Healthcare industry

Article - 21/08/2018

Parkinson's disease: vitamin B3 has a positive effect on nerve cells

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in the world. There are around 4.1 million sufferers worldwide. It is characterised by motor impairments that result from the death of certain nerve cells in the brain. Researchers at the University of Tübingen have now discovered that vitamin B3 has a positive effect on damaged nerve cells and can boost their energy metabolism.

Article - 01/02/2018

Combined test systems to advance the development of drugs for treating Alzheimer’s

Which substances are suitable for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's? Due to complex biochemical relationships, testing suitable drug candidates is difficult, especially in the early drug development phase. Many predictive test systems only cover individual aspects. A team from Baden-Württemberg and France is now combining different models to develop a new approach.

Article - 05/09/2016

Apogenix: immuno-oncological protein drugs for the treatment of malignant diseases

Apogenix AG, a biopharmaceutical company from Heidelberg that specialises in immuno-oncology, develops protein drugs that target central signalling pathways involved in regulating the growth, migration and apoptosis of malfunctioning cells and thus offer novel treatment options for cancer and other malignant diseases.

Article - 13/01/2016

New approach for treating depression

Depression is the most common mental health condition; it must be taken seriously and requires treatment. Exactly how and where therapies work is still unclear. Prof. Dr. Dietrich van Calker and Prof. Dr. Knut Biber from Freiburg University Medical Center have been looking into mechanisms of action and have discovered a molecule that appears to be implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders and the effect of various anti-depression…

Article - 29/06/2015

The transition from acute to chronic pain

Prof. Dr. Rohini Kuner and fellow scientists from Heidelberg have shown that a protein that inhibits an enzyme produced by immune cells protects nerve cells from chronic hypersensitivity to neuropathic pain. Kuner is also the spokesperson of a new collaborative research centre in Heidelberg that is receiving funding from the German Research Foundation totalling over 12 million euros. The centre is seeking to find the reasons why acute pain…

The latest articles, press releases and dossiers on basic research in Baden-Württemberg

Article - 01/12/2014

Stem cell research for preventing radiation-induced developmental damage

Although ionizing radiation is known to cause cell damage and genetic modifications, its effects on embryonic development are still poorly understood. This is why Prof. Dr. Suzanne Kadereit from the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences is involved in a cooperative project that uses human embryonic stem cells for studying the effects of ionizing radiation on prenatal brain development. She heads up the only university of applied…

Article - 17/11/2014

About synapses and learning

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks – the old proverb is not totally true. It is now known that the modulation of synaptic functions, including the formation of new neurons, still takes place in old age, although to a lesser extent than in childhood. The human brain stores memories in the form of neural activity patterns. Structural plasticity appears to be the basis for all learning processes. Physician Thomas Hainmüller and Prof. Dr. Marlene…

Dossier - 30/06/2014

Addiction: new concepts for resolving old problems

Addictive substances and behaviours are as varied as their effects on an addict’s health and personality. However, modern neurobiological research has revealed common principles in the development and continuation of addiction, which can be used as an approach for new prevention and therapy strategies including the prevention of relapses. This dossier presents some of the latest research results in the field.

Article - 19/05/2014

Alcoholism: the molecular basis of addiction and deprivation

Scientists at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim use rats and mice to study the genetic basis and neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol addiction, the changes that occur during alcohol deprivation and the factors that favour a relapse. In translational research, the results from animal experiments are reviewed using alcohol-dependent patients in order to turn them quickly into preventive strategies and therapies.

Article - 13/01/2014

Stefan Liebau: using iPS cells for studying neural development

With the appointment of Stefan Liebau as professor of neuroanatomy, iPS cell research has found its way into the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tübingen. The physician and neuroscientist explores the development of human nerve cells and specialises in working with stem cells. Liebau and his team are currently dealing with the question as to how neural stem cells develop into retinal precursor cells. The researchers are also studying…

Article - 16/12/2013

Tools of the future

Optogenetics is a relatively new technique that enables scientists to manipulate nature with light. Light-sensitive proteins coupled to enzymes or channelrhodopsins embedded in membranes that guide ions across plasma membranes all of these can be used to modulate cell behaviour. Researchers around the world are working on the emerging technique in order to refine and optimise it for application in their research projects. Optogenetics seems to…

Article - 23/09/2013

Calcium and memory

Calcium in the nuclei of neurons controls the transcription of genes that play a role in the structural changes that are responsible for the formation of long-term memory. Neurobiologists at Heidelberg University have identified this cellular “switch” in Drosophila melanogaster and have used sensational experiments to analyse its function in the formation of the long-term memory of flies.

