Article - 10/03/2021

Faster to single cells using miniature grinder

Tissue cells are needed for medical diagnostics, cell therapies and tissue engineering, among other things. A novel tissue grinder gently and automatically dissociates cells from tissue. In November 2020, the newly founded biotech company Fast Forward Discoveries GmbH (FFX) delivered its first tissue grinders to customers.

So-called silent mutations have no effect on the composition of a protein. They are therefore not considered to promote cancer. However, scientists from the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), partner site Essen, now describe in a case of kidney cancer an overlooked silent mutation with a major impact on prognosis.

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…

An international research team involving the universities of Paraná and Tübingen has developed a rapid test that can reliably identify Covid-19 antibodies in the blood within minutes. As the researchers report in the journal ACS Sensors, the new process is based on a simple measuring principle making it easy to carry out without expensive instruments, and is therefore suitable for use at mobile testing centers or by laboratories.

Development of the genomDE genome database - 04/12/2020

Whole genome sequencing for diagnosing rare diseases

Grouped together, rare diseases are by no means a rare phenomenon; however, they are rarely correctly diagnosed and rarely properly treated. In most cases, there is no effective medication available. Rare disease centres staffed by experts have been set up in many German cities to speed up the often long and painful search for the right diagnosis and treatment. Whole genome sequencing is a component of general healthcare, used to identify…

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…

Lab-on-a-chip - 11/11/2020

Microfluidic platform for the best possible cancer therapy

Every tumour and every patient is different, and there are individual reactions to drugs as well as the problem of resistance. Patient-specific cancer treatments require innovative and cost-effective approaches. The TheraMe! consortium has developed a novel instrument: a combination of microfluidic experiments and mathematical modelling for use in cancer precision medicine to prevent incorrect therapy options.

Article - 04/11/2020

Rapid coronavirus test delivers results in 43 minutes

The Hahn-Schickard Institute and Spindiag GmbH in Freiburg im Breisgau have joined forces to develop a rapid test used at the point of care. The test takes just 43 minutes to show whether a patient is infected with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The rapid test is expected to be given market approval in Germany and the EU during the final quarter of 2020.

CeGat GmbH - 06/08/2020

CeGaT: Specific coronavirus antibody test for all

Have I perhaps already had COVID-19 in the past? This is a question many of us have been asking. Reliable tests that would provide the answer have simply not been available until now. However, the Tübingen-based biotech company CeGaT is now offering a coronavirus antibody test to anyone who wants one, thus answering this question with the highest probability currently possible. Response to the offer has been huge in the few weeks since the test…

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.

Microstructure Technology - 17/07/2020

An electronic nose for many applications

Sensory organs are sophisticated masterpieces of nature. That is why humans have often tried to copy them. Be it cameras or microphones - there are technical objects that have always been based on natural models such as the eye or the ear. For a long time, however, no artificial sense of smell has featured in the technical repertoire. Now researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed an electronic nose. It can…

Review article (new edition) - 08/07/2020

Immunology – at the forefront of medical progress

Immunology is constantly changing with the emergence of new technologies and areas of application, and has branched out in many directions. Immunological approaches are central to everything – be it the development of innovative active substances and vaccinations against cancer, the search for new therapies against neurodegenerative diseases or autoimmune diseases, or combatting well-known infectious diseases or new virus epidemics.

Innovations in the field of endoscopy - 08/06/2020

Gastroscopies with pill cameras

A pill camera to examine the gastrointestinal tract that can be swallowed without major difficulty, controlled intuitively from the outside and deliver images in real time - why would any doctor or patient say no? To non-experts, it sounds more like science fiction but such a device is actually already in development: since 2019, Tübingen-based Ovesco Endoscopy AG and three partners have been working together on this in a project called nuEndo.

Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB - 24/04/2020

A rapid pyrogen test: the human immune system as model

Every year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.

Bioinspired technologies - 03/04/2020

Diagnostics with molecular scissors – is this also possible for on-site COVID-19 tests?

