Press release - 29/11/2023 Tracing the Evolution of the Cerebellum Heidelberg scientists unveil genetic programmes controlling the development of cellular diversity in the cerebellum of humans and other mammals. The research results have now been published in the journal Nature.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/tracing-evolution-cerebellum
Press release - 10/11/2023 Therapy resistance in multiple myeloma: molecular analyses of individual cancer cells reveal new mechanisms All cancer cells - even those within the same tumor - differ from each other and change over the course of a cancer disease. Scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital, the Medical Faculty in Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center discovered molecular changes in multiple myeloma that help individual cancer cells to survive therapy.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/therapy-resistance-multiple-myeloma-molecular-analyses-individual-cancer-cells-reveal-new-mechanisms
Press release - 20/10/2023 Why tuberculosis bacteria form long chains A researcher team from Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne led by Dr. Vivek Thacker now group leader at the Department of Infectious Diseases at Heidelberg University Hospital have studied why tuberculosis bacteria form long strands and how this affects their infectivity. Their findings could lead to new therapies and have now been published in the journal Cell.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/why-tuberculosis-bacteria-form-long-chains
DNA nanotechnology - 25/08/2023 Artificial cytoskeleton made of DNA for synthetic cells The physicists Prof. Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich and Prof. Dr. Laura Na Liu want to understand life from the bottom up. They intend to do this by constructing an artificial cell. However, rather than natural protein building blocks, they are using 3D-DNA structures as construction material. The first step involved creating an artificial cell skeleton that dynamically assembles and disassembles like the biological model and can transport vesicles.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/artificial-cytoskeleton-made-dna-synthetic-cells
Press release - 02/08/2023 Freiburg research team casts light on signal-dependent formation of mitochondria Known as the power plant of the cell, mitochondria are essential to human metabolism. Human mitochondria consist of 1,300 different proteins and two fatty biomembranes. The vast majority of mitochondrial proteins are produced with a cleavable transport signal and have to be actively transported into the mitochondria. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/freiburger-forschungsteam-klaert-signalabhaengige-bildung-von-mitochondrien-auf
Optogenetic cell analysis - 15/05/2023 opto biolabs: how frustration and inventiveness led to the establishment of a company When she found she had no suitable illumination devices for her doctoral thesis, Dr. Kathrin Brenker simply created her own customised adapters and founded a company called opto biolabs. Now, Brenker and company co-founder Luis Köbele sell two different types of devices. The main goal is to equip laboratories with illumination technologies that allow optogenetics methods to be used to accelerate development of optogenetic therapeutics.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/opto-biolabs-how-frustration-and-inventiveness-led-establishment-company
Press release - 03/02/2023 Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim officially founded Non-profit limited liability company creates institutional framework for interdisciplinary research collaboration, innovative technology development and outstanding healthcare in the Rhine-Neckar region.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/offizielle-gruendung-der-health-life-science-alliance-heidelberg-mannheim
Press release - 20/01/2023 Czech Inventor Award for Martina Benešová-Schäfer With the "Česká Hlava" awards, the Czech government has been honoring the country's most brilliant minds every year since 2002 and recognizing exceptional achievements in research, development and innovation. Martina Benešová-Schäfer of the German Cancer Research Center was among the six laureates honored in 2022 at Charles University in Prague.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/tschechischer-erfinderpreis-fuer-martina-benesova-schaefer
Press release - 05/01/2023 Formation of pores in mitochondrial membrane elucidated Mitochondria are considered to be the power plants of cells and are essential for human metabolism. Dysfunction in 40 percent of mitochondrial proteins are associated with human diseases, which is why mitochondria also play an important role in medical research. A previously unexplained process in the complex mitochondria was the formation of their barrel pores.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/formation-pores-mitochondrial-membrane-elucidated
Press release - 25/10/2022 Three ERC Synergy Grants For Universität Heidelberg Scientists 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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/three-erc-synergy-grants-universitaet-heidelberg-scientists
Press release - 27/09/2022 Faculty of Engineering Sciences to be officially opened 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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/fakultaet-fuer-ingenieurwissenschaften-wird-offiziell-eroeffnet
Press release - 21/09/2022 ERC funding: How to deliver gene therapies to a specific target site? With its "Proof of Concept" grants, the European Research Council ERC supports scientists in further developing the commercial potential of their research results. Nina Papavasiliou from the DKFZ is now receiving the prestigious grant for the second time: she wants to advance the development of a "molecular delivery service" that ensures that therapeutic genes reach the right address in the body in a targeted manner.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/erc-funding-how-deliver-gene-therapies-specific-target-site
