Healthcare industry

Article - 18/09/2011

BMBF project AllerGen: DNA test to protect consumers against food allergens

People who are hypersensitive to a particular food protein can develop an adverse reaction to the smallest amount of the allergenic protein that can range from mild to severe. Although many allergic people are aware of their hypersensitivity to certain food proteins they can have allergic reactions because they are not always aware of the presence of allergenic proteins in certain food products. This is why the reliable sensitive and quantitative…

Dossier - 07/02/2011

The era of personalised medicine is dawning

A promising future does not easily disappear into thin air. This is certainly the case with the vision of personalised medicine. For many years, biomedical researchers have vaunted the potential benefits of their findings despite the fact that neutral observers do not think that personalised medicine will really take off within the next 15 or 20 years. Moreover personalised medicine is a controversial term. So what is the state of play right now?

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…

Article - 14/11/2011

Marina Freudenberg and Chris Galanos – more than 40 years of bacterial defence research

This years Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology was awarded to three renowned scientists one of whom is the American Bruce Beutler who was instrumental in clarifying the structure of the mammalian Toll-like 4 TLR4 receptor. Prof. Dr. med. Marina Freudenberg and Dr. Dr. h.c. Chris Galanos from the Freiburg-based Max Planck Institute MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics have co-authored the key publication that led to the award of the Nobel Prize…

Article - 15/05/2009

Diabetes: we cannot wait any longer, we must act now!

The renowned endocrinologist Prof. Bernhard Böhm from Ulm, like many of his colleagues, is of the opinion that diabetes is a problem that concerns society as a whole. The following interview with the head of endocrinology at the University Hospital of Ulm shows why the USA invests 50 times more money into diabetes research and Böhm tells us about the three wishes he would ask of a “diabetes fairy”.

The first Web log was initiated in 1991. Since then an ever increasing number of scientists have been using these Internet diaries to communicate knowledge report about science comment on it and classify it. Web logs are an enrichment for science communication.

Press release - 15/10/2008

Hans-Jürgen Apell - insights into active ion transport

Biophysicist Prof. Hans-Jürgen Apell carries out basic research at the University of Constance in order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in the transport of ions through membranes and to come up with important findings for new therapeutic concepts. His major field of research focuses on structure-function relationships of P-type ATPases enzymes which cleave ATP adenosine triphosphate and transport ions thereby resulting in muscle…

Press release - 30/04/2013

Impressions from the 2013 BIO International Convention in Chicago

A trade fair turns 20 and an industrial sector is coming of age. Where does BIO stand today? The number of exhibitors has slightly decreased the conference is characterised by general themes and trends and partnering has become the most important and indispensable part of the global event for biotechnology. What was once a gold rush atmosphere has given way to an experienced self-confidence about the economic importance of biotechnology.

The first European Conference for Clinical Nanomedicine is to be held soon in Basel. BIOPRO has therefore discussed this promising area of application with Beat Löffler and Dr. Patrick Hunziker the founders of the European Foundation for Clinical Nanomedicine.

Article - 23/07/2009

Making cancer cells commit suicide

They divide and divide, and no natural border can stop them. Tumours such as the Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that occurs predominantly in teenagers, grow incessantly, making treatment difficult. A few years ago, Prof. Dr. Udo Kontny and his team from the University Hospital in Freiburg discovered a way to stop the growth of this particular tumour by activating a switch on the surface of cells which induces cellular death. Can physicians learn to…

Article - 18/06/2012

Medical ethicists: biobanks need harmonization rather than new laws

There are statutory European provisions on biobanks that regulate biobank research in Europe to a certain extent. Christian Lenk, managing director of the Ethics Commission at Ulm University, calls for the harmonization of existing European regulations rather than the creation of new laws.

Dossier - 22/02/2010

Respiratory disease - congestion in the respiratory system

Lung diseases are by far the most frequent cause of death worldwide. Every year three million people die from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases 2.3 million die from lung cancer and 1.5 die from tuberculosis WHO World Health Organisation. There is no improvement in sight and experts believe that the number of deaths will continue to rise particularly in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases COPD lung cancer and tuberculosis TB.…

In their 9th German Biotechnology Report the industry experts from Ernst Young paint an essentially confident picture of the German biotech industry. However despite the general optimism the picture has a few negative points no company will go public in 2008.

Dr. Gilbert Gorr has been fascinated by the moss Physcomitrella patens for many years in fact it occupies a great deal of his waking moments. The enthusiasm with which the CSO of greenovation Biotech GmbH talks about the key object of his work is both intoxicating and contagious. The latest discovery The moss produces a therapeutic antibody that is far more effective than its predecessors created in animal cell cultures.

Article - 27/06/2011

The EURAT project at the Marsilius Kolleg in Heidelberg

Bioinformaticians, human geneticists, molecular biologists, oncologists, pathologists, lawyers and theologians are all participating in the project “Ethical and legal aspects of the total sequencing of the human genome” (EURAT) being carried out at Heidelberg University’s Marsilius Kolleg. The project partners are developing a common viewpoint and working out solutions for problems arising from the possibilities of total genome sequencing.