20.11.2024 Life Science Technologies 36 million euros for research into organoids, microorganisms and materials

The Carl Zeiss Foundation is funding six interdisciplinary research groups on the use of organoids and synthetic biomaterials and organisms in medicine. The teams will receive a total of 36 million euros over the next six years. Three projects are researching the possibilities of more targeted placement of drugs using nanoparticles, microorganisms or synthetic biomaterials. Three projects are concerned with the analysis and reproducibility of complex organoids, artificially produced miniature versions of human organs.

All six project teams convinced the expert reviewers in a two-stage competitive process. The projects will start between January and April 2025.

"A more precise analysis of disease patterns and the targeted placement of drugs can open up new therapeutic approaches," Dr. Felix Streiter, Managing Director of the foundation, is convinced. "In particular, collaboration in interdisciplinary teams of computer scientists, engineers, physicians, biologists and chemists opens up great opportunities for personalized medicine."

Three such research teams in Heidelberg, Ilmenau and Tübingen are investigating the use of organoids. These are miniature versions of human organs that are produced from cells with stem cell potential. They enable the investigation of complex diseases by, among other things, representing the interactions of cells in three-dimensional space. Three other research teams in Mainz and Jena are investigating the use of synthetic biomaterials and organisms for the targeted placement of drugs. This could increase therapeutic success and significantly reduce side effects, for example in cancer therapy. In addition to synthetic biomaterials and processes, the teams are also relying on mathematical modeling methods and AI models.

Further information on the individual research projects can be found in the project overview for the "Synthetics" call on our website.