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Possible SARS-CoV-2 mass testing with new technology

Prof. Dr. Jonathan Schmid-Burgk heads the new working group for "Functional Immunogenomics" at the Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital Bonn. As part of the newly established professorship and management position, the 34-year-old genome researcher is investigating the complex interplay between genes and our immune system. With the help of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), he is developing new techniques for protein analysis in living human cells with programmable gene scissors. The aim is to accelerate the modification of the human genome in order to analyze it. Prof. Schmid-Burgk is currently working on a mass test for COVID-19 using the LAMP-Seq process he developed. He brings his new techniques to the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation at the University of Bonn. Following his doctorate, for which he received the doctoral award from the Bonn University Society in 2017, his previous academic career led Prof. Schmid-Burgk to Cambridge (USA). There he spent three and a half years researching at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard - funded by a grant from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

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New insights into the human immune defense against poxviruses

An international research team involving Bonn scientist has made an important contribution to understanding the human immune response to poxviruses: The scientists were able to show for the first time that different human cell types recognize poxviruses via different sensors in order to trigger inflammatory responses. At the same time, the team developed the world's first nanobodies that can specifically block the DNA sensor AIM2 – a tool that opens up new possibilities for inflammation and infection research. The paper has now been published in The EMBO Journal.
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Multiple Sclerosis: Potential biomarker linked to progression and brain inflammation identified

Better ways to detect ongoing brain damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) are urgently needed. An international team of scientists, including ImmunoSensation³ member Prof. Anne-Katrin Pröbstel, has identified a molecular circuit that drives brain injury in MS. In a mouse model, blocking the enzyme Bruton's tyrosine kinase prevented harmful clustering of immune cell and brain tissue demage. Patient data revealed the same immune signaling pattern, suggesting strong translational potential for diagnosis. The study was recently published in Nature Immunology.
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Instructions for building antibodies decoded

MOG Antibody-associated Disease (MOGAD) is a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. The blood of patients contains antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a protein in the myelin layer that surrounds the neurons in the brain. It is believed that these antibodies contribute to the destruction of this protective layer in the brain. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Universities of Basel and Bonn, in collaboration with an international team, have now deciphered the construction plan of the anti-MOG antibodies.
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