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Reliable and gentler control of cell activity with light: Göttingen researchers from the Multiscale Bioimaging (MBExC) Cluster of Excellence and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies (EKFZ OT) at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) are developing a light-sensitive protein that can restore sight and hearing and regulate heart rhythm. What’s special: Very small amounts of light are sufficient to operate this “molecular light switch”. This opens up new possibilities for the development of innovative therapies for the treatment of blindness, deafness, and cardiac arrhythmias. The results were published in the renowned journal “Nature Biomedical Engineering”.

Scientists worldwide hope for new therapeutic possibilities from optogenetics. Researchers in Göttingen are currently developing a protein that offers new hope to blind, deaf, and heart patients. In the future, it could be used, for example, to regulate heartbeats.

The audiovisual music project “KlangLicht – sound of light” recreates the impressions of a person who, after years of severe hearing loss or deafness, hears again for the first time following the initial fitting of a cochlear implant.

A report by Audioinfos365

German Research Foundation Funds Biomedical Research Project at Mannheim Medical Faculty

The University of Heidelberg was successful in the latest funding round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) with a grant application for a new research group in basic biomedical research. In the new research network, scientists from the Medical Faculty Mannheim and eight other university locations in Germany will investigate the fundamental principles that enable organisms to adapt their organ function and behavior to constant environmental changes.

“In the biotechnology sector, the time to first venture capital financing is shortened by 76% if the company has at least one patent application.” (Study “To Be Financed or Not – The Role of Patents for Venture Capital Financing”)

Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture, Falko Mohrs, visited the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) on July 15, 2025, as part of his summer tour.

The program also included a presentation by the Clinician Scientist working at the Else Kröner-Fresenius Center (EKFZ) for Optogenetic Therapies, Dr. med. Lennart Roos.

At the EKFZ, Clinician Scientists combine their medical practice with translational research to translate medical innovations into clinical practice. They develop their own research projects, which are assigned to one of the four teams or five platforms of the EKFZ.

Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture, Falko Mohrs, visited the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) on July 15, 2025, as part of his summer tour. The program included a presentation of selected research areas and teaching facilities at the UMG, the progress of construction work on the new UMG building NIKO, and an exchange with junior scientists and newly appointed institute and clinic directors.

With Klanglicht, Berlin-based video artist Boris Seewald transforms cutting-edge hearing science into a swirling spectacle of color, choreography, and emotion. The project explores a radical new concept: “hearing with light,” using optogenetic cochlear implants to imagine restored hearing in a richer, more natural form. We caught up with Boris Seewald to discuss the collaboration, personal resonance, and how 2,500 hand-drawn frames brought the sound of the future to life.

Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and the Göttingen Cluster of Excellence “Multiscale Bioimaging” (MBExC) show how the minimal change of a single ion channel increases the sensitivity of sensory cells in the inner ear. Even quiet sounds like a whisper are perceived better, but cause a persistent overload that can promote long-term hearing loss. These findings deepen the understanding of how sound information is processed in the ear. The results have been published in the journal “Science Advances”.

Inspired by the films of early animation pioneer Oskar Fischinger, director Boris Seewald assembles 2,500 hand-drawn frames into a poetic expression of auditory perception for the University Medical Centre of Göttingen, Germany.

Boris Seewald: “Klanglicht was developed in collaboration with composer Ralf Hildenbeutel and audiologist Jenny Blum.

(pug) Like all complex organisms, every human being originates from a single cell that multiplies through countless cell divisions. Thousands of cells coordinate, move, and exert mechanical forces on each other as an embryo takes shape. Researchers from the Göttingen Campus Institute for Dynamics of Biological Networks (CIDBN), the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, and the University of Marburg have now discovered a new form of coordination in embryonic cell behavior. This involves molecular mechanisms previously known from hearing. The researchers attribute the fact that cells use the same proteins in two such different functions to their evolutionary origin. The results have been published in the journal Current Biology.

During the Göttingen Night of Knowledge, scientific institutions open their doors to the public, providing insights into their work. It offers the opportunity to engage in conversations with researchers and participate in various activities and experiments.

Great interest in medical topics at the 6th Night of Knowledge: Employees of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) presented more than 80 offerings to over 8,000 visitors in the main building and in five external areas of the UMG – a new record! Special highlights included the walk-in organ model consisting of the liver and pancreas, as well as the production of heart muscle cells from urine.

A broad regional network of players from science and industry is crucial for the successful translation of innovative research into clinical use. The life science ecosystem in Lower Saxony is constantly growing, and four key players were showcased at the EKFZ Academy workshop.

Music Video about Hearing Prostheses “I Am Deaf and Can Still Hear.” By JOACHIM MÜLLER-JUNG

The sound of a medical revolution: With the music video “Klanglicht”, artists and hearing specialists have made it tangible what it’s like when a technological revolution miraculously changes lives.

KLANGLICHT – Sound of Light

What does it sound like when someone hears music for the first time after years of silence? How does it feel when new technologies make the world of sound clearer and more differentiated than ever before? These questions are addressed in the audiovisual art video titled KLANGLICHT – sound of light. This hand-animated video, with approximately 2,500 individual images, is based on an artistic idea by Jenny Blum, an audiologist at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Medical Center Göttingen.

Researchers from the Göttingen Excellence Cluster Multiscale Bioimaging (MBExC) have revealed the 3D structure of the membrane proteins myoferlin and dysferlin using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy. The insights gained enable new approaches for the development of targeted drugs to treat diseases such as muscle atrophy, hearing disorders, and certain types of cancer. The results have been published in the journal “The EMBO Journal”.

Göttingen researchers, under the leadership of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), have collaborated with audiologists and artists from film and music to translate the sound experience of an optogenetic cochlear implant into image and sound. The music video artistically conveys the restoration of “hearing with light”, a technology that promises an improved hearing experience compared to classical cochlear implants.

We are very pleased to welcome all project managers funded by EKFS to our second Alumni Day.

“Optogenetic therapies: opportunities and challenges“
Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser, Institute for Auditory Neuroscience &
InnerEarLab, University Medical Center Göttingen

An overview of the activities of the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation in the year in review.

A new dimension of hearing for those who are deaf or extremely hard of hearing.

On May 7^th, 2025, we kicked off the EKFZ Academy with an inspiring workshop on the ethical and legal challenges of optogenetic research, in cooperation with the NeurOPTICS research project team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The NeurOPTICS research project, led by Dr. Hans Zillmann, addresses ethical, social, and legal questions in neuronal optogenetics and develops recommendations for scientific and social discourse.

New Göttingen Collaborative Research Center investigates causes for better therapies

Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) funds new research center for optogenetic therapies with 37.4 million euros over ten years at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG).