Research Field
Processing & Metabolism
Understanding the "mRNP code" that determines the fate, function, and regulation of messenger RNAs.
Description
Messenger RNAs function within dynamic messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs) that govern their processing, localization, translation, and degradation. This research area investigates how mRNAs are assembled into distinct mRNPs throughout their life cycle and how these assemblies determine RNA fate and function. A central goal is to uncover the molecular principles of the “mRNP code” that links RNA sequence elements and associated proteins to gene regulation.
The research examines the composition, structure, and dynamics of mRNPs across different cellular states and conditions. It explores how specific RNA elements and interacting factors influence mRNA processing, transport, translation, and decay, and how these processes are coordinated within broader regulatory networks. The project also investigates interactions between viral nucleic acids and host cellular factors, including mechanisms that support or restrict viral replication. Together, these studies aim to establish a mechanistic understanding of mRNP organization and its role in controlling gene expression and cellular function.
Area B2
Publications
Embedded ethics: a proposal for integrating ethics into the development of medical AI.
BMC Med Ethics. · 2022
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The emergence of ethical concerns surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) has led to an explosion of high-level ethical principles being published by a wide range of public and private organizations. However, there is a need to consider how AI developers can be practically assisted to anticipate, identify and address ethical issues regarding AI technologies. This is particularly important in the development of AI intended for healthcare settings, where applications will often interact directly with patients in various states of vulnerability. In this paper, we propose that an 'embedded ethics' approach, in which ethicists and developers together address ethical issues via an iterative and continuous process from the outset of development, could be an effective means of integrating robust ethical considerations into the practical development of medical AI.
Broad consent for health care-embedded biobanking: understanding and reasons to donate in a large patient sample.
Genet Med. · 2018
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PurposeTo facilitate ethically acceptable and practically successful health care-embedded biobanking, the attitudes and understanding of patients and their motivation to participate need to be explored.MethodsA questionnaire study was conducted among 760 outpatients of a northern German university hospital to assess their awareness of, and motivation for giving broad consent to health care-embedded biobanking, also addressing the issue of feedback on individual-level research findings.ResultsThe overall willingness to give broad consent was high (86.9%) in our study, even though the subjective and objective understanding of patients was found to be only modest. Most participants who consented did so for prosocial reasons (altruism, solidarity, reciprocity, gratitude), whereas self-interest or worries about disadvantages played only a marginal role. Better objective understanding was associated with both a greater demand for feedback on individual research findings and a higher willingness to consent. Intermittent modification of the information material provided by the hospital led to significantly improved objective understanding.ConclusionPatient willingness to give broad consent to health care-embedded biobanking is high, with prosocial reasons driving decision making more than factual knowledge and approval or disapproval of specific consent elements. Future efforts to improve the information material used in health care-embedded biobanking should therefore emphasize prosocial reasons to consent.