Volkswagen Foundation to fund international research project with around 1.5 million euros. Interdisciplinary team led by the Institute for Global Health at Heidelberg University Hospital to research the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans in Thailand and Laos. Long-term goal is to develop sustainable preventive measures against future pandemics.

Centromeres, the DNA sections often found at the center of the chromosomes, display enormous interspecies diversity, despite having the same vital role during cell division across almost the entire tree of life. An international team of researchers has discovered that the variation in centromere DNA regions can be strikingly large even within a single species. The findings, now published in the journal Nature, shed light on the molecular…

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a type of blood cancer that arises from malignant changes in blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. It mainly occurs in older individuals and represents about 20 percent of all adult leukemia cases. A research team from the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research at the University of Freiburg has now demonstrated for the first time that mast cells play a crucial role in the development of CML.

The recently established ITCC-P4 gGmbH provides academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies with a comprehensive repertoire of modern laboratory models of pediatric tumors. The aim is to systematically test new treatment options for children and adolescents with cancer and to contribute data to regulatory approval processes in order to make the development of new cancer therapies for children and adolescents more attractive.

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.

Proteins have characteristic amino acid sequences, the analysis of which is fundamental for research and medicine. These can be decoded; however, so-called protein sequencing is expensive and time-consuming. A large-scale research project led by Prof. Dr. Jan Behrends from the Institute of Physiology at the University of Freiburg now aims to establish a new technology for protein sequencing using nanopores, which will be rapid and cost-effective.

Researchers at the University of Konstanz publish image analysis software that automatically detects and classifies defects of animal development. Thanks to artificial intelligence, "EmbryoNet" outperforms human experts in terms of speed, accuracy and sensitivity.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer with limited treatment options. Tumor growth and relapse of TNBC are driven by breast cancer stem cells, and improved therapies that can eliminate those hardy cells are urgently needed. Researchers from the University of Frieburg discovered that coordinated differentiation and changes in the metabolism of breast cancer stem cells make them invisible for…

"Programmable" polymer materials - 24/04/2023

Medicine of the future: intelligent 4D polymers from the printer

It is impossible to imagine medicine without 3D printing, which can be used to make implants or for culturing cells and tissues. It is now possible for 3D objects to be given an added dimension, namely an ability to make simple autonomous movements, by changing their size. Researchers at Heidelberg University have been able to produce microscopically small 4D structures from intelligent polymers that can be tailored to individual requirements.

Konstanz researchers discover the function of a previously unexplored protein: In three characteristic steps, "C12orf29" links the ends of RNA strands. Proteins that perform this kind of RNA ligation were previously unknown in humans. The results of the study suggest that it is important for RNA repair during cellular stress.

Heidelberg University is to acquire a research building to develop innovative engineering science strategies and technologies on the basis of life-inspired molecular systems. The German Science and Humanities Council has now expressed its backing for the idea with an outstanding rating. This recommendation is the crucial precondition for a new building on the university campus Im Neuenheimer Feld.

Effective drugs against viral diseases like COVID-19 are urgently needed now and in the future. The emergence of viral mutants and yet unknown viruses could push vaccines to their limits. The DZIF scientist and bioinformatician Andreas Dräger from the University of Tübingen is working on a computer-based method that can help to accelerate the time-consuming identification and development of antiviral agents. Using a novel analysis technique that…

Expert interview - 08/03/2023

How do new active substances from university research reach patients?

Access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges in the life sciences sector. Over the last two years, the Baden-Württemberg Center for Academic Drug Discovery (BWCAD2) has successfully implemented a model of cooperation between academic drug research and industry for the development and validation of therapeutic concepts. Dr. Barbara Jonischkeit spoke with the initiator and leading figure behind the BWCAD2 project, Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer

Bacteria of the species Pseudomonas aeruginosa are antibiotic-resistant hospital germs that can enter blood, lungs and other tissues through wounds and cause life-threatening infections. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg in France have discovered a mechanism that likely contributes to the severity of P. aeruginosa infections.

Immune complexes in COVID-19 - 01/03/2023

Vicious circle of hyperinflammation

Whether a person experiences only a mild malaise or a critical course of disease after a coronavirus infection apparently depends on the antigen-antibody complexes that form in our body. The discovery of these immune complexes set a group of researchers, headed up by Prof. Dr. Hartmut Hengel from the Freiburg University Medical Centre, on the trail of a vicious circle of constantly escalating inflammation.

Cytolytics GmbH - 14/02/2023

Bioinformatics meets medical diagnostics and drug development

The start-up company Cytolytics from Tübingen has developed a robust and user-friendly software platform that uses machine learning for the automated analysis of cells. This is beneficial in areas such as cancer diagnostics and the development of new pharmaceutically active substances.

This month marks the launch of an outstanding project integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and neuromedicine – the Hertie Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Brain Health (Hertie AI). Founded on February 1 at the Medical Faculty of the University of Tübingen, it will be the first institute in Germany to research the prevention and early diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system using artificial intelligence methods.

Patients have 30 percent fewer serious side effects when medication doses are tailored to their genetic profile. This is what an international research consortium has found out, including the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at the Bosch Health Campus. With an individual DNA medication pass, as used in the study, treatments can be made more effective and safer in the future.

Non-profit limited liability company creates institutional framework for interdisciplinary research collaboration, innovative technology development and outstanding healthcare in the Rhine-Neckar region.

Photon-counting technology - 01/02/2023

PC3 consortium: innovative computed tomography for Baden-Württemberg

The University Hospitals of Freiburg, Tübingen and Mannheim have been cooperating with each other since 2021 to test new types of computed tomography devices. With the help of photon-counting technology, the aim is not only to improve patient care, but also to encourage local companies to develop downstream data processing technologies.

In the 2022 allocation round for the award of the prestigious Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have been successful. For their projects in the fields of photovoltaics and medical sensor technology, physicist Ulrich W. Paetzold and chemist Frank Biedermann will receive approximately two million euros over the next five years.

Cancer immunotherapies often fail because the immune cells are paralysed by immunosuppressive conditions in the tumor. Scientists from Heidelberg, Mannheim and Tel Aviv have now shown on tissue samples from patients as well as on tumor models in mice that the functionality of the immune defence depends decisively on certain helper cells.

Heidelberg scientists succeed in boosting the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 and related methods and modifying initially inaccessible DNA sequences.

Brain-computer interfaces are able to restore some mobility to paralyzed people by controlling exoskeletons. However, more complex control signals cannot yet be read from the head surface because conventional sensors are not sensitive enough. A collaboration of Fraunhofer IAF, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Stuttgart and other industrial partners has taken up this challenge.

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.