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As a child, Christian Hackenberger really wanted to be a tennis pro or a pianist. His teachers at the time did not really support his goals. So it happened that he became a chemist, also following the example of his parents.
Today he works at the Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin and is a professor of chemical biology at Humboldt University. For him, as he says, a development of which he is “extremely happy”. Or perhaps a happy turning point for society as a whole.
Because Hackenberger is working on protein-based therapies that rely on chemical modification and cellular release of antibodies against cancer and viral infections. Highlights of his work include the development of an inhibitor against human influenza and avian flu, as well as safer next-generation antibody-drug compounds.
Combine the best of chemistry and biology
The corona pandemic has shown that new therapies are urgently needed. Hackenberger’s approach: “Combine the best of chemistry and biology to develop new processes from them.” The biochemist wants to use chemistry, for example, to make cancer chemotherapy more tolerable.
To do this, the chemotherapy drug molecules are bound to an antibody, so to speak, piggyback, which carries the cancer-directed substance directly to where it is needed in the cell. “Like a sniffer dog that finds its target,” explains the scientist. With such a focused approach, the chemotherapy poison ultimately no longer damages normal tissues. “Good news for cancer patients,” is Hackenberger’s own assessment.
It also uses coronavirus procedures
It is also developing a similar approach to fight viral diseases. Here, the antibodies are attached to the envelopes of the virus using a kind of molecular superglue to block the flu virus.
“This already works very well with the flu, now we are working hard to be able to use such a method against the coronavirus,” says the biochemist.
Jury: Fascinating idea, huge potential
Christian Hackenberger’s scientific work is one of ten proposals out of a total of 900 that will be recognized as turning point of the year at this Monday’s Falling Walls Conference.
The jury concluded that the central idea of Hackenberger’s work, awarded in the “Life Science” category for his work “Next Generation Biopharmaceuticals”, is “fascinating”: the theoretical approach is great and the potential for therapy Cancer and Huge Viral Infection Prevention.
The scientific “discoveries” will be announced on 9 November, the anniversary of the breakthrough of the Berlin Wall. The goal is to clarify that science is synonymous with dismantling walls, as explained by the president of the foundation board of the Falling Walls foundation Jürgen Mlynek. The conference took place as part of the Berlin Science Week.
The following six other discoveries the organizers announced on Sunday:
Margaret Levi from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Science at Stanford University in the “Social Sciences and Humanities” category for his work on the “Community of Fate”.
Mikhail Eremets of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, in the category “Physical Science” for his work “Room-Temperature Superconductivity”.
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg by Studio Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, London, in the “Science in the Arts” category for her work “Machine Auguries”.
Chrystina Russell of Southern New Hampshire University in the “Digital Education” category for his work “Refugee Education”.
Jacob Friis Sherson from Aarhus University in the category “Science and Innovation Management” for his work “Hybrid Intelligence”.
Text Sitti of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, in the “Engineering and Technology” category for his work “Wireless Medical Robots Inside Our Body”.
Discoveries in emerging talent, science start-ups and science engagement initiatives will be announced today at the Grand Finale. All 600 short presentations of the finalists in the competition, which this year took place exclusively online, can also be viewed on the website after the conference.
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