Healthcare industry

Press release - 17/08/2009

Death Receptor Regulates Brain Regeneration

The so-called death receptor is well known among experts – it induces programmed cell death. In brain stem cells, however, this molecule has an entirely different function, as shown by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in an article published in CELL Stem Cell. Here, signals to the death receptor cause the formation of new nerve cells (neurons). When the researchers switched off the receptor…

Press release - 10/08/2009

Biomarkers help predict the risk of Alzheimer’s in patients with mild cognitive impairment

A large multicentre study has shown that CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) biomarkers can be used to predict, with good accuracy, as to which patients with mild cognitive impairments will develop Alzheimer’s disease. The biomarkers used are microtubule-associated proteins that are abundant in CNS neurons as well as beta amyloid, which is a peptide that forms brain plaques in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Changes in the concentrations of these proteins…

Press release - 07/08/2009

Hirschsprung’s disease: research into the biological and clinical principles of stem cell therapy

Hirschsprung’s disease is a congenital disease of the intestinal nervous system, which can lead to life-threatening bowel disorders. A new research project, which is being coordinated by the Centre for Regenerative Biology and Medicine (ZRM) in Tübingen, is paving the way for a novel cell therapy. The project is being carried out in co-operation with the NMI in Reutlingen and is being funded by a 1.1-million-euro BMBF-grant.

Press release - 03/07/2009

Boehringer Ingelheim and Vitae Pharmaceuticals announce a collaboration to fight Alzheimer`s disease

Boehringer Ingelheim and Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that they have entered into a significant worldwide collaboration to research and develop beta-secretase BACE inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimers disease.

Article - 30/06/2009

More targeted treatment of the brain network

“Casting out the demons with the ruler of the demons” – is what the majority of neuroactive drugs still do. A group under the leadership of Dr. Ralf Meyer at the University Medical Centre in Freiburg is investigating why substances used to treat epilepsy or depression have a negative effect on many patients. Their research shows that the drugs interact with the hormonal system, resulting in undesired side effects. Meyer and his team of…

Press release - 29/06/2009

Can loss of sense of smell predict Alzheimer’s

The first lapses of memory go hand in hand with a loss of the sense of smell: The olfactory centre in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients is wasting away. The olfactory bulb starts to shrink at a very early stage of the disease, at a time when retentiveness is only slightly affected. It is possible to detect the shrinkage of the olfactory bulb with magnetic resonance imaging, as the latest findings by scientists of the Department of Psychiatry at…

Article - 17/03/2009

Stefan Rotter – linking theory and experimentation in neurology

Neurobiology and mathematics are two different worlds with two completely different languages. However the two disciplines have come together in research into the brain. While neurologists hope to unveil the brains secrets through measurements mathematicians are using formulas and theoretical models to describe brain functions. Stefan Rotter from the Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience BCCN in Freiburg speaks the language of both…

Article - 10/03/2009

When neurones lose their way

Dr. Deborah Morris-Rosendahl and her team at the Freiburg Medical School are investigating genetic cephalic disorders which are collectively referred to as lissencephaly. The scientists offer clinical diagnostics and investigate the causes of the disease.

Press release - 10/03/2009

The stopwatch in the brain

Scientists from Freiburg have used new methods to analyse signal processing in the brain. They found that neurones have a much greater ability to precisely transmit signals than previously assumed.

Article - 17/02/2009

Genes and epigenetic mechanisms

The different cell types in a multicellular organism contain the same genome but differ from each other dramatically in both function and structure nerve cells kidney cells etc.. The differentiation of the cells is linked to the identity of their precursors. This then raises the question If the cells destiny is not encoded in the DNA how do they know what to become? The new director of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg…

Article - 16/01/2009

Study: nutritional and dietary treatments for ADHD

Doctors and researchers have been at odds for many years as to whether long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids have an effect on the behaviour and cognition of ADHD children. It is hoped that a study at Ulm University will bring more clarity to the debate and potentially come up with an alternative to the controversial psychostimulant therapy.

Three of the four scientists from the University of Ulm who have been awarded the 27th Merckle Research Prize are in the field of life sciences. The prizes, each with a purse of 5,000 euros, were awarded to Richard Schlenk, Bernd Baumann and Dirk Volkmer.

Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek dermatologist and head of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the University Hospital of Ulm has spent a long time investigating skin ageing. Her specific focus on skin has not however restricted her understanding of ageing to barely deterministic or mechanistic details. Quite the opposite is true.

Professor Giovanni Galizia from Constance is investigating the processing of odour cues. Together with other scientists Galizia has initiated a DFG research priority on olfactory processing in humans and animals.

Does tactile sensation also depend on structure and order? Using modern imaging methods the research group led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hennig from the University Hospital of Freiburg is investigating whether mice with disturbed brain organisation are able to process tactile stimuli normally.

Dossier - 29/10/2008

Signal transduction - exciting research with huge potential for the future

Signal transduction is one of the most innovative fields of research in the life sciences. Although the scientists are far from being able to understand and decipher everything the signal researchers nevertheless have a good deal of knowledge about the transduction of signals and the different signalling pathways.

Cannabis intoxication is certainly not the original purpose of the cannabinoid receptors in the human brain. Nowadays there are known body substances which dock to the receptor molecules of nerve cells in a similar way to cannabis. A group of researchers led by pharmacologist Prof. Dr. med. Bela Szabo at the University of Freiburg is investigating the role of this molecular system in the human brain.

Tobias M. Boeckers an anatomist at the University of Ulm works on an important aspect of basic neurobiological research - the transmission of signals between nerve cells. Two years ago his findings suddenly began to be seen in a different light and became important for clinical research.

For three days from 9 to 11 October more than 300 scientists from over 20 countries met at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart to discuss the current state of research the latest product developments and therapies in regenerative medicine and stem cell research.

Dr. Carsten Mehring became the head of a junior researcher group at the Institute of Biology at the University of Freiburg just after finishing his PhD. His concept of coupling the brain to computers has been given the GO-Bio Award of the BMBF. At some stage in the future the brain-machine interface developed by Mehring and his team will enable paralysed patients to move body parts by thought power alone. Mehring is highly fascinated by the brain…

Prof. Dr. Harald Krug a toxicologist who runs the Materials-Biology Interaction division at Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research in St. Gallen Switzerland and his team are investigating the interactions of synthetic materials with biological systems. The team of 25 researchers is focusing in particular on the effect of particles and nanomaterials such as CNT on human and animal cells. The division has been an…

Professor Dr. Christoph Borner from the University of Freiburg and his team are investigating the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis. Their research also provides insights into the medical treatment of cells that do not want to die - cancer cells.

Press release - 02/09/2008

Elke Guenther: inspired by basic research and application-oriented

The biologist Prof. Dr. Elke Guenther is head of the Department of Electrophysiology at the NMI where her work involves safety pharmacology the development of biosensors and the characterisation of ion channels in the cell membranes in a broad range of different organ systems.

Professor Dr. Günther Schützs work on the cell- and development-specific gene regulation using nuclear receptors has led amongst other things to new insights into the steroid hormone-dependent early development and differentiation of the nervous system the molecular mechanisms of learning and the development and regulation of drug addiction. Schütz has now been appointed Helmholtz professor which will enable him to continue his work beyond…

The NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute in Reutlingen organised its biannual MEA conference from 8 to 11 July 2008. More than 200 developers and microelectrode array users from 18 countries came together in Reutlingen to present their latest developments and results.