Healthcare industry

Article - 07/06/2017

A gene that regulates body heat and fat storage

Researchers from Heidelberg have shown that the organismal balance between heat production and energy storage is regulated by a gene called THADA. In animal experiments, knocking out the THADA gene leads to excessive food intake, obesity and sensitivity to cold. As humans spread throughout the world and settled in different climate zones, THADA was exposed to high selection pressure due to evolutionary adaptation. This explains why human…

Article - 04/07/2017

Ruxolitinib – successful graft-versus-host disease treatment

Graft-versus-host disease is a serious complication in leukaemia patients who have been given a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically different person. Prof. Dr. Nikolas von Bubnoff and Prof. Dr. Robert Zeiser from the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Freiburg University Medical Centre initiated a Germany-wide study to show that an active substance called ruxolitinib has a promising therapeutic effect.…

Article - 14/05/2009

A multicentred approach for the treatment and prevention of diabetes

In order to counteract the increase in the number of diabetics it is necessary to take into account the entire psychosocial environment of the patients states Prof. Dr. Peter Nawroth a physician from Heidelberg University Hospital. The prevention of late complications must be a major goal of any treatment and patient consultation. By focusing on the development and investigation of the RAGE-dependent reaction system Nawroth and his team have…

Article - 15/10/2012

ERC Starting Grants 2012: Baden-Württemberg achieves above-average success

On September 10th 2012, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the results of the fifth funding round of its Starting Grants. Baden-Württemberg was awarded 13 grants, and is the state with the largest number of a total of 34 grants awarded to German life sciences researchers. Baden-Württemberg life sciences researchers will be receiving Starting Grants worth around 20 million euros.

Effective drugs for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system do exist. However, the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain as the body's control center, makes it especially difficult for therapeutic biomolecules to pass through. Thus, researchers from an international consortium coordinated by the Fraunhofer IGB have spent the last four and a half years developing a novel system in the EU project "N2B-patch"…

Article - 31/03/2014

The growing significance of peptide therapeutics

The therapeutic use of peptides lags behind that of proteins. And there are good reasons for this. However, it seems that this is beginning to change and that peptide therapeutics are growing in significance. As a matter of fact, peptides have become rather popular candidates for drugs.

Article - 30/03/2009

Innovative sunscreen for noninvasive therapies

The importance of sunlight for human health becomes particularly obvious when people do not receive sufficient sunlight. A prime example of this is rachitis also known as English disease which is caused by vitamin D deficiency. However the exposure to too much sunlight can also be dangerous. The Empfingen-based company HelioVital has now developed a special film that enables the therapeutic use of the positive effects of sunlight without causing…

Article - 14/07/2014

Andreas Marx – “Chemical Biology” of DNA polymerases

Whether inside the cell or in molecular biology laboratories, the synthesis of DNA would not be possible without DNA polymerases. The regulation and application of this versatile enzyme family is the subject of research carried out by Prof. Dr. Andreas Marx at the University of Konstanz in Southern Germany. In addition to basic research into naturally occurring DNA polymerases, Marx deals with the development of novel polymerases that can be used…

The actual age of a person not only depends on the date he or she was born. Biological age, which is far more important in determining lifespan, can so far only be estimated rather than precisely calculated. The European MARK-AGE research project is working on finding a solution to this problem. Esslingen plays a major role in this project for two reasons: the structure of the city and the company BioTeSys.

Article - 07/11/2011

Martin van der Laan and the labyrinth inside mitochondria

Mitochondria contain an intertwined membrane system that is necessary for the production of energy. Errors in the inner mitochondrial membrane architecture prevent energy from being produced. A group of researchers led by Dr. Martin van der Laan at the University of Freiburg in cooperation with partners has identified a protein complex that plays a key role in the architecture and functioning of the mitochondria.

