Healthcare industry

DZNE researchers discover link between the protein medin and Alzheimer's disease. The protein medin is deposited in the blood vessels of the brains of Alzheimer's patients along with the protein amyloid-β. DZNE Researchers have discovered this so-called co-aggregation. They have now published their observation in the renowned journal Nature.

MEDICA and COMPAMED continue to develop in an extremely vital manner. The world's leading medical trade fair and the international No. 1 for the medical technology supply sector once again impressively underscored their positive results from the previous year with strong numbers – despite continuing adverse conditions. A significant increase in bookings on the part of the exhibiting companies was followed after four days by a marked increase…

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.

Heidelberg University scientists are to receive three ERC Synergy Grants – three highly endowed grants of the European Research Council – for pioneering research projects by several teams working in collaboration.

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

Although just cute little creatures at first glance, the microscopic geckos and octopuses fabricated by 3D laser printing in the molecular engineering labs at Heidelberg University could open up new opportunities in fields such as microrobotics or biomedicine. The printed microstructures are made from novel materials – known as smart polymers – whose size and mechanical properties can be tuned on demand and with high precision.

Innovative engineering approaches to research and teaching are at the core of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, which Heidelberg University founded with the aim of pooling its technical and scientific expertise and expanding its range of research and subjects in an area of competence that is developing dynamically.

Today, genome editing is almost as easy as programming software. However, the generation of viral vectors as initial material is still associated with many expensive and error-prone handling procedures. Viruses are generated via complex biological processes that have to be optimised virus-specifically in order to produce high-quality therapeutics. A new method is needed that simplifies and optimises these processes.

Does COVID-19 vaccination increase the risk of cancer patients undergoing therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to suffer a dangerous immune complication known as a "cytokine release syndrome"? A team of Heidelberg physicians and scientists has now shown in a clinical study: Increased serum levels of the characteristic cytokines occur frequently in cancer patients, but clinically relevant cases of the dreaded syndrome were not…

Robot arm for greater accuracy - 08/06/2022

guidoo: robotic assistance for fast and precise biopsies

Needle-based procedures through the skin, such as biopsies of internal organs, not only require a great deal of skill and experience, but they also take time. Fraunhofer IPA Mannheim, together with BEC GmbH from Pfullingen, is developing a robotic surgical assistance system that supports the correct positioning and angulation of a needle with the help of a guide sleeve. This significantly speeds up the procedure while maintaining precision.

The nuclease Cas13b associated with the CRISPR gene scissors, which is an enzyme that degrades nucleic acids, has the potential to be used in the future in hereditary diseases to switch off unwanted genes. In the fight against infections, this nuclease is also being researched as an antiviral agent, as Cas13b can specifically intervene in the genetic material of viruses and render them harmless.

BioLabs, the premier developer and operator of life science coworking spaces, is thrilled to welcome its first three inaugural tenants to its Heidelberg location: Anavo Therapeutics, faCellitate, and Phialogics. BioLabs has announced BioRN, the leading non-profit membership network in the Rhine-Neckar region, as its Founding Partner. This partnership will enable BioLabs to adapt their business model to the German biotech system.

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is funding a new Emmy Noether junior research group at the DKFZ for six years with a total of around 2 million euros. The scientists and doctors, who are part of the Clinical Cooperation Unit for Pediatric Leukemia at the KiTZ, are using a new procedure to investigate how cancer cells manipulate the formation of proteins to become resistant to cancer drugs.

Spindiag GmbH, together with the University of Freiburg and the Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft für angewandte Forschung e.V., was awarded the Technology Transfer Prize 2020 from the German Physical Society (DPG) on April 09, 2022 for the development of the PCR-based rapid test system Rhonda.

On March 23, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to the first targeted radioligand therapy against metastatic prostate cancer based on a joint patent of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Heidelberg. The agent significantly improves the chances of survival for those affected.

Through the Endeavour Awards, the Mark Foundation supports research projects that bring together scientists from different disciplines to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. One of the only four Endeavour Awards presented this year goes to a project coordinated by scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).

Inspiration, innovation, networking are the name of the game on April 12, 2022, when the trinational event “Innovation Day Upper Rhine” (IDUR) takes place at the Palais Universitaire on the University of Strasbourg campus. Twelve universities in the Upper Rhine region, including the University of Freiburg and 100 partner companies of the EU funded project “Knowledge Transfer Upper Rhine” (KTUR), invite to a day of exchange and meeting.

5G-OR is one of the 4 winning projects jointly selected by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action in Germany and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Relaunch in France for the call “Technical developments and application ecosystems for 5G private networks”. The joint Franco-German 5G-OR project takes up the challenge in the healthcare domain.

Researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg have demonstrated for the first time that there is a link between the development of colorectal cancer in individuals with Lynch syndrome and the composition of immune cells in the colorectal mucosa.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), will soon publish the first edition of its classification of childhood cancers. The new WHO classification forms the basis of modern, precise cancer diagnostics for physicians and pediatric oncologists worldwide and is based on the latest international research findings.

A new interdisciplinary research project aims to uncover information that can help decode hereditary colon cancer with the aid of mathematical models. Mathematicians and tumour biologists of Heidelberg University, the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Heidelberg University Hospital, and the German Cancer Research Center are collaborating on the project.

As cancer progresses, the tumor cells continually change, ultimately resulting in a tumor consisting of a large number of different cell clones with different characteristics. This is referred to as "tumor heterogeneity". In many cases, the cancer cells become resistant to the treatments available.

Treatment resistance is a central problem in the treatment of cancer. Bone and soft tissue tumors – known as sarcomas – in adolescents and young adults often stop responding to treatment too. This is because cancer cells develop a large number of new characteristics as the disease progresses and often become resistant to drugs that were originally effective.

Doctors and scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and from Heidelberg University's Medical Faculty Mannheim have successfully tested a neoantigen-specific transgenic immune cell therapy for malignant brain tumors for the first time using an experimental model in mice.