Press release - 16/08/2021 Blood-based micro-RNAs indicate the risk of colorectal cancer The risk of colorectal cancer can be predicted more accurately by determining seven blood-based micro-RNAs (miRNAs) than by using traditional methods - and can be done so many years before a diagnosis is made. In a current study, researchers from the German Cancer Research Center and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg show that miRNA profiles provide greater predictive accuracy than genetic or lifestyle-based risk…
PixelBiotech GmbH - 27/07/2021 Searching for tracks with cytogenetics and AI The startup Pixelbiotech combines fluorescence techniques with artificial intelligence to detect DNA and RNA in medical samples. HuluFISH is the name of the method, which allows for countless applications - from detecting viral infections, such as COVID-19 or African swine fever virus, to the quality control of gene and immunotherapeutic procedures in cancer medicine.
Gene regulation - 20/07/2021 The many faces of the epigenetic regulator MOF Epigenetic modifications play a crucial role in coordinated gene transcription, and are required for a fertilised egg cell to be able to develop into an organism with different cell types. Dr. Asifa Akhtar from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg has been studying the essential epigenetic regulator protein MOF for 20 years.
Press release - 06/07/2021 High-throughput metabolic profiling of single cells Scientists from the EMBL and the German Cancer Research Center have presented a new method for generating metabolic profiles of individual cells. The method, which combines fluorescence microscopy and a specific form of mass spectroscopy, can analyze over a hundred metabolites and lipids from more than a thousand individual cells per hour. Researchers expect the method to better answer a variety of biomedical questions in the future.
Article - 10/06/2021 New study: vaccine therapy for treating patients with chronic leukaemia Personalised peptide vaccination is expected to improve the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. A research team from Tübingen has started a Phase I clinical trial with CLL patients who will undergo ibrutinib treatment. Other leukaemia sufferers as well as cancer patients in general are also expected to benefit in the long term.
Article - 31/05/2021 Tracking down tumour-associated pain in pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer comes along quietly: unnoticed for a long time, it often triggers excruciating pain as the tumour progresses. This pain is associated with cancer cells invading pancreatic nerves. Dr. Michael Hirth from Mannheim University Hospital has shed some light on the complex communication between cancer cells and nerve cells. His findings could eventually be used for personalised pain therapies.
Article - 29/04/2021 Nanobodies for determining neutralising antibodies after corona infection After contact with a pathogen, ideally our immune system generates neutralising antibodies to prevent a future infection. With NeutrobodyPlex, scientists from Reutlingen and Tübingen have developed a highly specific test procedure based on single-domain antibodies (nanobodies) that can be used to easily and reliably determine the quality of the immune response against the novel coronavirus.
Press release - 14/04/2021 Engineering T cells for cancer therapy efficiently and safely Genetically enhancing a patient's immune cells by adding therapeutic genes to them outside the body is regarded as a promising new treatment approach in oncology. However, the production of these therapeutic cells using viruses is not only expensive but time-consuming. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed an innovative non-viral vector that can efficiently introduce therapeutic genes into immune cells.
Article - 17/03/2021 Epigenetic switches in bacteria as biosensors The analysis of pathogen biomarkers and biomarkers for the diagnosis of diseases can be crucial for health. However, the detection of pathogens and diseases depends on a sensitive and reliable method that delivers rapid results. Biosensors have such properties. Researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry and Technical Biochemistry (IBTB) at Stuttgart University have constructed an epigenetic circuit composed of plasmids that might make it…
Press release - 24/02/2021 Supposedly "silent" mutation with serious consequences So-called silent mutations have no effect on the composition of a protein. They are therefore not considered to promote cancer. However, scientists from the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), partner site Essen, now describe in a case of kidney cancer an overlooked silent mutation with a major impact on prognosis.
Press release - 01/02/2021 Targeting a rapid market breakthrough for new vaccine production method In a so-called inactivated or killed vaccine, the virus particles it contains are first rendered inactive by means of the toxic chemical formaldehyde. A better way of achieving this, however, is to irradiate the pathogens with low-energy electrons. Four Fraunhofer Institutes have now developed a new method of vaccine production based on this technique that is not only quicker but also guarantees a higher quality of product.
Press release - 18/01/2021 How a protein variant could explain resistance to sleeping sickness drug A specific variant of the surface protein VSG of African trypanosomes, the causative agents of sleeping sickness, is associated with resistance to the important drug Suramin. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now been able to find a possible explanation for the formation of resistance based on the crystal structure of this protein variant.
