Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS have demonstrated that an actin scaffold stabilizes the cell nucleus upon mechanical stress. This protective mechanism helps cancer cells to avoid dying during their migration in the body. In the long term, targeted interventions in this mechanism could help to prevent metastases.

The Medical Center – University of Freiburg has implemented a new system that helps nurses identify risky situations early on and provide more targeted assistance / Motion detection is performed using radar

Article - 07/02/2019

Artificial intelligence in ophthalmology

Retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are now treatable. However, it is hard to predict individual disease progression. A group of researchers at the University Eye Centre in Freiburg are currently developing a new system which is hoped will allay fears and improve therapy planning. The system uses artificial intelligence to predict therapeutic outcome from image and patient data. Initial results are already available.

Prime Vector Technologies GmbH (PVT), a start-up company based in Tübingen in southern Germany, uses a modular brick system to develop vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases. The PVT team is currently working flat out to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

The newborn's immune system is suddenly confronted with microorganisms, food and numerous environmental influences at birth. How do the baby's immune cells prepare for this moment during pregnancy and birth? How do external influences shape the immune system immediately after birth? And what influence does an event like a premature birth have?

Pioneering cutting-edge diagnostic systems for the detection of complex diseases: Cyber Valley is pleased to announce it has awarded funding of 500K EUR to the CELL’n’ROLL team through the 2023 Cyber Valley Innovation Fellowship program, funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.

An international team led by Professor Tobias M. Böckers from Ulm University Medical Centre has been awarded up to 1.7 million euros to develop a novel therapy for a rare, syndromic form of autism. The research project focuses on a gene whose loss of function can manifest itself in severe impairments in language, behaviour and everyday functions of those affected.

Why does heart function often continue to deteriorate after a heart attack, even though blood flow has been restored? A research team from the DZHK sites Heidelberg and North has now identified an important mechanism: an inflammatory switch in cardiomyocytes can impair cellular energy production and thereby drive the development of heart failure. The results were published in Nature Communications.

Konstanz molecular biologist Elke Deuerling has been admitted to the German National Academy of Sciences, the "Leopoldina". By selecting Elke Deuerling as a member, the Academy recognizes her outstanding contributions to the field of life sciences, particularly to proteostasis research.

Medical Center – University of Freiburg demonstrates a fundamental therapeutic approach for hereditary immune system defects in a mouse model. The safety profile of genome editing varies significantly depending on the method and cell type.

Article - 24/01/2019

Scientists to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wastewater

In Germany, around 1,500 tonnes of antibiotics per year are administered to humans and animals. As a result, more and more bacteria are developing resistance to common antibiotics. As part of HyReKA, a cooperative project funded by the BMBF, scientists led by Professor Thomas Schwartz from the KIT are investigating how antibiotic-resistant pathogens spread and how they can be prevented from doing so.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the commonest cause of blindness in developed countries affecting seven million in total in Germany, from which 500,000 people are suffering from late stage disease, around half of whom are registered as visually impaired. There are two forms of AMD, ‘wet’ and ‘dry’. There are currently no treatments available for the dry form of the disease (geographic atrophy).

HepaRegeniX GmbH, a clinical stage company developing a novel regenerative therapy for the treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases, announced the closing of a Series C round led by Vesalius Biocapital IV with participation of existing investors Novo Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), and High-Tech Gründerfonds. The new funds of €15 million will be used to advance the clinical development of the clinical candidate HRX-215.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institutes for Medical Research in Heidelberg with its new departments based in Heilbronn, and for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar in Bonn, and at the Institute for Basic Science at Yonsei University in Seoul will pool their expertise in future. The aim of the new Max Planck Center is to visualize cellular processes deep within human tissue and influence them in a targeted manner — without damaging the tissue.

If the brain no longer responds properly to insulin (insulin resistance), this can lead to overweight, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the DZD in Potsdam and Tübingen have discovered small chemical modifications to genetic material (epigenetic changes*) in the blood that indicate how well the brain responds to insulin. These markers could help to detect insulin resistance in the brain – by means of a simple blood test.

A team of researchers at the University of Stuttgart has developed a new method that could make MRI even more precise by eliminating “dead time,” a key limiting factor in the measurement process, thereby enabling the detection of signals that are lost using conventional methods. This method opens up new possibilities for medical diagnostics and non-destructive materials testing. The research team presents the new approach in Science Advances.

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.

How are proteins in our cells modified while they are still being synthesized? An international team of researchers from the University of Konstanz, Caltech, and ETH Zurich has deciphered the molecular mechanism of this vital process.

CAR T-cell therapies are used successfully to treat certain blood cancers. However, while some patients respond even to low-dose treatment, others derive no benefit. Researchers from the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) investigated the reasons behind these differences in a collaborative research project.

An international consortium led by researchers at the Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University will develop an AI-powered interactive assistant for the analysis of patient experiences over the next four years. The goal is to identify individual burdens and challenges early and comprehensively and make this information actionable for patients, care teams, and health systems.

The reproducible and precise production of complex organoid models to simulate human organ malfunctions is the focus of an interdisciplinary research project at Heidelberg University. A research team from the life and engineering sciences is looking to combine the engineering of molecular systems with machine learning and automated production methods.

Until now, doctors knew hepatic stellate cells mainly as drivers of liver fibrosis. The actual functions have hardly been studied to date. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center, the Mannheim Medical Faculty and Columbia University have now published that hepatic stellate cells control liver metabolism as well as liver regeneration and size. The results of the study could contribute to new therapeutic approaches for liver diseases.

With the FeMEA project – Ferroelectric Microelectrodes for Biomedical Applications – Hahn-Schickard is setting a pioneering course in bioelectronics research. The aim of the project is to develop novel microelectrode arrays in which ferroelectric materials are used as functional interfaces in CMOS chips for the first time.

In people with severely compromised immune systems, the JC polyomavirus can trigger a currently untreatable, usually fatal brain disease. Now, an international research team looking at the viral capsid has identified binding sites for neutralizing antibodies; these sites could be used to halt infection with JC polyomaviruses.