Healthcare industry

Article - 28/10/2009

Worn down and financially exhausted, but more popular than ever

When academic toxicologists in a German state join forces, it is virtually headline news. This is because the discipline is on the red list. Only in Baden-Württemberg does the number of toxicologists at university institutes justify the joining of forces. The ironic thing about this is that the competence of the rare species ”toxicologicus” is in greater demand than ever.

Article - 27/10/2009

Jürgen Bauer – investigating the development mechanisms of malignant melanomas

Professor Dr. Jürgen Bauer knows from experience that a scientific career cannot always be planned with military precision. The dermatologist from Tübingen has never shied away from making unusual decisions in order to achieve his goals. When he looks back on his career, he can see a broad range of research activities: initially, he focused mainly on the clinical and epidemiological aspects of melanomas; nowadays, his research concentrates on the…

Press release - 12/10/2009

KIT takes off – University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Research Centre merged into one single entity on 1st October 2009

Almost three years after winning the German government’s Excellence Initiative, the idea has now become reality: On 1st October 2009, the University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Research Centre (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe) merged to become a single legal entity known as the KIT, according to the Act on the Establishment of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Press release - 09/10/2009

BIOTECHNICA 2009 - turning ideas into value

BIOTECHNICA 2009 which took place in Hanover Germany from 6th to 8th October 2009 featured the seminal motto Turning ideas into value. The exhibition programme was rounded off by numerous talks and plenary discussions held at the joint Baden-Württemberg booth.

Press release - 22/09/2009

Nanoparticles: researchers to map protein corona

The way nanoparticles behave in the human body not only depends on their chemical structure. Of greater importance is the way they interact with biological molecules. Professor Gerd Ulrich Nienhaus at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has developed new methods that enable the quantitative measurement of these dynamic processes.

Article - 12/08/2009

More effective extraction of small RNAs

Small RNAs are gaining in importance in research as well as in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. However the potential of these molecules can only be exploited fully if very pure RNAs can be extracted from the cells in sufficiently high quantities. Currently used methods are expensive and only designed for large cell quantities. In addition the operation of the extraction systems is very complicated. A new biochip developed by Dr.…

Press release - 11/08/2009

Merger of the University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Research Centre

Federal Minister of Education and Research, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, and the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Science, Research and the Arts, Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, signed the administrative agreement on the merger of the Karlsruhe Research Centre and the University of Karlsruhe on 30 July 2009.

Article - 30/07/2009

Dragnet investigation for substance killers

The Ulm-based company Labor Dr. Merk Kollegen with over 40 employees is a specialist company identifying foreign bodies such as viruses bacteria and toxins in biopharmaceuticals and medical products. In addition the medium-sized company has been developing producing and marketing diagnostics for medical use for almost 40 years.

Article - 01/07/2009

KIT - Competence in bioprocess engineering

The purification of microbially produced substances such as proteins and polysaccharides and their separation from or release from within the cell are complex tasks in the field of biotechnology. The Bioprocess Engineering department of the Institute of Process Engineering in the Life Sciences TH deals with the development of integrated bioprocesses and is also involved in the separation of biopolymers.

Press release - 30/06/2009

The genome as glue

Many engineers who need to work with structured materials with small pores most likely dream of a glue that not only holds the tiny particles together, but also automatically brings them into contact at the correct distance from each other. Scientists under the leadership of Prof. Clemens Richert and Prof. Stefan Bräse at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a “bioglue” using a process that is summarised in the journal…

Press release - 22/06/2009

New important triggers for the migration of cancer cells

Embryonic cells and metastasising cancer cells are able to migrate and intrude into other tissues. Investigations of frog embryos have now provided scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with the information that a well-known protein, cadherin-11, triggers cell migration. This glycoprotein is also responsible for the defective behaviour of cells that results in prostate cancer and arthritis.

Press release - 10/06/2009

New Research Programme BioInterfaces launched

The research center Karlsruhe of the Helmholtz Association and the University of Karlsruhe are represented in the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The programme BioInterfaces brings together a team of scientist of several fields to build up a link between science and teachings. 67 research teams develop with an annual budget of approximately 20 Million Euro innovative tools and technologies for precisely controlling the behaviour of cells.

Press release - 11/05/2009

CellGenix Technologie Transfer GmbH: 15 years of innovation and market leadership

2009 is a very special year for CellGenix a biotechnology company located in Freiburg. The company is celebrating its 15th anniversary - 15 years of innovation and market leadership in the production of high-quality cell therapeutics and growth factors for clinical cell therapy.

Press release - 01/04/2009

Miniature proteins for safe implants

Scientists at the Institute for Biological Interfaces IBG at the KIT - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have succeeded in identifying highly effective protein chains which have the potential of being used as part of an anti-inflammatory protection layer on implants.

Dossier - 29/03/2009

Options for the food industry

Biotechnology has since found its way into the food industry and in fact into the entire value creation chain from raw material production to food processing to the sale of the final product. There are many ways in which biotechnology can contribute to better food products. These include the use of enzymes and microorganisms as well as in the production of food supplements and to improve analytic tests.

Press release - 12/03/2009

New strategy for the investigation of haematopoietic stem cells

With the newly developed mouse model irradiation is no longer required. While the mutation in the growth factor receptor Kit KitWWv weakens the recipients stem cell compartment and makes room for the incoming donor cells the other two mutations are known to prevent rejection of donor haematopoietic stem cells by the recipients immune system. Thus these mice appear to accept all blood stem cells regardless of the mouse strain origin of the…

Press release - 14/02/2009

Small but effective first aider

In Germany alone around 100000 people per year suffer from sudden cardiac arrest which frequently occurs as a result of cardiac infarction serious injuries following an accident or electric shock. The job of first aiders is often impeded by the fact that it is difficult to correctly diagnose the disorder. A new first-aid sensor is now able to quickly provide information about the cardiovascular state of the injured person

Press release - 28/01/2009

Research on fish

Following the expansion of the fish facilities at the Institute of Toxicology and Genetics (ITG) in Karlsruhe, Germany, the researchers from Karlsruhe now have more than 8,000 fish tanks at their disposal for research purposes. The ITG researchers’ principal area of focus is the systematic analysis of key molecules in development and regeneration processes, which makes an important contribution to the BioInterfaces research programme of the…

The Centre of Innovation Entrepreneurships activities consist of a broad spectrum of different well-matched modules. One of its core activities is the organisation of boot camps a new method supporting the establishment of new companies.

In future small bubbles will allow the identification of pathological alterations at a very early stage. Molecular imaging methods developed by Bracco Imaging S.p.A. use a new ultrasound contrast agent. The German subsidiary of the company Bracco Imaging Deutschland GmbH based in Constance develops and sells contrast agents.

Noroviruses often might be the causative agents of Nausea vomiting diarrhoea fever. The Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office in Stuttgart has now developed a method that enables the detection of these viruses on food.

In their early developmental stages living organisms are very sensitive to exposure to chemicals. Scientists at the KIT Institute of Toxicology and Genetics ITG have developed a model system with fish embryos to specifically identify the effects of environmental toxins at a very early point.

Things that work on a small scale are not necessarily as successful on a large one. It takes a lot of patience and money to scale up analytical or therapeutic processes from the laboratory to industrial production. A new platform consisting of several building blocks minimises the costs.

The University of Karlsruhe and the Karlsruhe Research Centre have set up the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. The signing of the cooperation agreement is the first milestone on the way to a total merger which both partners hope will eventually become reality.