Research
Important young talent prize for chemists from Bochum
The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Young Talent Prize goes to the chemist Johannes Karges. photo
© Katja Marquard/Ruhr University Bochum/dpa
Nobel Prize winner Paul Ehrlich co-invented chemotherapy. He dreamed of “magic bullets” that would only cure the disease without harming the rest of the body. A young researcher has revived this vision.
The 31-year-old chemist Johannes Karges will be with the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig DarmstaedterYoung Talent Award 2024 awarded. As the board of trustees of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation announced on Tuesday in Frankfurt, its research could drastically reduce the side effects of chemotherapy against cancer and significantly increase its effectiveness.
The prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in biomedical research. The prize money of 60,000 euros must be used for research. The honor will be awarded together with the main prize on March 14th in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche.
International career
Karges has an international career. He studied chemistry in Marburg and London. As a doctoral student, he conducted research in Paris and Guangzhou in China. After completing his doctorate, he worked in the USA. Since the end of 2022 he has been leading his own research group at the Ruhr University Bochum.
His work deals with chemotherapy against cancer. So-called cytostatics are used that prevent cancer cells from dividing. Because they also inhibit the division of healthy body cells, they are associated with serious side effects.
“For a long time, people have been looking for a way to allow these cytostatics to only work in the cancer cells that they are supposed to destroy. Then, in Paul Ehrlich’s sense, they would be similar to magic balls that only cure the disease without harming the rest of the body. The research by Johannes Karges and his team has revived this vision,” the foundation said in a statement.
Remote detonator for cytostatics
The question is how to selectively activate cytostatics. Barge’s answer is nanoparticles that are too large to penetrate healthy tissue but small enough to squeeze between cancer cells. The nanoparticles have built-in receivers that are activated by light signals.
Together with his Chinese research partner, Karges has successfully tested two mixtures that can be detonated in the cancer cells using these “time detonators,” according to the foundation. The two were able to confirm their findings in cell cultures in experiments with mice. In both cases described, the tumors of the animals injected with the nanoparticles almost completely disappeared after external irradiation with red light or ultrasound.