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 - 08/04/2013

Top position for German placebo research

Placebo research at Tübingen University is part of a German network that is a world leader in the field. One of the research priorities relates to the perception of pain and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

Article - 25/03/2013

Ralf Baumeister – tinkering, constructing and switching off genes

The focus of Ralf Baumeisters research a small nematode that is known as Caenorhabditis elegans is a rather simple organism. Nevertheless the worm can be used to study complicated behaviour including associated learning. This is how Prof. Dr. Ralf Baumeister from the Institute of Biology III at the University of Freiburg describes the animal that he works with on a daily basis. The worm has now got very little left to hide. And the genetic…

Article - 25/02/2013

How can light be used to control the behaviour of neurons?

The control of the behaviour of individual neurons simply by switching light stimuli on and off sends neuroscientists into raptures as it reveals insights into as yet hidden and complicated processes in the brain. Thanks to optogenetics this particular science fiction became reality a few years ago. Working with researchers from the Bernstein Center at the University of Freiburg and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in…

Article - 19/12/2012

Interpretation affects visual perception

Dr. Hendrikje Nienborg is investigating how visual information is processed in the brain. Her most important finding is that the way we interpret visual information influences visual processing and perception. The neuroscientist uses awake mammals to investigate the mechanisms in the visual cortex that underlie visual perception. Dr. Nienborg was awarded an ERC Starting Grant worth 1.9 million euros for her research into the neural foundations of…

Article - 08/10/2012

Epilepsy changes brain architecture

Epileptic fits, i. e. abnormal excessive neuronal activity in the hippocampus, severely affects nerve cells and can lead to permanent damage. A team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Carola Haas from the Neurocenter at the University of Freiburg is focusing on changes in the brain anatomy of patients suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy as well as on the molecular and cellular processes underlying the disease. The team’s research focuses on stem…

Article - 27/08/2012

Why don't dogs talk?

Humans have developed a unique ability to communicate through speech and language. Research focusing on the development of human language and its genetic basis focuses specifically on the developmental gene FOXP2. Evo-devo research has shown that a human-specific FOXP2 variant is key for the human ability to talk. It is likely that the human variant of the rather common FOXP2 protein was already present in Neanderthals.

Press release - 22/08/2012

Glial cells protect the brain from epileptic seizures

Epileptic fits are like thunderstorms raging in the brain Nerve cells excite each other in an uncontrolled way so that strong rhythmic electrical discharges sweep over whole brain regions. In the wake of such a seizure the nerve cells are severely affected and permanent damage is possible. The glia a class of cells that surround the neurons in the brain was long suspected to contribute to the damaging effects of epilepsy. Quite the opposite is…

Article - 06/08/2012

SystemsX.ch to fund systems biology research

SystemsX.ch is currently the biggest research initiative in Switzerland to provide financial support and technologies in the field of systems biology research. It is a consortium of twelve Swiss research institutions and universities but also works with non-Swiss institutions including the Baden-Württemberg-based company KNIME GmbH. The initiative is interested in expanding its cooperation with other life sciences companies and universities.

Article - 16/07/2012

"Autism gene" causes problems in the composition of synapses

A new finding in the field of autism research has attracted the attention of the scientific world. Although the international group of researchers that published the findings in the renowned journal Nature have so far only managed to switch off two genes in mice, the animals’ conspicuous behaviour change has nevertheless made the scientific world sit up and listen. It appears that the enigmatic neuropsychiatric disease could have a genetic…

Press release - 27/06/2012

A Virtual Look at the Zebrafish Brain

Scientists have long dreamed of being able to grasp the brain as a whole. A research team led by Junior Professor Dr. Olaf Ronneberger from the Department of Computer Science of the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever developmental biologist at the Institute of Biology I has now taken a big step toward making this dream a reality. The Freiburg researchers developed microscopic imaging techniques and software for observing and…

Article - 25/06/2012

A special biobank for neurological research

Over the last few years, the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen has established a comprehensive biobank for use in neurological research. The databank is available to scientists from research institutions and companies working on research into neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s with the aim of finding new options for the diagnostics and therapy of such diseases.