Healthcare industry

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 - 26/04/2017

Chaperones disassemble Parkinson’s disease-specific amyloid fibrils

Amyloid fibrils consisting of clumped α-synuclein protein are characteristic of Parkinson's disease. Chaperones, which ensure the correct folding of newly synthesised polypeptides, can inhibit α-synuclein aggregation and, as a consequence, prevent fibrils from forming. Researchers from Heidelberg have shown that a specific combination of human molecular chaperones is able to disassemble fibrils and transform them into non-toxic α-synuclein…

Article - 12/04/2017

Imaging flow cytometry – introducing a new era of imaging

High-resolution images or quantifiable results? Up until now, researchers usually had to choose. All this has now changed thanks to a single device known as an imaging flow cytometer that combines fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The new device gives new insights into complex biological phenomena in cells. It is available for research purposes at the Research Centre for Women’s Health at the University Hospital of Tübingen, which…

Press release - 31/01/2017

Background Suppression for Super-resolution Light Microscopy

Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new fluorescence microscopy method: STEDD (Stimulation Emission Double Depletion) nanoscopy produces images of highest resolution with suppressed background. The new method yields an enhanced image quality, which is advantageous when analyzing three-dimensional, densely arranged subcellular structures. STEDD, a further development of the STED method, is now presented in…

Article - 11/07/2016

Endogenous oxidants: biosensor monitoring of metabolic conditions in living organisms

The oxidation state of the cells in our body is very important for us: if the normal balance of the distribution of endogenous oxidants is disturbed or if they attack cellular structures, cells are either unable or only partially able to fulfil their functions, and diseases develop. Dr. Tobias Dick and his team of researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg have now developed a biosensor that facilitates real-time…

Company profile - 05/07/2016

HS-Analysis GmbH – using digital histology to develop new drugs

The idea of analysing tissue samples automatically sounds more of a pipe dream than anything else. However, it already happens. HS-Analysis GmbH's ability to interpret tissue samples automatically is driving new drug development a decisive step forward.

Article - 24/03/2016

Retrospective: Meet & Match "Optical Imaging: Future Trends in Medical Applications"

The Meet & Match event “Optical Imaging: Future Trends in Medical Applications” – organised by BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH and the Fraunhofer Project Group for Automation in Medicine and Biotechnology (PAMB) in Mannheim on 9th March 2016 - attracted around 80 participants. Interesting lectures provided in-depth insights into future trends in optical imaging in medical applications.

Article - 26/10/2015

Ultrafast STED nanoscopy

Nobel Laureate Stefan Hell and his team at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have achieved yet another milestone in super-resolved optical microscopy. The team have developed an ultrafast STED (stimulation emission depletion) nanoscope that now makes it possible to study molecular processes and transport processes in living cells in millisecond time steps.

Article - 21/09/2015

Venneos: technology that looks at cells differently

The images of living cells that Venneos GmbH delivers are quite different from those captured by light microscopes. This is because the company, which was established in 2014, uses semi-conductors rather than optical lenses, thus opening up entirely new ways to analyse cells.

Venneos GmbH is based in Stuttgart and develops a novel imaging system for the analysis of biological cells. A consortium of business angels and family offices, along with the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Max Planck Society invest in the company to develop a market-ready product and prepare the market entry of the first product generation.

Article - 01/06/2015

A protein complex that maintains order in the cell

Researchers believe that the defective transport of proteins can be linked with diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Prof. Dr. Elke Deuerling and Dr. Martin Gamerdinger, molecular biologists from the University of Konstanz, have now discovered what is necessary to prevent erroneous protein transport.

Article - 02/03/2015

EU supports biophysicists from Ulm to elucidate the structure of chromatin

Human DNA consists of three billion base pairs, which corresponds to a total length of approximately two metres. DNA must be compressed 200,000-fold in order to fit into the tiny nuclei of mammalian cells. The thread-like complex of DNA and proteins is called chromatin. Although chromatin has been widely studied, relatively little is yet known about the spatial and temporal organisation of chromatin in interphase cells.

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.

