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Welcome to our website
Welcome to our website
We are a group of enthusiastic scientists, located in Berlin/Germany @ Charité - University Medical Centre, trying to understand the mysteries of the macrophages!
Our work in lay terms
What is a macrophage? The word 'macrophage' (= big eater) stems from the Greek words 'makrós (μακρός)' = large and 'phagein (φαγεῖν) = to eat. As the word suggests, a macrophage is a cell that can eat. Indeed, macrophages are cells of the immune system (= our machinery to fight infections), which were initially characterised by their ability to eat pathogens (see the video below).
The 'modern' description of macrophages is attributed to Élie Metchnikoff (1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). Metchnikoff termed the macrophages 'phagocytes'. His thorough and pioneering study of 'phagocytes' as in 'Lectures on the Comparative Pathology of Inflammation (1891)' set the milestones for our current understanding of macrophages.
Although macrophages are evolutionary old cells, found from 'primitive' species to humans, they are more than just 'bug-eaters'! They have additional important roles, which we and other groups are trying to unravel and describe. If you want to learn more about what we do, explore our web pages!
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