The CRISPR-Cas gene-editing technology is one of the most important developments in molecular biology in recent years. It utilises molecular scissors with which nucleic acids can be cut and edited almost arbitrarily. Researchers in Freiburg, Germany have now successfully used the technology for diagnostic purposes. They are currently working intensively on expanding the system to enable it to detect genome sequences of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Article - 22/10/2019

Using CAR T cells for treating cancer

After successes in the treatment of advanced blood cancers, CAR T-cell immunotherapy has become a major beacon of hope in oncology. The first therapies have received regulatory approval. Despite their success, these immunotherapies can have serious side effects. The company AVA Lifescience develops antibodies with high tumour specificity to use as the basis for effective precision-guided CAR T-cell therapies that are better tolerated by patients.

Vision Zero in oncology - 02/09/2019

Call for a comprehensive master plan for preventing and treating cancer

While a cancer-free world may seem unrealistic given the increasing numbers of cancer cases, we need to reach a social consensus that cancer deaths are unacceptable and that everything possible must be done to prevent them. Leading cancer researchers around the world are calling for more investment in prevention research and cancer screening to move towards the vision of a near cancer-free world.

Article - 26/07/2019

New test assay leads to discovery of new influenza virus infection route

Researchers from the University of Freiburg have recently discovered a completely new mechanism that influenza viruses use to infect cells. This discovery was partly made possible by a so-called emulsion coupling assay - an extremely sensitive, digital detection method developed by Actome GmbH in collaboration with scientists from the Freiburg University of Applied Sciences and Hahn-Schickard. The assay is used to count individual molecules and…

Expert interview on NTDs – part 2 - 29/05/2019

Neglected tropical diseases - Gisela Schneider: the burden of disease

"Leaving no one behind". The motto of the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which was signed by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 makes clear that combatting poverty and its consequences is an essential part of sustainable development. The fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is defined as a major aim of the Agenda’s sustainable development goals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) regards twenty…

New edition - 24/05/2019

Tumour metastasis

Cancer is usually not curable when metastases have formed in the body. Metastases are often resistant to drugs that have successfully eliminated the primary tumour. The basic features of the complex process of metastasis are now known, but many details still remain elusive. Intensive research activities are focusing on new therapeutic concepts aimed at developing effective anti-metastatic therapies.

Expert interview - 13/05/2019

Innovation management in the life sciences – Inova DE provides insights

Personalized medicine, medical technology, digital health and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing diagnostics and product development. Analyses are becoming faster and more precise, and data volumes can now be networked and used effectively. The goal of improving people's quality of life is within reach, and this will also strengthen Germany’s future viability. However, not every good idea can be turned into a marketable commodity.…

Article - 16/04/2019

Tumour monitoring using liquid biopsy

Liquid biopsy, the analysis of cancer biomarkers and circulating tumour cells in body fluids such as blood, is revolutionising the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. It has also been possible to expand circulating tumour cells from the blood under laboratory conditions. It is expected that in the future, liquid biopsy will be able to precisely characterise tumour cells at every stage of a cancer.

Expert interview on NTDs – part 1 - 11/04/2019

Neglected tropical diseases – Carsten Köhler: impulses from Baden-Württemberg

More than one billion people worldwide suffer from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs are mostly poverty-related infectious diseases that prevail in tropical countries due to lack of research and measures to detect, prevent and control them. Dr. Dr. Carsten Köhler reports on the political, economic and scientific contributions Germany and Baden-Württemberg can make to successfully change this situation.

Article - 22/03/2019

Personalised therapies for treating metastasing breast cancer

Breast cancer is characterised by broad genetic diversity. Successful treatment is made even more difficult by the fact that, in advanced breast cancer, the properties of metastases often differ significantly from the primary tumour. The Heidelberg CATCH study is now collecting genetic profiles from patients' metastasis tissue samples, which can be used to tailor therapy to individual requirements.

Article - 10/01/2019

Stocktaking and recommendations for action: the BBAW’s fourth gene technology report

In the new gene technology report, the interdisciplinary working group of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) takes stock of gene technology developments in Germany during the past few decades, and discusses the societal, legal and ethical challenges associated with these technologies in the future. The report is highly topical due to the controversy surrounding the ruling of the European Court of Justice on CRISPR/Cas9 genome…