Our immune system protects us from infections, but sometimes its reaction is too weak or too strong - resulting in various diseases. What controls the strength of the immune response? And how can we specifically activate or suppress the immune system? Prof. Dr. Olaf Groß and his colleague Dr. Emilia Neuwirt from the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg discuss these and other questions in the science podcast ‘Exzellent erklärt - Spitzenforschung für alle’ (excellent explanation – research for all; podcast in German). In episode #61 ‘Immunbalance: Wie unser Körper zwischen Schutz und Selbstzerstörung entscheidet’ (Immune balance: How our body chooses between protection and self-destruction) they talk about their joint research into inflammatory reactions. In an exchange with journalist and podcaster Larissa Vassilian, it also becomes clear how important innovative spin-offs from basic research are for society.

You can listen to the episode here: Exzellent erklärt #61 

Balancing the immune system: how inflammation becomes controllable

Immunologist Olaf Groß is researching at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg how the body can regulate the strength of an inflammatory reaction and which biological signals are most important in this process. He and pharmacist Emilia Neuwirt explain why the immune system sometimes acts like a toggle switch with the settings ‘on’ or ‘off’ and how this can lead to cancer or autoimmune diseases. With their research, they want to find a molecular ‘dimmer’ for the immune system, in other words specifically control how strong the reaction will be.

Patenting instead of publishing - research findings for the benefit of society

The two researchers also share their experiences of founding EMUNO Therapeutics, a biotech start-up in which they further develop their research findings. Their vision is to discover compounds that can be used to influence the immune system to keep it in balance.

About the podcast „Exzellent erklärt – Spitzenforschung für Alle“

(excellent explanation – research for all)

57 Clusters of Excellence - one podcast. “Exzellent erklärt” reports regularly from one of the research networks that are funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. The journey goes all around the country, and the topics are just as diverse as the locations: From African studies to the future of medicine.

CIBSS is a guest on ‘Exzellent erklärt’ for the second time. Listen to the first episode here, in which CIBSS researchers explain how they communicate in the ‘language of life’.

Direct link to the podcast episode

CIBSS profile of Prof. Dr. Olaf Groß

CIBSS profile of Dr. Emilia Neuwirt

Website of EMUNO Therapeutics