Controllable microcatheters - 20/02/2025

Robot-assisted control of surgical instruments using magnetic resonance imaging

Catheter-based examinations and surgical procedures are severely limited by the restricted controllability of conventional instruments and harmful radiation exposure to both patients and medical staff caused by prolonged exposure to radiation during fluoroscopy. EndoSurge, a Stuttgart-based start-up, has developed innovative robotic microcatheters that can be precisely controlled using the magnetic field of an MRI device.

DNA nanotechnology - 25/08/2023

Artificial cytoskeleton made of DNA for synthetic cells

The physicists Prof. Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich and Prof. Dr. Laura Na Liu want to understand life from the bottom up. They intend to do this by constructing an artificial cell. However, rather than natural protein building blocks, they are using 3D-DNA structures as construction material. The first step involved creating an artificial cell skeleton that dynamically assembles and disassembles like the biological model and can transport vesicles.

Innovation in emergency medicine - 23/05/2024

CARL pushes back the boundaries of resuscitation therapy

Few people survive a cardiac arrest; blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs and the resulting lack of oxygen causes extensive damage to the body. In response to this, researchers at the University Medical Centre Freiburg and Resuscitec GmbH have developed CARL, an innovative resuscitation system, which – in addition to the oxygen level – adjusts numerous blood parameters to individual patient requirements. This greatly improves…

When embryos grow, cells and tissue are constantly bumping into each other. This creates mechanical tensions that could endanger their development. A team from University of Hohenheim and the Japanese RIKEN Center have discovered that fly embryos have strategies to deal with this pressure. The different species have developed two different solutions. This ability to control mechanical tension could be a key to why so many body plans have evolved.

NVision announced a $55 million Series B led by Abbott and unveiled PIQC, a new quantum computing platform built on its molecular quantum technology.

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.

Tumor cells circulating in the blood are the "germ cells" of breast cancer metastases. They are rare and could not be propagated in the culture dish until now, which made research into therapy resistance difficult. A team from the DKFZ, the Heidelberg Stem Cell Institute HI-STEM and the NCT Heidelberg has now succeeded for the first time in cultivating stable tumor organoids directly from blood samples of breast cancer patients.

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.

TGU Varimol - 24/07/2020

Click chemistry for new medical procedures

Using a simple molecular click process, biochemists have been able to connect ring-shaped molecules with each other and couple therapeutically active substances to these molecules. Drugs can thus be specifically delivered to diseased cells and used for imaging processes or biosensors. The Stuttgart-based start-up Varimol is using this new technology to provide its customers with tailored applications that are as simple to use as a kit.

New method for analysing blood samples - 26/11/2020

Personalised therapy monitoring for malignant melanomas

Immunotherapy has greatly improved the survival chances of patients with malignant melanoma. A study has now begun at the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital of Tübingen to develop a way to monitor the course of treatment as effectively as possible. It involves personalised monitoring using liquid biopsies in addition to conventional PET/CT examinations. This analysis procedure of blood samples could enable closer monitoring of…

Infection control - 07/01/2021

Gene accordions as potential markers for pathogenic properties

Bacteria must react to changes in the environment in order to survive. This is partly done by adapting genetic material, for example by multiplying and shortening individual genome segments. The research group led by Dr. Simon Heilbronner from the Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine at the University of Tübingen has shown that these so-called gene accordions are frequently found in the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

Tumour organoids facilitate drug discovery - 20/07/2023

Drug screening for children with cancer using patient-specific miniature tumours

Standard drugs often don’t work in children and adolescents with recurrent cancer. Researchers from the Hopp Children's Tumour Centre (KITZ) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg have been looking to open up new therapy options for those affected, and have cultivated individual miniature tumours from biopsy samples to test the effectiveness of a variety of drugs within a few weeks.

Cancer can take decades for cancer-promoting changes in the genome to eventually lead to the formation of a malignant tumor. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center have now developed a method that allows for the first time to reconstruct the temporal development—the evolution—of cancerous cells from a single tissue sample.

Mosses for pharmaceutical production - 16/09/2020

Factor H as a therapeutic option for viral diseases - including COVID-19

The search for drug candidates for COVID-19 diseases is well underway. Factor H, which is part of the innate immune system, might also be a future therapeutic option. The Freiburg-based biotech company eleva has developed a technology for producing this human protein in moss cells. The active ingredient, which might also have a regulatory effect in other diseases, is currently undergoing preclinical testing.

Article - 17/02/2021

Whole blood model enables development of early warning system for sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease that can be treated all the more successfully the faster therapy is initiated. It is not just the infection itself that is so dangerous, but a dysregulated response of the immune system. Physicians at Ulm University Hospital have now developed an animal-free test system that can be used to research the disease and develop innovative diagnostic tools to quickly assess a patient's sepsis risk and optimise…

Konstanz researchers discover the function of a previously unexplored protein: In three characteristic steps, "C12orf29" links the ends of RNA strands. Proteins that perform this kind of RNA ligation were previously unknown in humans. The results of the study suggest that it is important for RNA repair during cellular stress.

A high-fat, high-sugar diet damages the liver in the long term. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now identified a characteristic change in the molecular signaling pathways of liver cells in mice that were exposed to such a diet for weeks. It fuels the division activity of hepatocytes and correlates with the risk of patients suffering liver failure after liver surgery.

Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels is not only making the continent economically and politically vulnerable, it also has consequences for the population’s health. Growing air pollution, heat damage and the climate-related spread of infectious diseases are looming, warns the 2026 Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which its co-directors are about to present to the public.

Dossier - 02/12/2013

RNA interference confidence is returning

The 15-year history of RNA interference is not short on dramatic effects. It begins with the unexpected discovery and publication of the process of post-transcriptional gene silencing in 1998 for which Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine just eight years after their discovery. In 2001 Thomas Tuschl succeeded in switching off genes in human cells with small synthetic pieces of RNA siRNA.

Researchers from Freiburg and Harvard publish the three-dimensional structure of the B cell antigen receptor, shedding new light on its composition.

Using animal-free methods to assess the hazard potential of chemicals to the nervous system of unborn children? An international research team including toxicologists from Konstanz and Düsseldorf has developed a testing battery based on human cells that has the potential to replace traditional methods for assessing developmental neurotoxicity.

Led by researchers from Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the University of California, San Francisco (USA), an international research team has evaluated a novel approach for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The method enables detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis without laboratory infrastructure, within a markedly shorter time frame than conventional diagnostics, and using a simple swab.

The recently established ITCC-P4 gGmbH provides academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies with a comprehensive repertoire of modern laboratory models of pediatric tumors. The aim is to systematically test new treatment options for children and adolescents with cancer and to contribute data to regulatory approval processes in order to make the development of new cancer therapies for children and adolescents more attractive.

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.

A new technique based on labelled sugar molecules is providing previously unknown insights into the inner ear. A study by the University of Konstanz and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin shows that the cupula in the inner ear of zebrafish completely regenerates within approximately two months. These findings open up a new avenue for research into sudden hearing loss and acute disorders of the sense of balance.