News 2023
December
Christmas Party at the Institute for Genetics
Epigenetics lecture at Johanneum Gymnasium
The Institute of Genetics would like to arouse enthusiasm for biology in general and epigenetics in particular before University studies begin. That's why Sandra Hake visited school students taking an advanced biology course at the Johanneum Gymnasium in Herborn and gave a lecture on “Epigenetics”. The students’ knowledge and desire to learn were impressive. Many thanks to everyone who made this visit possible.
October
Time to say good-bye!
Many good but also sad events happened in October. We congratulate Sonja Sahner from the AG Hake on an incredible 30 years of service! What would we all do without you, Sonja? You are the best! Congratulations!
Unfortunately we had to say several goodbyes in October. On the one hand, it was with a heavy heart that we had to say goodbye to Melanie Bingel, who will return to her original laboratory after a year-long implementation. Thank you for your tireless help, Melanie. We will miss you and wish you all the best in your new/old job!
On the other hand, Prof. Sigurd Braun's group is leaving Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58. As part of the upcoming renovation, the AG Braun has moved into the laboratories of the Institute of Biochemistry. But: out of sight does not mean out of mind! We will continue to work closely together as an Institute and will not allow ourselves to be segregated by spatial separation. The ties of the Institute for Genetics' scientific family (members of the Braun, Dammann and Hake groups) remain strong!
September/October
Willkommen zurück, Nadine!
Alle im ‚Hake-Team’ sind überglücklich, dass Nadine, nach der Geburt ihres Kindes, wieder zurück im Labor ist. Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Nadine! Wir werden alles tun, damit Du beides, Mutterschaft und Wissenschaftlerin, ohne zu viel Stress kombiniert bekommst! Willkommen zurück!
September
Visit from Agnes Kavira!
We are honored and overjoyed by the visit of Agnes Kavira, an extraordinary young woman who fought her way through very difficult conditions! Agnes was born in the Republic of Congo and through hard work and dedication managed to secure a “BEBUC” scholarship to study medicine. She is currently working and studying in Paris and Alexandria (Egypt) and stopped by for a day visit. It's wonderful to finally meet Agnes in person and hear directly about her remarkable career path, which is just beginning and which we all support.
Agnes, you are an impressive role model for so many young people and are now part of the Hake team!
Hake group retreat to Limburg
This year the Hake team went to Limburg. A beautiful city whose history we were all able to explore in more detail with a guided tour of the city. A competition to see who could leave first one of two identical "Escape Rooms" combined teamwork, fun, adventure and adrenaline rushes.... With a good meal this very successful and hot day came to an end.
Welcome Felix!
The 'Hake team' is pleased that Felix Diegmüller is starting as a new doctoral student. Felix has already successfully completed his Bachelor's and Master's theses in the Hake team and will now continue his excellent work. We are sure that he will also shine in his doctoral thesis! Good luck, Felix! We are extremely happy that you stayed with us!
July
A "day to do good" at the Institute of Genetics
The motto of this year's institute excursion was "doing something good". First, we did something good for nature by collecting rubbish at the river Lahn. Unfortunately, this was urgently necessary. After a picnic lunch on the banks of the Lahn, we continued to the climbing forest. There, we did something good physically and mentally for ourselves. After this top sporting performance, there was extensive feasting, drinking and celebrating. A beautiful day that brought us closer together!
School student internship Number 3
And even more students have visited the Institute of Genetics for an internship. We are very excited about the interest of the next generation in natural sciences, especially biology and epigenetics. Maybe we have a future top researcher "in the making" here!
May
Congratulations, Andreas Herchenröther, on the excellent doctoral examination
A new doctor is in the Hake group! Congratulations to Andreas Herchenröther for an excellent thesis defense. He stunned the thesis defense examiners Sandra Hake, Alexander Brehm, Katja Sträßer and Marek Bartkuhn with a brilliant talk and on-point answers to all questions. Fantastic job, Dr. Herchenröther!
Soon, Andreas will be leaving Germany to rock the USA as PostDoc! We all will miss him and wish him an exciting time with many great discoveries!
March
School student internship Number 2
We are excited about the new generation of students and – hopefully – future researchers to be! During another two-week student internship at the Institute for Genetics, the current participant even managed to make a new discovery that will advance our research projects! Congratulations! We are very happy about her active help and hope that she will decide to study biology at the JLU after her Abitur. The Institute is waiting impatiently!
"Paper-hanging" party of Andreas Herchenröther's Nature Communications publication
Finally, Andreas Herchenröther's work from the team of Prof. Dr. Hake on the chromatin protein HMG20A and its role in controlling important gene expression programs in early embryonic development and stem cell differentiation was published in Nature Communications. These groundbreaking discoveries were also highlighted by the JLU press department (https://tinyurl.com/2p8ct4mx) and are also to be selected by the Cardio Pulmonary Institute (CPI; https ://www.cpi-online.de/) as "Paper of the Month".
As is tradition at the Institute of Genetics, the paper was ceremonially hung on the publication wall. Everyone involved and who were on site (Andreas Herchenröther, Felix Diegmüller, Jie Lan, Marek Bartkuhn and Stefanie Gossen (Marburg University)) helped.
Congratulations PROF. Dr. Sigurd Braun!
The Institute of Genetics warmly welcomes Sigurd Braun as a new W2 professor and congratulates him on his appointment to the JLU! Sigurd enriches our chromatin and epigenetics research focus with his excellent and internationally recognized work on the mechanisms of heterochromatin establishment and maintenance. To this end, he introduced a new model system at the institute, the fission yeast S. pombe. This allows conducting large-scale, state-of-the-art screens with genetically modified organisms.Sigurd and his international team of Ph.D. students (Agnisrota, Abubakar, Karl und Vishnu) came from the LMU Munich to the JLU in 2021 via the renowned Heisenberg program funded by the DFG. We are delighted that he and his group are immensely strengthening our team and our research and teaching. Of course, this special moment had to be celebrated with all institute members.
January
School student internship
Everyone at the Institute of Genetics welcome three school students for their two-week internship here on site. Sterile work, cell extractions, gel electrophoresis, western blots, cloning and much more are learned. So much interest and enthusiasm is contagious. We look forward to the next generation of University students at the JLU!
Study from Andreas Herchenroether accepted by Nature Communications
Congratulations Andreas!
Andreas seminal work on HMG20A's chromatin function during early embryonic development and stem cell differentiation was accepted in the journal Nature Communications. This happy occasion was celebrated with everyone involved on site, Jie Lan, Jörg Leers and Felix Diegmüller (Hake Group), our collaboration partners Marek Bartkuhn and Tobias Friedrich (Bartkuhn Group) and the entire Hake team!
Excellent work Andreas!
The study was so sensational that a German television team conducted interviews with all those involved during a subsequent celebration in a Giessen club.
As soon as the publication is published, Andreas' discoveries and the contributed work of our collaborators will be reported here in detail.
