MyCellFight

Motivation

Humans have 600 to 700 lymph nodes - tiny, ovoid organs of the immune system that play an essential role in protecting the human body against viruses and bacteria. Their function is very specific - only lymph nodes can initiate a human immune response. To date, due to varous biotechnological hurdles there is no artificial immune system that can reproduce a human immune response in vitro - outside the normal biological context. The biotechnological hurdles are simply too great: too complex and too dense in tissue structure, too high in the diversity of possible biological immune responses. Added to this is enormous variability from person to person.

Project goals

The goal of MyCellFight is to develop an automated immune chip. It is designed to predict the individual biological immune response of up to 100 people – from children to the elderly. MyCellFight aims to map simpler, key biological events. Medicines and other substances are tested in the immune chip for desired (pharmacological activity) and undesired (toxicity and safety) effects on the human immune system. The results are protected by patents as far as possible and licensed directly to industrial partners in laboratory automation and users of in vitro test systems. The immune chip as a whole or in parts will be available as a service for bilateral research projects with industry and public clients, for example.

MAVO's unique position compared to other approaches is achieved through the use of primary cells, the unique fully automated chip design, and the fast and specific analysis of immune events. MyCellFight's strategic orientation paves the way for the next generation of efficacy and safety research, combined with functional genomics and – with a focus on humans – animal-free biomedical research and development within the Fraunhofer Society.

The networking of six high-profile, complementary institutes allows the combination of expertise from health, biotech, and life sciences with business and economic analyses.