Researchers at University of Galway, the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) Heidelberg University, and Heidelberg University Hospital have created digital babies to better understand infants’ health in their critical first 180 days of life. The international team created computer models that simulate the unique metabolic processes of each baby. The models can help to better understand rare metabolic diseases.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen developed the groundbreaking tool SynTracker. SynTracker expands traditional microbial analysis by considering genomic structural variation to complement existing SNP-based methods. This innovation reveals more precision and depths of microbial strain diversity and evolution.

Gender-specific differences - 18/06/2024

Gender medicine: Why is good healthcare not a matter of course for everyone?

Gender medicine is the study of gender-specific health differences. Many diseases manifest themselves differently in men and women and therapies do not always have the same effect depending on the sex of the patient being treated. There is currently not enough data on these differences. Research teams including the one led by Professor Dr. Dr. Sonja Loges from the University Medical Centre Mannheim and the DKFZ are seeking to change this.

Cancer genomes are the result of diverse mutation processes. Scientists have analyzed the molecular evolution of tumors after exposure to mutagenic chemicals. DNA lesions that persists unrepaired over several cell generations lead to sequence variations at the site of damage. This enabled the researchers to distinguish the contribution of the triggering lesion from that of the subsequent repair in shaping the mutation pattern.

Depending on whether the cell nucleus of an epithelial cell is located on the outer or inner side of the tissue, the genome is more or less acetylated - genes can therefore be translated easier or harder. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have demonstrated this for the first time in the development of the Drosophila wing.

Invasive infections such as sepsis require immediate and targeted treatment. Experts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and group partners have succeeded in establishing a reconceptualized detection principle that can make a crucial contribution to saving lives through fast, ultra-accurate pathogen identification. They have been chosen to receive the 2024 Stifterverband Science Prize for their efforts.

Prof. Dr. Peter Loskill and Dr. Silke Riegger from the 3R Center Tübingen for in-vitro models and animal testing alternatives have been awarded the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize 2024. The prize, endowed with 80,000 euros, was awarded to them in Würzburg for the development of organ-on-chip (OoC) systems as an alternative to animal testing.

In the current approval round of the German Research Foundation (DFG) Heidelberg University has been successful with six applications for grants to fund major, internationally visible research consortia. The six research consortia − three of them will reach the maximum funding length of twelve years after their extension − are to receive financial resources totalling nearly 87 million euros over a period of four years.

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the European Bioinformatics Institute EMBL-EBI, Hinxton, UK, are using the Danish health registers to predict individual risks for 20 different types of cancer with a high degree of accuracy. The prediction model can also be transferred to other healthcare systems.

Together with colleagues from Israel and USA, HITS researcher Frauke Gräter investigates the effects of physical force on the collagen protein in two different animal model systems. Their goal is to measure the effects of mechanoradicals on the integrity of the tissue and the well-being of the organism, with impact on health and aging.

Colorectal cancer differs from patient to patient. That is why scientists are looking for characteristic tumors markers that allow to make predictions about the likely response to certain therapies and the individual prognosis. The aim is to identify colorectal cancer subtypes so that these can then be treated in a customized manner.

Fatty liver disease often leads to chronic liver inflammation and can even result in liver cancer. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Tuebingen have now shown in mice that intermittent fasting can halt this development.

Why 3,000 bars are needed to take a comprehensive look at a protein: Konstanz researchers Frederic Berner and Michael Kovermann present a new high-pressure spectroscopy method to unravel the properties of proteins' native structures.

Activated T cells that carry a certain marker protein on their surface are controlled by natural killer cells. In this way, the body presumably curbs destructive immune reactions. Researchers now discovered that NK cells can impair the effect of cancer therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors in this way. They could also be responsible for the rapid decline of therapeutic CAR-T cells.

Phase 1 part of combined Phase 1/2 study initiated as part of pandemic preparedness against highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus, considered to be potential future pandemic threat. Study will assess monovalent vaccine candidate, encoding an influenza A H5-antigen using proprietary second-generation mRNA backbone.

Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and myocardial infarction, are the world's leading causes of mortality, accounting for over 18 million deaths a year. A team of KIT researchers has now identified a new cell type in blood vessels responsible for vascular growth. This discovery may allow for novel therapeutic strategies to treat ischemic cardiovascular diseases, i.e. diseases that are caused by reduced or absent blood flow.

Cortisone and other related glucocorticoids are extremely effective at curbing excessive immune reactions. But previously, astonishingly little was known about how they exactly do that. A team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Uniklinikum Erlangen and Ulm University have now explored the molecular mechanism of action in greater detail.

Heidelberg Pharma AG (FSE: HPHA), a clinical stage biotech company developing innovative Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs), is pleased to announce that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for the treatment of multiple myeloma to its lead candidate HDP-101. Heidelberg Pharma is investigating the candidate in a clinical Phase I/IIa study for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen broke new ground by demonstrating that an HMG-box gene in brown algae is crucial for determining male sex. This breakthrough significantly expands our understanding of sex-determination mechanisms in eukaryotic organisms. Until now, master sex-determination genes had been identified in only a select number of animals and plants.

An Emmy Noether junior research group at Heidelberg University is investigating how to gain new insights into fundamental biological mechanisms from large-scale molecular data sets. Led by Junior Professor Dr Britta Velten, it has started work at the Centre for Organismal Studies and the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing.

Making a personalised T cell therapy for cancer patients currently takes at least six months; scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University Medical Center Mannheim have shown that the laborious first step of identifying tumor-reactive T cell receptors for patients can be replaced with a machine learning classifier that halves this time.

The results of a Tuebingen-led study raise hope that a newly developed drug could herald a new era in oncological liver surgery and transplantation. The drug could even have the potential to significantly improve the treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases. The drug candidate "HRX-215" is a so-called MKK4 inhibitor, i.e. the drug inhibits the MKK4 protein found in liver cells and thus leads to an increase in the regeneration of…

Stem cell research - 14/03/2024

Using organoids to gain a better clinical understanding of pancreatic cancer

Prof. Dr. Alexander Kleger carries out translational research at Ulm University Hospital to gain a better understanding of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and develop individualised treatments. He and his team are using organoid models and stem cell-based systems and have succeeded in simultaneously cultivating all three main cell types of the pancreas from pluripotent stem cells.

More than seven million people in Germany suffer from diabetes. At the same time, research into drugs to treat this widespread disease is still difficult. Scientists led by Prof. Dr. Peter Loskill from the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute and the Faculty of Medicine of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen have now developed a technique that significantly improves the view at the molecular and cell biological level in the pancreas.

Contrary to common belief, not all viruses are harmful to their hosts. Sometimes viruses can even protect their hosts from infection by other viruses. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and their collaborators have now demonstrated that this is the case for so-called endogenous virophages: small DNA viruses that are mostly found inserted into the genomes of single-cell eukaryotes.