Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research are studying bacteria for microorganisms. /Mainz=Reporter Ha Ji-eun Mainz, located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is called the ‘polymer city.’ Research institutes, universities, and companies to develop new polymer materials are gathered throughout the city. The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, a representative German research institute that has produced the largest number of Nobel Prize winners in Europe, is also located here. Right next to the research center is the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, which is strong in the field of new materials, and BioNTech, a company that jointly developed the COVID-19 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine with Pfizer, is also located here.
“Polymers will change the world,” said Misha von, director of the Molecular Spectroscopy Center at the Max Planck Institute. “With polymers, we can reduce the weight of cars, and with three-dimensional (3D) printers, we can even create joint bone models that fit our bodies.” The field that Max Planck researchers are particularly paying attention to is the ‘war against cancer’ using polymers.
The laser laboratory, which was first revealed to the Korean media, was researching cancer treatments using polymers. This is an experiment to combat disease by artificially creating polymers that exist in nature, such as proteins and DNA. Among them, Max Planck is considered to be the most advanced in the field of nanogels with nanometer-sized polymer networks. Nanogel can store a variety of anticancer drugs at higher concentrations and can effectively attack tumors without damaging normal cells, so it is referred to as a ‘dream treatment’.
“Future cancer treatment will focus on how to change the way signals are processed in the body,” said Tanja Weil, director of the Center for Polymer Synthesis, who researches biopolymers. “The future of humanity depends on the technology that enables this,” he said.
What Director Weil is particularly focused on is gene therapy, which involves injecting genetic material into cells. It is a method of restoring lost cell function by replacing defective genes found in hereditary diseases. When several molecules combine with each other, long spaghetti-shaped peptide fibers are created. These fibers act as a kind of ‘glue’ between the therapeutic virus and the cell envelope, improving the process of virus absorption into cells.
Skin regeneration is also an important task. It is a treatment that creates natural skin by simulating the physiological environment of cells using a hydrogel composed of a three-dimensional polymer network containing moisture. Director of this research center said, “In the past, the period from laboratory work to application to actual industry took 10 to 12 years, but now it is shortening to 3 to 4 years.” He added, “The German government is implementing blue sky research (not yet practical or immediate).” “This is the result of our generous support for basic research that has not yielded any results,” he explained.
Mainz = Reporter Ha Ji-eun hazzys@hankyung.com
