Extracting DNA of strawberries, observing your own cells under the Microscope or building “DNA strands” with gummy bears: The CeMM booths at the long night of science presented molecular medicine’s basics and methods in an interactive and playful way – especially to children.

On Friday, 22^nd of April, the seventh “long night of science” / “Lange Nacht der Forschung”, organized by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, took place all over Austria. In Vienna, CeMM was represented in two different places: The Ministry’s tent at the Heldenplatz, and the Medical University at the AKH campus. While in the first district the focus…

DNA damage frequently occurs during cell division, its repair is essential for survival for every organism. Scientists at CeMM have now discovered new mechanisms that maintain genetic material during cell division. Their study was published in Cell Reports and provides new potential approaches for cancer and Alzheimer's therapy. 

Reproducing is stressful, a fact well-known to all parents. Yet, it also applies to the smallest units of life: The cells. Each cell division requires a duplication of its entire genetic material, frequently resulting in damage to the enormous DNA molecules – the cell is experiencing "replication stress". In…

Giulio Superti-Furga, scientific director at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor of Medical Systems Biology at the Medical University of Vienna is to receive the Advanced Investigator Grant of the European Research Council ERC in the amount of approximately 2.5 million euro. The term for the prestigious grant is 5 years.

"ERC Grants are the most important promotions for life sciences in Europe. Unfortunately, the situation is becoming increasingly competitive due to budget cuts," says Giulio Superti-Furga who has built up and is leading CeMM at the campus of the Medical University…

On Tuesday, March 1, Rector Markus Müller, Vice Rector Michaela Fritz, and the CeMM Directors Giulio Superti-Furga and Anita Ender have signed a framework agreement which allows the mutual usage of specific infrastructure and further strengthens scientific collaborations and common projects.

CeMM’s research is strongly oriented towards medical needs and integrates research on fundamental biological processes with clinical expertise to gain new insights into human pathophysiology and develop innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The research focus is on cancer, inflammation, infection and metabolism. The Medical University of…

From 19^th to 20^th February 2016, rare and undiagnosed diseases were illuminated from many different angles with a terrific selection of speakers at the first Symposium of the Vienna Center for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (CeRUD).

In seven sessions, many important aspects of research, therapeutic options and international collaboration were covered. A rich and diverse poster session allowed insights into ongoing projects and the generous framework program provided an ideal occasion for exchange of the nearly 300 participants. On the previous day, William Gahl, Director of the Undiagnosed Diseases Program of the National Institute of Health…

“Thank you” to the organizers of the 2016 Science Ball and Dr. Michael Häupl for hosting the second Ball of Sciences in the City Hall of Vienna. It was again a wonderful event, which we hope will continue in 2017 and beyond. In Vienna, over 400 balls are staged each winter, and the Austrian ball culture has a long tradition. For CeMM, and our special guest, world-famous structural biologist Dr. Nieng Yan from the Tsinghua University in Bejing, it was a highlight of the ball season. It values our profession and the importance of science for society. 

We enjoyed very much and promise to come again!

Every human expresses a unique set of genes. This is a long known fact for “classic” protein-coding genes, but little was known about long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, that surprisingly outnumber protein-coding genes in the human genome. A new study, performed by CeMM researchers in collaboration with MUW researchers and published in “Genome Biology”, now shows that the expression state of lncRNA genes is more highly variable compared to protein-coding genes, between different individuals. As a result, human individuality can be seen more readily in the altered expression states of lncRNA genes than in proteins made by protein-coding genes.…

The pancreas is a crucial organ for eating behavior, digestion and metabolism and it plays a major role in the development of diabetes. In so called “Langerhans Islets”, specialized groups of cells precisely regulate blood sugar. But they are hard to study, only a few molecular markers are known to differentiate those pancreatic cell types. With the first single cell transcriptomes, established by Stefan Kubicek and Christoph Bock at CeMM, a new powerful tool for future investigations has been created to overcome those problems.

Their name is no coincidence: Cells of Langerhans-Islets are distributed throughout the pancreatic tissue in small…