Press release - 01/12/2011 Heidelberg molecular biologist to receive ERC Advanced Grant Generous funding in the form of an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council ERC has been awarded to the Heidelberg molecular biologist Prof. Dr. Victor Sourjik. The grant supports a research project in which Prof. Sourjik will investigate the evolution of cellular protein networks in microbes with the goal of improving our understanding of optimisation and adaptation processes in their evolutionary development. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/heidelberg-molecular-biologist-to-receive-erc-advanced-grant
Press release - 04/11/2011 “Junk DNA“ May Give Rise to Evolutionary Innovation The vast majority of the human genome consists of DNA without any apparent function so-called junk DNA. A study conducted by the scientists Dr. Laurence Ettwiller and Michael Eichenlaub at Heidelberg Universitys Centre for Organismal Studies COS now highlights this dark matter of the genome as a resource for evolutionary novelty.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/junk-dna-may-give-rise-to-evolutionary-innovation
Article - 26/10/2011 Simple nerve cells regulate swimming depth of marine plankton Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen Germany have identified some signaling substances in the nervous system of larvae of the marine annelid Platynereis regulating the swimming depth. These substances influence the ciliary beating and thus hold the larvae in the preferred water depth. The scientists discovered a very simple circuitry of nerve cells underlying this regulation reflecting an early evolutionary…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/simple-nerve-cells-regulate-swimming-depth-of-marine-plankton
Press release - 21/09/2011 Epigenetic changes don’t last First comprehensive inventory of epigenetic changes over several generations shows that these often do not last and therefore probably have limited effects on long-term evolution. The team around Detlef Weigel, director of the Department for Molecular Biology, focused on one of the most important epigenetic marks, methylation of DNA.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/epigenetic-changes-don-t-last
Article - 14/09/2011 Clemens Richert is investigating the evolutionary role of RNA Prof. Clemens Richert and his team of researchers from the University of Stuttgart are investigating the role of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the development of life on earth. An important issue that has not yet been solved is how double-strand RNA can be created without the involvement of enzymes. Richert’s experiments have led to a breakthrough discovery as well as some mechanistic explanations. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/clemens-richert-is-investigating-the-evolutionary-role-of-rna
Article - 12/09/2011 How snails can survive heat Professor Dr. Heinz-R. Köhler and Professor Dr. Rita Triebskorn two zoologists from the University of Tübingen are working with research teams from Avignon Esslingen Gießen and Le Havre to investigate how snails are able to adapt to extreme climatic conditions on the molecular cellular and physiological level. Their Hot Snail project is funded by the German Research Foundation DFG and its particular objective is to find out whether reactions to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/how-snails-can-survive-heat
Dossier - 22/08/2011 Stress and molecular defence mechanisms Organisms can experience stress from exposure to bacteria and pathogenic fungi; in fact, stress can arise from exposure to any type of environmental influence. As they have evolved, biological cells have developed numerous molecular mechanisms that enable them to survive even in inhospitable conditions. What kind of effects do abiotic stress factors have on plants and human beings? How do cells protect themselves? Are researchers able to increase…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/stress-and-molecular-defence-mechanisms
Press release - 02/08/2011 How the modular structure of proteins permits evolution to move forward Changes in a short protein domain can alter a whole signaling network involved in organ development – this is the key result of a comparative study of the development of the egg laying organ in two species of nematodes. However, the outward appearance of the organ remains the same in both species. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/how-the-modular-structure-of-proteins-permits-evolution-to-move-forward
Article - 04/07/2011 Stefan Rensing investigates the evolutionary transition from algae to land plants The biologist Prof. Dr. Stefan Rensing from the University of Freiburg has been involved in introducing the use of computers to the life sciences from the very beginning. His analyses of the moss genomes now help to close an important gap in evolutionary research how did algae become land plants?https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/stefan-rensing-investigates-the-evolutionary-transition-from-algae-to-land-plants
Dossier - 02/05/2011 Molecular bionics – inspirations from the microworld for the macroworld Knowledge about the molecular organisation of structural and functional biological properties has led to the establishment of a new field of research molecular bionics. Everything that can be learnt from the macromolecular observation of interesting natural phenomena is complemented in this field by observations on the smallest i.e. molecular level. Processes and materials that have been optimised in the course of evolution are thus able to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/molecular-bionics-inspirations-from-the-microworld-for-the-macroworld
Press release - 10/03/2011 European Commission and EMBL renew cooperation In a Memorandum of Understanding signed on march 4th, the European Commission (EC) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) formalise their desire to maintain and further develop their cooperation.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/european-commission-and-embl-renew-cooperation
Article - 13/12/2010 Christoph Kleineidam – communication without words Neuroethologist Dr. Christoph Kleineidam from the University of Konstanz focuses mainly on ants and their highly sensitive sensory system that allows them to communicate with each other by way of pheromones. He believes that these sensory mechanisms can be technologically implemented in the fields of thermosensor and chemosensor technology in the not-too-distant future.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/christoph-kleineidam-communication-without-words
