GENESIS 26 ‒
The LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY
Engineering Next-Generation Platforms for Disease Modeling and Drug Screening
In Heidelberg's innovation corridor: where forward-looking industry meets cutting-edge science — and top universities meet applicable high-tech. The Genesis 26 event creates growth and success through collaboration.
How can disease processes be simulated more realistically, and how can drug candidates be tested more quickly, safely, and reproducibly? This question was the focus of LIFE SCIENCE TECH DAY 2026.
Speaker
Leading experts from industry and science at a glance
“With InnovationLab, Heidelberg has a unique platform within the life sciences and biotech cluster. Here, excellent research, international industry partners, and bold startups are brought together across the entire value chain—from the initial idea to the market-ready application. The fact that globally leading players such as BASF, HEIDELBERG, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Heidelberg University are jointly taking on responsibility demonstrates the particular strength of our location. InnovationLab stands for collaborative research, successful technology transfer, and the promotion of young talent—right in the heart of our university city of Heidelberg. GENESIS 26 underscores, in a lasting way, just how innovative and forward-looking Heidelberg is as a hub for science and business.”
Professor Eckart Würzner, Ph.D.
Mayor of Heidelberg
About the event
Rethinking the Future at the Old Indoor Swimming Pool
Every year, InnovationLab brings together leading translational researchers, international technology pioneers, and experts from the public sector to jointly develop ideas, initiate collaborations, and accelerate innovation in an inspiring environment.
Renowned experts from the scientific community moderate the sessions. International high-tech companies and startups present their new technologies, share their expertise, and thereby set the thematic tone for the event. A particular highlight in 2026 was an outstanding group project from Heidelberg University, which provided insights into reproducible tissue culture, robotics, and scalable assays during a “lightning talk.”
The event was held at the FRAUENBAD Altes Hallenbad—a historic building complex in the center of Heidelberg that combines tradition with an inspiring, focused environment for interdisciplinary exchange.
On the topic
Integrated, human-based 3D systems
The event focused on technologies for integrated, human-based 3D systems—ranging from organoids to organ-on-a-chip. The focus was on essential components in the areas of the brain, heart, and gut, disease models, cancer research, and drug screening.
The speakers’ presentations each highlighted specific technological areas and introduced workshop participants to current methods and developments. In doing so, they provided deep insights into the precision microfabrication of complex tissue and barrier models, the further development of bioinks and biofabricated constructs, as well as the latest microfluidic platforms—featuring valves, perfusion, and controlled microenvironments. The range of topics was complemented by smart materials for membranes, scaffolds, and soft actuation; highly automated systems for sample and high-throughput applications; and embedded sensor technology and micro- and nanoelectronics for the precise measurement of electrical, optical, and chemical signals.
AI-based imaging pipelines combine data acquisition, analysis, and automated feedback, thereby enabling fully integrated experiments and representing a third focus of GENESIS 26.
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