Press release - 09/10/2014

Stefan Hell - Nobel Prize in Chemistry

For the second time a researcher at the DKFZ has been awarded the highest distinction in science: Professor Stefan Hell, director of the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and department head at the DKFZ, has been awarded this year´s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work in the field of ultra high resolution fluorescence microscopy. This follows the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for Harald zur Hausen.

Dossier - 02/06/2014

Bioanalysis – techniques for the characterization of biological material

Science constantly provides researchers with new challenges biologists and bioanalysts have to deal with and which come from sources as varied as the ever increasing number of resistant pathogenic bacterial strains or the famine conditions in Third-World countries. In the search for scientific truths bioanalysis is the development optimization and application of the entire range of analytical methods available. However we need to keep in mind…

Dossier - 28/04/2014

Data mining: new opportunities for medicine and public health

Research and healthcare activities produce huge quantities of data that need to be presented in an understandable structure. This requires computer-assisted extraction of relevant data and the use of statistical methods. This process, known as data mining, enables the discovery of patterns in large data sets. Data mining methods are of particular importance in fields that use high-throughput methods, visualisation methods and telemedical…

Article - 22/07/2013

Marcus Fändrich strengthens protein biochemistry at Ulm University

After quite a long vacancy the directors post of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Ulm has finally been filled. Marcus Fändrich and his team moved into the laboratories and offices of the new life sciences building on the Oberer Eselsberg Ulm University campus in November 2012. Fändrich fills a gap in the Ulm Bioregions biopharmaceutical education activities as he will not only be teaching biochemistry…

Article - 31/12/2012

siRNA for the regeneration of tissue and nerves

Regenerative medicine is increasingly making use of siRNA to turn off proteins that prevent the application of regenerative therapies. Researchers at the NMI in Reutlingen develop siRNA technologies that have the potential to prevent the development of fibroses, the encapsulation of implants and improve the regeneration of nerves.

Article - 29/10/2012

Tilman Schäffer: Biology and medicine – from the point of view of physics

Tilman Schäffer at the University of Tübingen creates a bridge between physics, biology and medicine. His speciality is innovative microscopic detection methods such as atomic force microscopy. In addition to application, Schäffer is working on improving scanning probe microscopy instrumentation and methods.

Article - 23/07/2012

The identification of stress molecules in living fish

Fireflies use light to attract mates and hunt prey the zebrafish in Dr. Thomas Dickmeis laboratory mainly glow in situations of stress. The biologist from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT and two of his doctoral students have created a zebrafish line that can be used as a high-throughput test system for glucocorticoid hormones. Pharmaceutical companies might in future be able to use living vertebrate models i.e. zebrafish to test new…

Press release - 14/03/2012

How a natural antibiotic found in sweat affects microorganisms

The skin creates a barrier between the body and its environment. Natural antibiotics that can kill potential pathogens such as bacteria or fungi represent an additional level of protection by the immune system. Dermcidin one such antibiotic produced in human sweat glands is active against a number of microorganisms on the skin. A team of scientists from the University Hospital Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology were…

Article - 06/02/2012

Ten outstanding ideas in biotechnology and medical technology

The results of the feasibility studies funded under the Idea Competition in Biotechnology and Medical Technology were presented in the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart between 16th and 18th January 2012. Ten of the 42 project ideas were recommended for further funding.

Press release - 04/11/2011

Alternate ending – living on without telomerase

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have discovered an alternative mechanism for the extension of the telomere repeat sequence by DNA repair enzymes.

Article - 25/07/2011

Cell culture technology: hamster cells and the production of biopharmaceuticals

Biopharmaceuticals are one of the best selling drugs. The majority of successful biopharmaceutical ingredients are produced in CHO cell lines. Strong competition forces biopharmaceutical producers to continuously improve the drug development process and the production methods, which requires highly qualified experts.

Article - 12/07/2011

Deeper insight into the activity of the cortex

Visual and tactile objects in our surroundings are translated into a perception by complex interactions of neurons in the cortex. The principles underlying spatial and temporal organization of neuronal activity during decision-making and object perception are not well understood yet. Jason Kerr from Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, in collaboration with Winfried Denk from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research…