Press release - 21/03/2022 BMBF funds Heidelberg Junior Research Group for 3D Bioprinting Project Junior Professor Dr Daniela Duarte Campos has been awarded a substantial grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). She and her junior research group are investigating bioprinting for tissue and organ engineering at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University and at the “3D Matter Made to Order” Cluster of Excellence, a collaboration between Ruperto Carola and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/bmbf-funds-heidelberg-junior-research-group-3d-bioprinting-project
Press release - 30/11/2021 A mould dominates the eukaryotic microbiota in Parkinson’s disease patients Parkinson's disease is characterised by a slow, progressive loss of nerve cells in certain brain areas. The disease is still incurable and the exact causes are unclear. The dopamine deficiency in the brain can only be controlled to some extent in the initial phase of the disease. Basic research is being conducted in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Parkinson's disease.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/mould-dominates-eukaryotic-microbiota-parkinsons-disease-patients
Press release - 19/11/2021 Keep an eye on us! – Bacteria on slit lamps Furtwangen University publishes the world’s first molecular biological study on bacterial contamination of slit lamps. Slit lamps are among the most important tools used by ophthalmologists and opticians. They allow selected areas of the eye to be magnified and examined for diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/keep-eye-us-bacteria-slit-lamps
Press release - 18/11/2021 Overcoming resistance to treatment for breast, bowel, and pancreatic cancer 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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/overcoming-resistance-treatment-breast-bowel-and-pancreatic-cancer
Press release - 09/09/2021 Machine learning improves biological image analysis Scientists use super-resolution microscopy to study previously undiscovered cellular worlds, revealing nanometer-scale details inside cells. This method revolutionized light microscopy and earned its inventors the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In an international collaboration, AI researchers from Tübingen have now developed an algorithm that significantly accelerates this technology. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/machine-learning-improves-biological-image-analysis
Press release - 15/07/2021 Mechanism for differentiation of specific immune cell types discovered Under certain conditions, our immune system can efficiently fight off infectious diseases and cancer. T cells, especially the gamma delta T cell type, play an important role in this. The issue is that this cell type is extremely infrequent in the human body. Researchers at the University Hospital Tübingen, the University of Heidelberg and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have now succeeded in finding the cause for the formation of…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/mechanism-differentiation-specific-immune-cell-types-discovered
Press release - 13/04/2021 Evotec’s BRIDGE “beLAB2122” leverages academic innovation from our region Evotec SE announced today the launch of beLAB2122 in the Rhine- Main-Neckar region to efficiently advance first-in-class therapeutic concepts into investable drug discovery projects. Mediated and supported by BioRN, Evotec’s newest BRIDGE brings together the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (“EMBL”), the German Cancer Research Center (“DKFZ”), the Goethe University Frankfurt, Heidelberg University and the University of Tübingen.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/evotecs-bridge-belab2122-leverages-academic-innovation-our-region
Press release - 04/03/2021 Induced pluripotent stem cells reveal causes of disease Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are suitable for discovering the genes that underly complex and also rare genetic diseases. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), together with international partners, have studied genotype-phenotype relationships in iPSCs using data from approximately one thousand donors.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-reveal-causes-disease
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/microfluidic-platform-best-possible-cancer-therapy
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/click-chemistry-new-medical-procedures
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Diagnostics-with-molecular-scissors-is-this-also-possible-for-on-site-COVID-19-tests
Company profile - 16/12/2019 Velabs Therapeutics GmbH: each droplet is a test system Using microfluidics to detect new therapeutic antibodies is, in simple terms, the concept developed by Velabs Therapeutics GmbH. The Heidelberg-based start-up was spun out from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in 2017 with the support of EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH. More recently, investors have provided the young company with additional funding to expand its technologies and applications.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/velabs-therapeutics-gmbh-each-droplet-test-system
Article - 09/10/2019 Epigenomics from the Cyber Valley Cyber Valley Stuttgart-Tübingen is a European hotspot for artificial intelligence and home to many renowned experts and scientists. They are now joined by Gabriele Schweikert, who heads up the Computational Epigenomics research group in the Cyber Valley’s Division of Computational Biology. Schweikert is interested in exploring epigenetic mechanisms using machine learning methods.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/epigenomik-aus-dem-cyber-valley