A new study examines how individuality develops

Dresden/Berlin, Germany. May 10, 2013 – How do organisms evolve into individuals that are distinguished from others by their own personal brain structure and behavior? Scientists in Dresden, Berlin, Münster, and Saarbrücken have now taken a decisive step towards clarifying this question. Using mice as an animal model, they were able to show that individual experiences influence the development of new neurons, leading to measurable changes in the brain. The results of this study are published in Science on May 10th. The DFG-Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden - Cluster of Excellence at the TU Dresden (CRTD), the Dresden site of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin played a pivotal role in the study. English Press Release

The “Ernst-Friedrich-Pfeiffer-Preis” from the „Deutsche Diabetes Gesellschaft“ (DDG) was awarded this year to the Dresden researcher Dr. Stephan Speier. He is research group leader at the DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (PLID), and member of the Competence Network Diabetes mellitus. The aim of the award is to recognize and promote junior researchers and their work in the field of cause and treatment of diabetes type 1. It is endowed with 10,000 Euro. German Press Release

During the information day of the “Zentrum für seltene Erkrankungen“ (ZSE – Center for random deseases) in Tübingen on April 27, 2013, the group of Dr. Marius Ader informed more than 350 visitors about the current research results for developing regenerative cell therapies in retinitis pigmentosa. The scientists of the CRTD did not only bring special glasses to Baden-Württemberg but also the walk-in eyeball which demonstrates the gradual process from visual impairment through to blindness. About 30,000 to 40,000 people in Germany suffer from inherited retinal diseases, which destroy light-sensitive cells in eyes.
The Dresden research group was invited by the Tübingen researcher Prof. Eberhard Zrenner, who is currently testing the first fully functioning electronic retinal prosthesis with blind people in order to give them back a part of their lost sight. At the CRTD Dr. Marius Ader produces in vitro retinal stem cells and progenitor cells in order to implant them in damaged retinas. Among other things, his research group is investigating the ability of these regenerated cells to replace the functions of the lost light-sensitive cells.

For the first time a German-Spanish research team has succeeded not only to increase the number of neurons but also to fold an unincisive cerebral cortex in a mammalian brain. The research groups of Dr. Federico Calegari, DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden – Cluster of Excellence of the TU Dresden (CRTD), and Dr. Víctor Borrell, Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante and Universidad Miguel Hernández, have discovered a mechanism for initiating and stopping the process of folding. The wrinkles and furrows extend the brain surface and thus automatically the number of neurons which are located there. The results have been published recently in “The EMBO Journal” (DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2013.96). German Press Release

In the summer term 2013, the CRTD offers together with the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden (BIOTEC) and the B CUBE – Center for Molecular Bioengineering five talks during for the Dresden Seniors Academy. The talks take place in the CRTD, Fetscherstraße 105, 01307 Dresden – always Wednesdays from 10.00 to 11.30 am. Seniors will have to apply at the Seniors Academy to participate.

More than 500 doctors and medical staff, working in stem cell therapy, will meet from March 14th-16th, 2013 at the 17th annual symposium of the Interdisciplinary Group for Lab and Flow Cytometry (IGLD) in Dresden. The symposium is a forum to exchange ideas about new processes, applications, laws, and principles. This time, the organizers invited explicitly basic researchers in the area of regenerative medicine, transplantation diagnostics, and stem cell research. Next to the talks, the more than 60 speakers present also practical clinical applications like stem cell preparations for leukemia.  After the two day symposium, there are workshops offered on the third day. Co-Organizer is the CRTD, in which building the symposium will take place.

See German Press Release

On April 25 2013 from 2 to 3:30pm, the DFG Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden and the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden are opening their doors for science interested girls from grade 5. Working in life sciences, like biology, is very diverse. You can work as a scientist, or a technician in a lab. Several services, like microscopy or cell sorting are supporting science and are an option for career as well. As a student you are included in the lab work from the beginning. In a tour through the institute you can see the labs and you can ask our scientists lots of questions. Are you interested? Then register here on the website of the Girls’ Day! We are looking forward to your visit.

Sumeyye Tuncel is the first student to graduate in the CRTD/BIOTEC Master’s Program „Regenerative Biology and Medicine”. The program started in winter term 2010. She successfully defended her Master’s thesis titled “Investigating role of enteroviral infection in type 1 diabetes” on February 26th, 2013. In her thesis, which was accomplished in the lab of CRTD professor Ezio Bonifacio, Sumeyye investigated the role of viruses that have long been considered as one potential environmental factor that may cause this disease. Recently, Sumeyye received a scholarship from the Association of Friends and Sponsors of TU Dresden e.V. for her exceptional student performance.

A discussion forum on February 4th in the CRTD offered a lively conversation on "Women Careers in Science". The Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was discussing in an interactive panel with Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Knust (Vice-president DFG, Director Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, MPI-CBG), Dr. Caren Norden (Groupleader, MPI-CBG), and Peggy Jungke (PhD student, CRTD) career options of women in science, especially in regards of balance between family and career. About 120 scientists participated in the forum where everyone was able to ask their questions.
Prof. Nüsslein-Volhard can look back onto a long series of breakthrough discoveries in science, using Drosophila and Zebrafish as model organisms. For her research on the genetic control of embryonic development she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1995 and numerous other prices. Throughout this time, she was a pioneer and role model as a leading female scientist.

The „EYEnovative Förderpreis“ of the Novartis Pharma GmbH was awarded this year to Dr. Mike O. Karl, research group leader at the CRTD and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). The prize is endowed with 50.000 Euros and was granted to the neuroscientist for a research project together with Prof. Edmund Koch, from the area Medical Physics and Biomedical Technology of the Medical faculty Carl Gustav Carus. The „EYEnovative Förderpreis“ funds innovative projects that promote a better understanding for diseases of the retina and have the potential to be the basis for novel therapies. Dr. Karl and his team managed to stimulate the regeneration of neuronal cells in the retina of the mouse, which is very similar to the human one – although only in low amounts so far. In the funded project,  Mike O. Karl and Edmund Koch will develop methods that allow to better explore the fast growth and proliferation of  Müller Glia  as well as oedema in the diseased retina.

See German Press Release

Three master students of the master’s courses „Molecular Bioengineering“ at the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden (BIOTEC) and „Regenerative Biology and Medicine“ at the BIOTEC and CRTD can be happy about a Deutschlandstipendium in 2013. Two students in the first term and one student in the third term receive 300 Euros monthly. Half of the funding is financed by the German government and the other half by private sponsors. For the students at the BIOTEC and the CRTD, the private sponsors are the Bayer Science and Education Foundation, the Schaufler Foundation, and the Association of Friends and Sponsors of TU Dresden e.V.  In total, there are 333 scholarships in the framework of the Deutschlandstipendium  at the TU Dresden. The funded students have extraordinary previous study achievements and are socially engaged. Already last year, there was a master student at the BIOTEC, who received the funding of the Deutschlandstipendium.

The projekt „Science goes to School“ sends international PhD students to Dresden schools and promotes in that way science and tolerance. For it, the „Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft“ is awarding the Hochschulperle for the month January 2013. This award is aimed at innovative and exemplary projects, which are realized at a university. In the project „Science goes to School“, young scientists from the area biology and bioengineering offer workshops with experiments in English. The PhD students of the Dresden International PhD Program (DIPP) want to interest pupils in scientific questions and strengthen at the same time their competence in dealing with other cultures and nations.

German Press Release.