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Helmholtz Munich | Karlheinz Schäble

Helmholtz Diabetes Center Institute of Experimental Genetics

The Institute of Experimental Genetics (IEG) aims to further the understanding of mechanisms underlying human diseases' etiology. Metabolic diseases with a focus on diabetes are key areas of research. Experimental set-ups are centered on the mouse as a pre-clinical model organism with direct translation of results to humans. Besides studying the effects of genotypes, the institute identifies and characterizes environmental and epigenetic factors and the mechanisms by which these act on the etiology of diseases.

The Institute of Experimental Genetics (IEG) aims to further the understanding of mechanisms underlying human diseases' etiology. Metabolic diseases with a focus on diabetes are key areas of research. Experimental set-ups are centered on the mouse as a pre-clinical model organism with direct translation of results to humans. Besides studying the effects of genotypes, the institute identifies and characterizes environmental and epigenetic factors and the mechanisms by which these act on the etiology of diseases.

Aim of our Research

The aim of the Institute of Experimental Genetics (IEG) is to further the understanding of mechanisms that underlie the etiology of human diseases. Metabolic diseases with focus on diabetes are key areas of research. Experimental set-ups are centered on the mouse as pre-clinical model organism with direct translation of results to humans. Besides studying the effects of genotypes, the institute identifies and characterizes environmental and epigenetic factors and the mechanisms by which these act on the etiology of diseases.

Our Research Groups and Platforms

Helmholtz Munich| IEG | ©Maximilian Schmidtke

Functional Genetics

The characterization of mutants represents a valuable instrument for functional genome analysis. Novel mouse models for metabolic diseases are in the center of our projects. By unraveling the molecular pathways and pathophysiological events leading, in particular, to diabetes we also transfer the basic research results into the development of novel strategies for diagnosis, prevention and therapy.

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Gene Regulation and Epigenetics

Our research focuses on the epigenetic inheritance of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes mostly using the mouse as functional model system. We aim to understand how metabolic phenotypes that are acquired during life - for example, by malnutrition - are inherited from one generation to the next. We want to contribute to a better understanding of this inter-generational epigenetic inheritance and its implications for the observed pandemic of obesity and diabetes in man.

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Environmental Epigenetics

Diabetes and Obesity affect almost 400 million people worldwide and forecasts anticipate an increase of at least 20% by 2030.
Epidemiological studies have shown a high degree of genetic predisposition and familial aggregation in both diabetes and obesity. Nevertheless, lifestyle interventions have proven valuable in disease prevention and management.
We study physiological and pathological aspects of gene-environment interaction and epigenetic control of inheritance and aim to find novel targets and/or mechanisms towards effective strategies for disease prevention.

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German Mouse Clinic

German Mouse Clinic (GMC)

The German Mouse Clinic (GMC) as an open access phenotyping platform offers comprehensive phenotyping of mouse models in a systemic primary screen. Scientists with expert knowlegde from various fields of mouse physiology and pathology work together on evaluating numerous physiological pathways.

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European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) - Germany

The European Mouse Mutant Archive is an INFRAFRONTIER core service for collection, archiving and distribution of mutant mice valuable for scientific and medical research. The IEG is one INFRAFRONTIER partner operating the German EMMA node with a main focus on cryopreservation and in vitro fertilization.

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Biocuration for Digital Health

Advances in medical research revealed that a disease phenotype is the result of pathobiological processes that interact in complex networks. A large body of information generated in decades of experimental research is hidden in the scientific literature.
Our aim is to generate high-quality databases that describe experimentally validated interactions between molecules and processes involved in the development of diseases.

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Applied Computational Biology

We initiate and take lead in projects that use artificial intelligence methods on large mouse phenotyping datasets from the German Mouse Clinic (GMC) or from external sources.
We develop and maintain highly customised IT infrastructure and solutions for our institute. Such as the in-house developed application "MausDB" , a modular laboratory information management system (LIMS).
And we support IEG research projects internally with our IT expertise and tools.

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Selected Publications of the IEG

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2024 Scientific Article in Science Advances

Carper, D. ; Lac, M. ; Coue, M. ; Labour, A. ; Märtens, A. ; Banda, J.A.A. ; Mazeyrie, L. ; Mechta, M. ; Ingerslev, L.R. ; Elhadad, M.A. ; Petit, J.V. ; Maslo, C. ; Monbrun, L. ; Del Carmine, P. ; Sainte-Marie, Y. ; Bourlier, V. ; Laurens, C. ; Mithieux, G. ; Joanisse, D.R. ; Coudray, C. ; Feillet-Coudray, C. ; Montastier, E. ; Viguerie, N. ; Tavernier, G. ; Waldenberger, M. ; Peters, A. ; Wang-Sattler, R. ; Adamski, J. ; Suhre, K. ; Gieger, C. ; Kastenmüller, G. ; Illig, T. ; Lichtinghagen, R. ; Seissler, J. ; Mounier, R. ; Hiller, K. ; Jordan, J. ; Barrès, R. ; Kuhn, M. ; Pesta, D. ; Moro, C.

