Red biotechnology

Inside cells, RNAs and proteins form biomolecular condensates. These droplets are essential for organizing cellular life, yet why some RNAs cluster more readily than others has remained unclear. Disruptions in condensate formation are linked to developmental defects, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers at KIT have now identified a new class of RNA called smOOPs and gained a better understanding of how biomolecular condensates form

It has only recently become known that two parallel systems of blood formation exist in the body. Researchers at the DKFZ have developed a method to examine both systems separately in mice for the first time. Their surprising finding: the majority of immune cells do not originate from classic blood stem cells in the bone marrow, but from precursor cells that are independent of blood stem cells and are already present in the embryo.

Heidelberg University has been successful in the current approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) with three grant applications for major research consortia. In the life sciences and medicine, a Collaborative Research Centre working on the Wnt signaling pathway will enter its third funding period. Two transregional consortia with major participation by researchers from Ruperto Carola have also been extended.

In the current selection round, the German Research Foundation (DFG) has granted funding for two new Collaborative Research Centres at the University of Konstanz. Over the next four years, the research teams will be working intensively on trigger signals in biological cells as well as on "silence" and "noise" in human speech.

Dossier - 20/11/2025

Prevention as the key to health

Many serious illnesses can be prevented or at least mitigated through healthy lifestyles and early diagnosis. However, effective prevention requires holistic approaches at all levels of healthcare and the reinforcement of individual health literacy.

Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center and the University of Freiburg show how certain painkillers influence the iron metabolism of liver cancer cells and can thus contribute to iron deficiency and anemia in cancer patients.

A team from the DZHK sites in Heidelberg/Mannheim and Berlin has discovered that a single enzyme in the heart plays a key role in determining whether the organ develops in a healthy manner. If this molecular protective factor is missing, serious congenital heart defects can develop.

Ependymomas, brain tumors that occur particularly in young children, are especially difficult to treat and more than half of the children affected have an increased risk of relapse. As part of an international consortium, the KiTZ, the DKFZ, the MFHD and UKHD have received a grant of 1.5 million pounds sterling (GBP) from the British organization The Brain Tumor Charity to develop a new type of immunotherapy for ependymoma.

Developing replacement methods for animal testing is the main goal of the 3R network. One of three new 3R centres in Baden-Württemberg was launched at Ulm University at the beginning of the year and has now officially started work with a kick-off event. The abbreviation 3R stands for "Replace, Reduce, Refine", i.e. replace and reduce animal testing and improve the conditions for unavoidable animal experiments.

Tumors are not a comfortable place to live: oxygen deficiency, nutrient scarcity, and the accumulation of sometimes harmful metabolic products constantly stress cancer cells. A research team from the DKFZ and the IMP in Vienna has now discovered that the acidic pH value in tumor tissue is a decisive factor in how pancreatic cancer cells adapt their energy metabolism in order to survive under these adverse conditions.

EMBL scientists created SDR-seq, a tool for single-cell DNA-RNA-sequencing that studies both DNA and RNA simultaneously, linking coding and non-coding genetic variants to gene expression in the same single cell.

An imaging technique developed by Freiburg researchers provides insights into cardiac arrhythmias that can cause sudden cardiac death in animal models. The changes discovered could explain why even seemingly healthy people are sometimes affected.