Plectonic Biotech
Heike Url is currently a Research Assistant at Plectonic Biotech, supporting the team in fighting cancer with LOGIBODIES through cell culture and bioassays. Prior to this, Heike worked as a Biologielaborantin at various companies such as Technische Universität München, STARK Verlag, and Boehringer Ingelheim. With a degree in Biologielaborantin from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma KG, Heike has a strong background in oncological research and various biological and molecular techniques.
Plectonic Biotech
Antibody-based immunotherapies have great potential for the treatment of tumor diseases. However, an undesired over-stimulation of the immune system can lead to side effects that require the therapy to be discontinued. This overstimulation has two causes: First, the target antigens are often present both on the tumor tissue and on the healthy tissue. Secondly, the antibodies are active throughout the body and not only locally on the tumor. In order to solve these problems, we at Plectonic developed an "on/off button" for antibody immunotherapies. This is an ultra-miniaturized nanoswitch made of DNA. The nanoswitch can specifically recognize tumor cells and recruit the body's own immune cells to fight these cells. This enables the immune system to fight tumor cells in a targeted and "on demand" manner and leads to lower activity on healthy tissue and thus to fewer side effects. We term this new class of immunotherapeutics LOGIBODY - logic-gated antibody!