Loss of atrial natriuretic peptide signaling causes insulin resistance, mitochondrial dysfunction, and low endurance capacity.

2024 Scientific Article in Diabetologia

Sharma, S. ; Dong, Q. ; Haid, M. ; Adam, J. ; Bizzotto, R. ; Fernandez-Tajes, J.J. ; Jones, A.G. ; Tura, A. ; Artati, A. ; Prehn, C. ; Kastenmüller, G. ; Koivula, R.W. ; Franks, P.W. ; Walker, M. ; Forgie, I.M. ; Giordano, G.N. ; Pavo, I. ; Ruetten, H. ; Dermitzakis, M. ; McCarthy, M.I. ; Pedersen, O. ; Schwenk, J.M. ; Tsirigos, K.D. ; De Masi, F. ; Brunak, S. ; Viñuela, A. ; Mari, A. ; McDonald, T.J. ; Kokkola, T. ; Adamski, J. ; Pearson, E.R. ; Grallert, H.

Role of human plasma metabolites in prediabetes and type 2 diabetes from the IMI-DIRECT study.

Staff Members

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Dr. Juan Antonio Aguilar Pimentel

Portrait Lore Becker

Dr. Lore Becker

Johannes Beckers IEG

Prof. Dr. Johannes Beckers

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Johannes Beckers, Executive MBA (TUM) View profile

Barbara Brauner

Silvia Crowley

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Dr. Patricia da Silva-Buttkus

Portrait Dr. Nathalia Dragano

Dr. Nathalia Dragano

Head of Metabolism Research - German Mouse Clinic - Institute of Experimental Genetics

Ann-Elisabeth Engelniederhammer

Daniel Feeser

Marion Fisch

Anna Fischer

Ralf Fischer

Dr. Gisela Fobo

Dr. Goar Frischmann

Isabella Galter

Doctoral Candidate
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Cindy Gonda

Dr. Sieglinde Hastreiter

Sandra Hoffmann

Martin Hrabě De Angelis

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Martin Hrabě De Angelis

Research Director Helmholtz Munich, Full Professor and Chair of Experimental Genetics Technical University Munich, Director of the Institute of Experimental Genetics Helmholtz Munich View profile
Porträt Martin Irmler

Dr. Martin Irmler

Elke Koefferlein

Dr. Markus Kraiger

Dr. Christoph Lengger

Senior Data Manager
Portrait Dr. Stefanie Leuchtenberger

Dr. Stefanie Leuchtenberger

Porträt Holger Maier

Dr. Holger Maier

Senior Data Scientist

Dr. Susan Marschall

Porträt Andreas Mayer

Andreas Mayer

Lucie Mittelbach

Dr. Corinna Montrone

Porträt Sibylle Neumann

Sibylle Neumann

Porträt Manuela Östereicher

Manuela Östereicher

Senior Statistician

Dr. Gerhard Przemeck

Group Leader, Research Group ‘Functional Genetics’ View profile

Dr. Birgit Rathkolb

Porträt Kerstin Richter

Kerstin Richter

Herr Ruepp, Andreas Dr.

Dr. Andreas Ruepp

Group Leader, Research Group 'Biocuration for Digital Health' View profile

Dr. Adrián Sanz-Moreno

Florian Schleicher

Porträt Maximilian Schmidtke

Maximilian Schmidtke

Porträt Elida Schneltzer

Elida Schneltzer

Group Leader, Research Group 'Applied Computational Biology' View profile

Christine Schütt

Senior Software Developer
Porträt Michael Schulz

Michael Schulz

Portrait Dr. Nadine Spielmann

Dr. Nadine Spielmann

Dr. Ralph Steinkamp

Senior Data Scientist & Senior Software Developer
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Dr. Claudia Stöger

Dr. Archana Tomar

Post Doctoral Researcher

Marion Wenig

Anja Wohlbier

Porträt Lilly Zapf

Lilly Zapf

Senior Data Manager

Contact IEG

Porträt Sibylle Neumann

Sibylle Neumann