Medical doctor and cell biologist Sara Wickström has been awarded the Körber European Science Prize for research that overtuned a long-held view of how cells work. In doing so, she has founded an entirely new field of research.
, which has been awarded since 1985 for major scientific breakthroughs in Europe.
Wickström has shown how cells sense the physical forces of the world around them. Cells can feel pressure and stretching, for example, and relay these signals to the cell nucleus, where the DNA is located. There, signals from these physical forces can switch genes on or off.
Before Wickström's discoveries, many researchers believed cells were controlled mainly by their genes and by chemical signals from neighbouring cells. Her findings show that the physical environment also shapes how tissues develop, age, and heal after injury.
"I remember thinking: if this is true, then it's something really, really new," says Sara Wickström, Research Director at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki.
Significance for treating cancer and fibrosis
The discovery is especially important for understanding fibrosis, a group of diseases in which tissues become scarred. In these conditions, tissue in organs such as the skin, lungs, or kidneys turns into stiff, scar-like tissue. The physical environment of cells also changes dramatically in cancer, where the tumour stiffens the surrounding tissue.
With the prize funding, Wickström plans to investigate whether cells retain a memory of injury and mechanical stress. She suspects that disease-related changes may trap cells in harmful states long after the original injury has healed. Understanding this could help prevent harmful scarring and improve the healing of chronic wounds.
Wickström also serves as Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany. She graduated in medicine from the University of Helsinki, where she earned her doctorate in 2004.
The Körber Prize
The Körber European Science Prize is one of the world's most prestigious science prizes. The Körber-Stiftung has presented it annually since 1985 to recognise an outstanding scientific breakthrough in Europe. Eight of its laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize. Sara Wickström will receive the prize on 18 September 2026 in the Grand Hall of Hamburg City Hall.
