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zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de
ZMBH
@zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de
The ZMBH - the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University - is a center for research and higher education in molecular biology and biomedicine. Our research aims at fundamental questions of molecular biology.
Congratulations to former ZMBH Research Group Leader & Professor Dirk Görlich on receiving the 2025 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for work that he and his team started when working at ZMBH. laskerfoundation.org/winners/stru...
Structures and functions of low-complexity domains - Lasker Foundation
For their discovery of the two distinct classes of lymphocytes, B and T cells – a monumental achievement that provided the organizing principle of the adaptive immune system and launched the course of...
laskerfoundation.org
October 30, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The Duarte Campos lab has developed a novel protocol for the differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells into corneal stromal keratocytes. These findings have been published in Advanced Healthcare Materials:

doi.org/10.1002/adhm...
3D Differentiation of Bone‐Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells into the Keratocyte Lineage for Corneal Bioprinting
This study introduces a novel differentiation protocol for generating corneal stromal keratocyte-like cells using drop-on-demand bioprinting and a collagen-based hydrogel. The bioprinted constructs m...
doi.org
August 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
@kaessmannlab.bsky.social has for the first time shown in an international collaboration, that survival of male birds crucially depends on a micro RNA for sex chromosome dosage compensation. The paper just has been published by Nature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A male-essential miRNA is key for avian sex chromosome dosage compensation - Nature
Birds have evolved a unique sex chromosome dosage compensation mechanism involving the male-biased microRNA (miR-2954), which is essential for male survival by regulating the expression of dosage-sens...
www.nature.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Congratulations to Claudio Joazeiro @labjoazeiro.bsky.social being awarded an ERC Advanced Grant @erc.europa.eu. He is one of five scientists from @uniheidelberg.bsky.social who were successful in this round.

www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/...
#ERCAdG #uniheidelberg #Universität #heidelberg
Valuable Funding for Five Researchers at Universität Heidelberg
www.uni-heidelberg.de
June 20, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by ZMBH
50 Years of Cell Biology: German Society for Cell Biology Meeting, October 26 – 29, 2025 | Heidelberg, Germany
Early bird registration deadline: June 15, 2025
June 3, 2025 at 4:33 AM
The ZMBH welcomes Daniel Schindler @danielschindler.bsky.social as new Professor in Microbiology joining us from Marburg's Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology.
May 13, 2025 at 3:53 PM
ZMBH research group leader Henrik Kaessmann @kaessmannlab.bsky.social has given a talk on the origin of humans for a general audience. This presentation is available on YouTube (in German): www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuYl...
Henrik Kaessmann: Der Ursprung des Menschen – ein Unfall der Evolution?
YouTube video by DAI Heidelberg
www.youtube.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
There is a German language video of a TV discussion on "Biology From the Building Block" in which ZMBH's Kerstin Goepfrich @kgoepfrich.bsky.social was one of the two invided experts: www.3sat.de/wissen/scobe...
Biologie aus dem Baukasten
Ingenieure, Informatiker, Chemiker und Biologen kreieren künstliche biologische Systeme. Die synthetische Biologie verändert die Zukunft und definiert die Grenzen der Wissenschaft neu.
www.3sat.de
April 24, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Another study has been published in Nat. Commun. by @pfeffercryolab.bsky.social. Collaborative work with @sergeymelnikov.bsky.social and @chillzaa.bsky.social from the UK looking at structural ribosome heterogeneity in bacteria and if this has an impact on function:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structurally heterogeneous ribosomes cooperate in protein synthesis in bacterial cells - Nature Communications
Cells can simultaneously produce structurally dissimilar ribosomes, suggesting functional specialization of distinct ribosome populations. Here, the authors show that distinct ribosomes cooperate rath...
www.nature.com
March 21, 2025 at 11:18 AM
The Goepfrich lab @kgoepfrich.bsky.social yesterday published the creation of cytoskeleton-like structures with different properties inside lipid vesicles using RNA origami: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genetic encoding and expression of RNA origami cytoskeletons in synthetic cells - Nature Nanotechnology
This study introduces RNA origami nanotubes as self-assembling cytoskeleton mimics for synthetic cells. Expressed in vesicles from DNA templates, these RNA structures reach micrometre lengths, deform ...
www.nature.com
March 18, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Work from ZMBH's @pfeffercryolab.bsky.social & the Schiebel lab togehter with the Gruss lab @unibonn.bsky.social reveals the structural mechanisms for centrosomal recruitment and organization of the human microtubule nucleator γ-TuRC: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structural mechanisms for centrosomal recruitment and organization of the microtubule nucleator γ-TuRC - Nature Communications
The γ-TuRC plays a central role for nucleation of microtubules at the centrosome. Here, the authors dissect structural mechanisms for centrosomal recruitment and regulation of the γ-TuRC and identify ...
www.nature.com
March 18, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Today's Science paper by @kaessmannlab.bsky.social and two additional papers in the same iusse analyze the development of complex neural circuits in reptiles, birds, and mammals. These studies suggest that observed similarities result of evolutionary convergence. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Developmental origins and evolution of pallial cell types and structures in birds
Innovations in the pallium likely facilitated the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities in birds. We therefore scrutinized its cellular composition and evolution using cell type atlases from chick...
www.science.org
February 14, 2025 at 10:11 AM
We are recruiting a Full Professor in Molecular Biology with a focus on Biological Engineering. Details can be read up in the advertisement on Nature Careers. Please share with researchers who are active in this field.
go.nature.com/41IHN0i
Full Professorship (W3) in Molecular Biology (f/m/d) with a Focus on Biological Engineering - 69117, Heidelberg (DE) job with Universität Heidelberg | 12834054
The Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung Center for Synthetic Genomics (CZS Center SynGen), and th...
go.nature.com
January 8, 2025 at 9:42 AM