neurons of the brain to form tiny lumps. Researchers at DZNE and Ulm University Hospital, together with international experts, have now discovered that these pathological changes primarily affect certain cells.