International Collaboration
Transnationally analysing the genotype
"The Research Group for Healthy Ageing" is part of an international scientific community that works on the factors of ageing and longevity. Thereby the researchers on ageing from Kiel cooperate intensively with domestic and foreign institutions, most notably with the German National Genome Research Network (NGFN) and the European consortium "Genetics of Healthy Aging" (GEHA), which is managed by the University of Bologna in Italy.
International co-operation in genotype analysis
The Research Group for Healthy Ageing is part of the international scientific community that investigates ageing and longevity. The group works closely together with national and international institutes. It is also a project partner in the international large-scale projects GEHA and RESOLVE funded by the European Union.
Europe's long-lived siblings
The GEHA project "Genetics of Healthy Ageing" is managed by the University of Bologna. The project, in which 25 research organizations from 12 countries participate, constitutes the biggest genetic study on longevity worldwide. Currently, the project is collecting DNA samples of 2650 long-lived siblings throughout Europe. "First, we want to roughly locate candidate genes in larger chromosome regions and then map them in more detail", says principal investigator Stefan Schreiber, director of the Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology in Kiel.
Wound healing and organ-repair mechanisms
The project RESOLVE (Resolve Chronic Inflammation and Achieve Healthy Ageing by Understanding Non-regenerative Repair) analyses processes of organ repair and wound healing. With its DNA collection of long-lived individuals, one of the largest worldwide, the institute in Kiel contributes significantly to the project since disruption in organ repair and wound healing processes can lead to fibrosis accompanied by complete organ failure, particularly in very old age. RESOLVE aims at developing possible treatment strategies to enhance the quality of life in old age.
INTERREG 4 A Syddanmark-Schleswig-K.E.R.N. - Transnational research about the genetics of healthy ageing
The aim of this German-Danish cooperation is to identify genetic determinants that lead to a long life in good mental and physical health. The project is based on a close collaboration between the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel and the Institute of Epidemiology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. Both institutes have already collected a large number of biological samples of long-lived individuals and younger controls. These samples constitute the basis for genetic research of molecular ageing processes. The combination of both sample collections results in the largest data- and biobank of this kind worldwide (> 5000 long-lived individuals). Molecular research employing the latest technologies is carried out at both institutes; the data obtained are analyzed using state-of-the art bioinformatic methods. The findings will provide new targets for the diagnosis, prevention and pharmacological therapy of age-related diseases.
Co-financed by the INTERREG 4 A programme Syddanmark-Schlewig-K.E.R.N. by EU funds from the European Regional Development Fund.
