Professor Dr Jürgen Knoblich

Research Priorities: Cerebral organoids, human brain development, brain diseases and defects, neural stem cells, brain tumours, genome analysis, model organisms
Jürgen Knoblich is a biochemist and molecular biologist. He analyses the mechanisms underlying human brain development. He has become known around the world for being the first person to establish a cerebral organoid in vitro. With this artificial and very small 3D tissue structure, his team was able to replicate the process of human brain development. Using this instrument as well as other molecular biological and cell biological methods, Jürgen Knoblich examines the foundations of neurological genetic diseases and severe neuropsychiatric conditions such as epilepsy or autism.
Jürgen Knoblich began working on decoding processes and functions of the human brain early in his career. Using a systemic approach, he and his team researched how self-renewal in neural stem cells is controlled and how defects in this process can lead to disease, such as the formation of brain tumours. He initially used fly (Drosophila) larvae as model organisms. The goal was to understand in detail how genotypical changes lead to phenotypical deformations and dysfunctions.
Jürgen Knoblich’s team accomplished another milestone in this regard: using different types of human stem cells, they were able to establish an organoid in order to replicate the early stages of development of the human brain in a three-dimensional organ culture model. This made it possible to observe and study the formation, migration, and activity of neurons in a three-dimensional tissue environment. With the organoid, using molecular genetic techniques, divergent DNA sequences in human cells can be generated and repaired and genes can be identified which are responsible for neurological developmental problems. Modern approaches, too, such as CRISPR/Cas9 screening, are used in these human organoids in order to identify genes which are involved in disease-relevant biological processes. Analysing these genes and their foundational mechanisms makes it possible to develop therapies which will be suitable in the future. Jürgen Knoblich’s goal is to develop the organoid system to a point where genome-wide genetic tests are able to be performed directly in human tissue, the same way this was already performed on the Drosophila model.