Article - 14/07/2009

Tiny particles are a weapon against tumours

Prostate carcinoma is one of the most common malignant diseases claiming more than 84000 lives per year in the EU and the United States. In cooperation with the University of Constance the Thurgau Biotechnology Institute BITg is working on ways to remove prostate carcinomas and other tumours that are difficult to treat by using tiny particles made of biologically degradable polyester. Prof. Dr. Marcus Groettrup and his team of researchers have…

Article - 22/10/2012

syneed imaging: precise visualisation of functional tissue properties

Functional medical imaging modalities are of great significance in modern medical diagnostics. Existing ways of diagnosing diseases are now being expanded with the arrival of the innovative parameter imaging method. syneed imaging uses proprietary highly sensitive software for the analysis of dynamic image data. This software complements standard methods such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and increases the significance of…

Article - 30/05/2011

BioRN Innovation Center: Innovation broker for market and society

With the establishment of the BioRN Innovation Center in the Rhine-Neckar Life Science Cluster, a professional, specialist and neutral intermediary between science and industry will be available to support the transfer of technologies in all of the cluster’s research institutions. In addition, the BioRN Innovation Center acts as a partner for strategic alliances set up to reinforce the competitiveness of the institutions on the European and…

The new iNNOVATION fORUM of the Baden-Württemberg MicroMountains Network offered researchers and the medical device industry an intensive moderated dialogue and the chance to make new contacts and to improve their chances for future innovations.

Article - 08/12/2014

Stefan Hell – a Nobel Prize for a lateral thinker

Stefan Hell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of STED fluorescence microscopy which has made it possible to obtain optical images well below the optical diffraction limit. However, Hell does not really see himself as a developer. His passion is scientific principles, the identification of how things are connected and the exploration of new, uncharted paths.

Article - 29/04/2010

The biopharmaceutical industry remained stable in times of crisis

The German biopharmaceutical industry has come through 2009 without experiencing too many major slumps. The roaring growth of the biopharmaceutical industry in previous years has been replaced by more moderate growth. This is the result published by the 4th Medical Biotechnology report in 2010 compiled on behalf of the biotech interest group of the vfa bio Association of Research-Oriented Pharmaceutical Companies by the Boston Consulting Group.

At a virtual event on Tuesday, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems presented the broad scope of research its units will cover in the field of modern AI.

The Comprehensive Infectious Diseases Centre at the University of Ulm was recently presented to the public. The centre is responsible for coordinating the cooperation between specialists in the diagnosis and therapy of complex infectious diseases.

Article - 11/05/2009

Can stem cells treat diabetes?

Stem cells are seen as the miracle cure of the future for many degenerative diseases. Scientists and physicians also hope that stem cells will exert their regenerative effect in the treatment of diabetes type 1 which is caused by damaged tissue.

Article - 23/06/2009

Hepatitis B and the Münchhausen enzyme

Virologists in Prof. Dr. Michael Nassals group at the University Medical Centre in Freiburg are investigating the molecular mechanisms used by the hepatitis B virus to reproduce. The researchers work might in future be able to help the three to four hundred million people worldwide who suffer from chronic hepatitis B infections.

Article - 11/07/2010

Complex issues relating to membranes

Dr. Uwe Schulte of the Freiburg-based biotech company Logopharm GmbH is a specialist in the analysis of membrane proteins membrane protein complexes and functional networks involving membrane proteins. In an interview with BIOPRO Schulte expresses his views on the direction research should take.

Article - 11/02/2013

REGiNA – the health region for regenerative medicine

REGiNA is a users’ centre for regenerative medicine in the area bordered by the cities of Stuttgart and Tübingen and the Neckar-Alb region. It was established with the aim of translating a variety of advanced regenerative methods into broad clinical application. Providing a diverse and broad range of information, REGiNA is focused on making new treatment possibilities and the opportunities created by regenerative medicine known to doctors,…

An international team of scientists working on the largest diabetes study to date have found 12 new diabetes genes in around 140000 Europeans. One of the authors the endocrinologist Bernhard Böhm from Ulm considers the findings to be a breakthrough in the research and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Karin Bundschuh of BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg asked Dr. Jens Clausen how these developments should be viewed from an ethical perspective. The bioethicist spent many years studying the status of embryos the ethics of cloning and stem cell research.

Prof. Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek has recently become a member of the renowned Leopoldina Academy of Sciences. In her research the skin has become a model system that serves as the basis for a trans-organ systemic approach looking at the underlying mechanisms and the complex interactions with other organs.