Science networks
Research for health: Four examples of outstanding international projects with German participation
The cell is the key
LifeTime is a mammoth European project involving more than 120 scientists from 53 research institutions in 18 countries. Its goal is to gain a better understanding of the body’s individual cells – allowing conclusions to be drawn about the disease mechanisms of cell groups and organs. The researchers are particularly keen to understand the genome’s role in the ageing process and in the emergence of diseases. The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin and the Institut Curie in Paris are coordinating the initiative.
Seeking a drug to treat COVID-19
Analysing more than 8,000 chemical compounds with a view to assessing their possible efficacy in treating COVID-19 – that is the task for researchers at Necessity, a project being pursued by the Helmholtz-Zentrums Berlin (HZB), the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria and Palacký University Olomouc in the Czech Republic. They are using a high throughput method that allows a large number of promising compounds to be analysed simultaneously. Their objective is to obtain findings that will help in developing a drug to treat COVID-19.
Tuberculosis in focus
30 partners from 13 countries: researchers in the international consortium Academia and industry united innovation and treatment for tuberculosis, or UNITE4TB for short, are working on low-cost treatments for tuberculosis and on further developing existing drugs. The LMU Hospital in Munich and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) are the German institutions that are taking part.
Understanding images
Analysing microscopic images of tissue – be it from ill or healthy individuals – can be difficult and time-consuming. The project “Essential Open Source Software for Science”, in which not only researchers from the Technische Universität (TU) Dresden but also scientists from France and the United Kingdom are involved, is hoping to improve the situation by developing methods that are accessible to users with no knowledge of programming.
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