Healthcare industry

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.

After infections or blood loss, the body must compensate for the loss of blood cells as quickly as possible. This has long been considered the task of the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. But scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now discovered in mice that a certain population of progenitor cells takes over this task: This accelerates the regeneration of the blood cells.

Acute Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a life-threatening complication after leukemia treatment with allogeneic stem cell transplantation i.e. the transplantation of cells from another person. GvHD occurs when the transplanted immune cells are overly active and damage the receiving patient's healthy tissue. Researchers found that an endogenous molecule can mitigate this misdirected immune response.

The hospital pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires the sugar-binding proteins LecA and LecB to form biofilms as well as to attach to and penetrate host cells. These so-called lectins are therefore suitable targets for active substances to combat Pseudomonas infections. Researchers from Saarbrücken and Freiburg have now produced potent inhibitors for LecA and LecB that are more stable and soluble than previous drug candidates.