Review - 09/02/2023

5th Gene Technology Report – a critical observation of a cutting-edge technology

The societal importance of genetic technologies was demonstrated during the coronavirus pandemic, when it was possible to rapidly develop suitable vaccines thanks to genetic engineering methods. As a result, the Fifth Gene Technology Report published in autumn 2021 reads like a validation of many years of work, as well as making it clear that the will to continue the detailed long-term monitoring is very much present.

This month marks the launch of an outstanding project integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and neuromedicine – the Hertie Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Brain Health (Hertie AI). Founded on February 1 at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen, it will be the first institute in Germany to research the prevention and early diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system using artificial intelligence methods.

Patients have 30 percent fewer serious side effects when medication doses are tailored to their genetic profile. This is what an international research consortium has found out, including the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at the Bosch Health Campus. With an individual DNA medication pass, as used in the study, treatments can be made more effective and safer in the future.

Non-profit limited liability company creates institutional framework for interdisciplinary research collaboration, innovative technology development and outstanding healthcare in the Rhine-Neckar region.

Photon-counting technology - 01/02/2023

PC3 consortium: innovative computed tomography for Baden-Württemberg

The University Hospitals of Freiburg, Tübingen and Mannheim have been cooperating with each other since 2021 to test new types of computed tomography devices. With the help of photon-counting technology, the aim is not only to improve patient care, but also to encourage local companies to develop downstream data processing technologies.

In the 2022 allocation round for the award of the prestigious Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have been successful. For their projects in the fields of photovoltaics and medical sensor technology, physicist Ulrich W. Paetzold and chemist Frank Biedermann will receive approximately two million euros over the next five years.

Resource efficiency, time and cost savings are essential topics in the textile and apparel industry. The advantages of digital manufacturing apply not only to fashion, but also to medical textiles. To this end, the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) have developed a digital platform that can be used to produce precisely fitting flexible textile orthoses in a resource-, time- and cost-efficient manner.

Automated pain recognition - 25/01/2023

Using artificial intelligence to improve pain management

Psychologists from Ulm and their cooperation partners have developed algorithms for automated pain recognition in order to be able to dose painkillers more precisely. The researchers are now looking for industrial partners to take their project to application.

Cancer immunotherapies often fail because the immune cells are paralysed by immunosuppressive conditions in the tumor. Scientists from Heidelberg, Mannheim and Tel Aviv have now shown on tissue samples from patients as well as on tumor models in mice that the functionality of the immune defence depends decisively on certain helper cells.

Heidelberg scientists succeed in boosting the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 and related methods and modifying initially inaccessible DNA sequences.

Brain-computer interfaces are able to restore some mobility to paralyzed people by controlling exoskeletons. However, more complex control signals cannot yet be read from the head surface because conventional sensors are not sensitive enough. A collaboration of Fraunhofer IAF, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Stuttgart and other industrial partners has taken up this challenge.

With the "Česká Hlava" awards, the Czech government has been honoring the country's most brilliant minds every year since 2002 and recognizing exceptional achievements in research, development and innovation. Martina Benešová-Schäfer of the German Cancer Research Center was among the six laureates honored in 2022 at Charles University in Prague.

After infections or blood loss, the body must compensate for the loss of blood cells as quickly as possible. This has long been considered the task of the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. But scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now discovered in mice that a certain population of progenitor cells takes over this task: This accelerates the regeneration of the blood cells.

Acute Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a life-threatening complication after leukemia treatment with allogeneic stem cell transplantation i.e. the transplantation of cells from another person. GvHD occurs when the transplanted immune cells are overly active and damage the receiving patient's healthy tissue. Researchers found that an endogenous molecule can mitigate this misdirected immune response.

The hospital pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires the sugar-binding proteins LecA and LecB to form biofilms as well as to attach to and penetrate host cells. These so-called lectins are therefore suitable targets for active substances to combat Pseudomonas infections. Researchers from Saarbrücken and Freiburg have now produced potent inhibitors for LecA and LecB that are more stable and soluble than previous drug candidates.

Researchers at the University of Freiburg Medical School led by Prof. Dr. Johannes Letzkus and the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research have discovered that a little-studied area of the brain, the "zone of uncertainty" or "zona incerta," communicates with the neocortex in unconventional ways to rapidly control memory formation.

Using new microscopic methods in combination with machine learning-based image analysis, researchers from Freiburg have discovered new structures on the surface of living B cells that affect the distribution and possibly the function of their antigen receptors. The researchers' study has been published in The EMBO Journal.

Value-based healthcare - 11/01/2023

High-quality healthcare pays off

High-quality medical treatment is not only worthwhile for ill persons. The Division of Health Economics at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, headed up by Prof. Dr. Michael Schlander, together with researchers from Dresden, has carried out a cost-effectiveness analysis that shows that certified colon cancer centres provide not only better but also more cost-effective care than other clinics.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced positive preliminary data from ongoing Phase 1 clinical programs in COVID-19 and seasonal flu, assessing both modified and unmodified mRNA technology. The tested vaccine candidates are being developed in collaboration with GSK.

Mitochondria are considered to be the power plants of cells and are essential for human metabolism. Dysfunction in 40 percent of mitochondrial proteins are associated with human diseases, which is why mitochondria also play an important role in medical research. A previously unexplained process in the complex mitochondria was the formation of their barrel pores.

In our bones, specialized cells called osteoblasts are responsible for building up bone substance. A team of researchers led by scientists from the DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim* and the University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf has now identified an enzyme that controls the activity of osteoblasts.

Heidelberg scientists decode the genetic foundations of rapid testicle evolution in mammals and humans. Evolutionary pressure across male mammals to guarantee the procreation of their own offspring led to a rapid evolution of the testicle.

Inhibition of a protein complex in cells of the immune system prevents rejection of transplanted organs – this has been shown in a study by immunologists from the University of Konstanz, the Biotechnology Institute Thurgau (BITg) and Chongqing Cancer University Hospital.

On December 13, 2022, the European Commission granted approval to a drug against metastatic prostate cancer whose active ingredient was developed under the leadership of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in collaboration with Heidelberg University Hospital and Heidelberg University. The drug can significantly improve the survival chances of patients.

Neurodegenerative diseases - 12/12/2022

Blood-based biomarkers allow the early prediction of Alzheimer's risks

Most dementia diseases develop insidiously and are only detected at an advanced stage. Researchers at the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now identified the glial fibre acidic protein (GFAP) in the blood as a promising biomarker that can be used to determine an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease up to 17 years before diagnosis.