Healthcare industry

Julia Kirchheiner from Ulm is examining why some leukaemia patients do not respond to cytarabin treatment. She is now hoping to identify the genetic factors that come together to determine how a patient responds to cytarabin treatment.

Cells with irreparable DNA damage normally induce programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, this mechanism often fails in tumor cells so that transformed cells are able to multiply and spread throughout the body. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now discovered a possible cause of this failure.

Mobile DNA elements are able to change their position in the genome and mobilise entire gene groups as well as switch genes on and off. Professor Bodo Rak and his team at the University of Freiburg are investigating the effect of mobile DNA fragments on the evolution of E. coli bacteria.

Simone Fulda 40 is an extremely inquisitive person who has managed to turn her passion into a profession. In 2007 the petite woman from Cologne was appointed professor of paediatric research at the University of Ulm University Childrens Hospital where she is working on the relationship between apoptosis and cancer and the development of new methods for cancer treatment.

Three companies of the Ulm BioRegion have recently announced successful achievements Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the European Commission has given the full marketing authorisation for an anti-AIDS drug ratiopharm announced the signing of discount agreements with ten public health insurance companies AOK and the Hartmann Group reported the acquisition of Kneipp.

In conjunction with reference laboratories of the World Health Organization WHO medtech company Curetis AG is developing new technologies and products that identify the pathogens of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and their resistance. The solutions are impressive.

The GABI-PRECISE consortium which originates from the Genome Analysis of the Plant Biological System GABI initiative has announced a cooperative project on the introduction of gene targeting in barley.

The increasing number of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is becoming a great problem in the treatment of infected wounds. The Hohenstein Institutes are developing novel wound dressings that use bacteriophages to combat even the most virulent pathogens.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and their colleagues from the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines succeeded in accelerating rice plant breeding by using artificial small RNA molecules.

Working with colleagues from the Harvard Medical School in Boston USA researchers from Freiburg University have discovered a previously unknown role of insulin in ageing and lifespan. Insulin inhibits a master stress regulator protein known as SKN-1.

Article - 24/03/2008

Successful cooperation between science and industry

At the recent Science meets Business Day four tandem teams of the German BioValley Platform presented their projects. These will be introduced in two articles. The first article focuses on natural substances with a pharmaceutical potential.

Article - 09/03/2008

Successful attack on resistant tumour cells

In laboratory experiments Dr. Anja Apel from the University Hospital in Heidelberg proved that cancer cells that are resistant to radiation therapy can be made to become susceptible to this kind of treatment again by blocking the cells own recycling system.

A software developed by the Stuttgart-based Systemhaus Schegel covers all activities related to administering cultures it guarantees the foolproof production and propagation of plants and when printed out on a thermal printer incorporates all the necessary information on a barcode label.

Article - 25/01/2008

How do cells work? Glycoconjugate cell coat models provide new answers

At the Max Planck Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart researchers are developing model systems that imitate the sugar coats of living cells. They hope to gain new insights into the regulation of biological functions and develop the system into a platform for biosensoric applications.

The deadline for the submission of preproposals is 29th February 2008.

Prostate cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour in men. Researchers from Freiburg and Bonn have succeeded in developing the basics for new therapies in particular for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

In Germany every year 800000 people contract community acquired pneumonia and 50000 die of it. A new foundation based in Ulm is hoping to contribute to a better understanding of this unpleasant disease and to improve the therapy to combat it.

Nele Wellinghausen has always been interested in plants and animals. As a teenager she studied ferns and won the German Jugend forscht competition. Nowadays the medical expert carries out research on microorganisms specifically on pathogens that lead to sepsis.