Article - 03/12/2010 Review: Science meets Business Day 2010 (part II) How can plant physiologists and seed developers work together to achieve an understanding of the processes happening in the germinating plant embryo in order to improve the seed quality of sugar beet? How can virologists find new ways to switch off the flu virus and develop a marketable vaccine in cooperation with industrial partners?https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/review-science-meets-business-day-2010-part-ii
Press release - 19/11/2010 Males are more beneficial than previously assumed Zoologists from the University of Tübingen have published new findings on the sexual behaviour of threadworms in the renowned journal “Frontiers in Zoology“.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/males-are-more-beneficial-than-previously-assumed
Press release - 18/11/2010 A Code for evolutionary biology Alexandros (Alexis) Stamatakis heads the new research group “Scientific Computing” at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) – Software and supercomputing for large-scale biological data analysis. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/a-code-for-evolutionary-biology
Article - 08/11/2010 Molecular biology assisted by information theory What do the Internet and mobile communication have in common with the division of yeast cells and viruses? Quite a lot, says Martin Bossert, professor at the Institute of Telecommunication Technology and Applied Information Theory in Ulm. The 55-year-old engineer coordinates an interdisciplinary priority programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG, SPP 1395 Information and Communication Theory in Molecular Biology) that applies information…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/molecular-biology-assisted-by-information-theory
Press release - 06/11/2010 Dialects of the universal language of life In a cooperative research project carried out with Prof. Dr. Adam Eyre-Walker from Sussex University England the evolutionary biologists from Konstanz Falk Hildebrand and Prof. Axel Meyer investigated the patterns of GC mutations in the genome of 149 bacterial species. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/dialects-of-the-universal-language-of-life
Press release - 05/11/2010 Honey Bees: Genetic Labeling Decides About Blue Blood Queen bees and worker bees share the same genome, but they are different in the chemical labeling of about 550 genes. This has been discovered by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), jointly with colleagues in Australia. The cancer researchers had chosen the bee as a study object in order to understand how development can be so different in organisms with identical sequence of genetic material.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/honey-bees-genetic-labeling-decides-about-blue-blood
Article - 04/11/2010 Eye evolution in the animal kingdom For Darwin’s contemporary opponents the eye was so perfect and so complex that it could not possibly have developed as a result of natural selection. However, new evo-devo research findings show that the development of the eye is one of the cleverest and most convincing examples of evolution in animals.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/eye-evolution-in-the-animal-kingdom
Press release - 12/10/2010 Clarification of stem cell migration – hope for more effective bone marrow transplants Researchers from the University of Ulm, Germany, and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, USA, have shown that pharmacological inhibition of a signalling pathway triggered by EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) increased the mobilisation of haematopoietic stem cells in mice.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/clarification-of-stem-cell-migration-hope-for-more-effective-bone-marrow-transplants
Article - 20/09/2010 Ralf Sommer – his fascination with species diversity is at the heart of his career When he was at university many years ago Ralf J. Sommer the current director of the Tübingen-based Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology left no stone unturned in his attempts to decipher the mechanisms that enable nature to bring about new species. An exotic threadworm from an island in the Indian Ocean is now helping him solve some of the most exciting evolutionary puzzles.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/ralf-sommer-his-fascination-with-species-diversity-is-at-the-heart-of-his-career
Press release - 03/09/2010 Brainy worms: Evolution of the cerebral cortex Unexpectedly scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL in Heidelberg Germany have now discovered a true counterpart of the cerebral cortex in an invertebrate a marine worm. Their findings are published today in Cell and give an idea of what the most ancient higher brain centres looked like and what our distant ancestors used them for.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/brainy-worms-evolution-of-the-cerebral-cortex
Article - 23/08/2010 Antibiotics for the prevention of malaria Researchers from Heidelberg and Berlin have shown that if malaria-infected mice are administered an antibiotic, no parasites appear in the blood and the mice are protected from this life-threatening disease. The scientists believe that antibiotics also have the potential to strengthen the human immune system as well as making it possible to provide a natural needle-free vaccination against malaria.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/antibiotics-for-the-prevention-of-malaria
Press release - 05/07/2010 A worm bites off enough to chew Max Planck researchers have uncovered an ingenious evolutionary trick: a signalling chain is allocated several functions, enabling optimal adaptation to environmental conditionshttps://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/a-worm-bites-off-enough-to-chew
Press release - 20/06/2010 Evolution much faster than previously assumed It has taken lake cichlids in Nicaragua just 100 generations and the same number of years to evolve an entirely new physical feature very fat lips perched on a narrow pointy head. These evolutionary processes observed by Professor Dr. Axel Meyer from the University of Constance are a lot faster than they were previously believed to be. Evolutionary change can happen within a few decades.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/evolution-much-faster-than-previously-assumed