Cancer is caused by mutations, but not all mutations have the same effects. While some mutations are barely noticeable, others are quite crucial for the growth of cancer cells. One example is BAP1. BAP1 is an important tumor suppressor that is frequently mutated in very aggressive cancers such as uveal melanoma, kidney cancer, bile duct cancer, and malignant mesothelium. To date, there are no treatments specifically targeting these BAP1-mutated cancers. In a joint project with colleagues from the German Cancer…
Textbook knowledge turned on its head… Study on environmentally relevant microorganisms shows greater diversity than previously assumed. A team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH and Technische Universität Braunschweig, in collaboration with the University of Vienna and the University of Wisconsin, USA, has now been able to show that there is an incredibly high biodiversity of environmentally relevant microorganisms in nature. This diversity is at least 4.5 times greater than previously…
When carrying out root canal treatment procedures, dentists need to insert a file deep into the root canal to remove the inflamed tissue. The rotating file often gets jammed and must be cleaned regularly. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS have developed a piezoceramic stack actuator that overlays the rotating motion with a vibrating motion. The file does not get jammed as often, meaning that procedures on patients can be completed faster. This technology is…
Fraunhofer at MEDICA and COMPAMED 2023… Particularly when it comes to medication or medical devices sold online, end-users often wonder whether these are real or fake. The SmartID counterfeit-proof barcode system means anyone can use a smartphone to check a product is genuine, provided the manufacturer uses SmartID. It can be authenticated without connecting to a database. SmartID has been developed by a consortium of Fraunhofer institutes. The result of a three-year project, they will exhibit a demonstration version of…
A team of scientists led by Dr. Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, professor of Theoretical Physics at Constructor University in Bremen, has now discovered how B12 is absorbed by certain intestinal bacteria. Published in the journal “Nature Communications” at the beginning of August, the findings will serve as a basis for research on how to better fight diseases and develop better antibiotics. Kleinekathöfer and his team’s breakthrough finding, what they call “pedal-bin mechanisms”, offers critical understanding for how bacteria in the intestine known…
Dr. Andreas Birk, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Constructor University in Bremen, and his Ph.D. fellow, Tim Hansen, have developed an innovative method for processing sensor data that enables the creation of underwater maps in real time and with better quality than previous methods. Accurate underwater map data is typically collected with sonars that use multiple beams in parallel. With the method developed by Constructor University scientists, it is possible to use simple and much less costly…
A new Würzburg space mission is on the home straight: The SONATE-2 nanosatellite will test novel artificial intelligence hardware and software technologies in orbit. After more than two years of development, the nanosatellite SONATE-2 is about to be launched. The lift-off into orbit by a rocket is expected in March 2024. The satellite was designed and built by a team led by aerospace engineer Professor Hakan Kayal from Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany. JMU has been developing small satellite…
… for the production and processing of hydrogen for the energy trans. Hydrogen technology plays a crucial role in the energy transition and offers climate-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels. For the successful ramp-up of the hydrogen economy, highly productive technologies are needed for the cost-effective production of the required assemblies for generation and use. The in-line vacuum coating plant for sheets and metal strips for plasma-activated electron beam evaporation was qualified at Fraunhofer FEP for the highly productive and efficient…
Future missions will be able to find signatures of violating the parity-symmetry in the cosmic microwave background polarization more accurately after a pair of researchers has managed to take into account the gravitational lensing effect, reports a new study in Physical Review D, selected as an Editors’ Suggestion. How far does the universe extend? When and how did the universe begin? Cosmology has made progress in addressing these questions by providing observational evidence for theoretical models of the universe based…
New electronic device switches on and off heat at top speed with precision. A team of researchers from UCLA has unveiled a first-of-its-kind stable and fully solid-state thermal transistor that uses an electric field to control a semiconductor device’s heat movement. The group’s study, which will be published in the Nov. 3 issue of Science, details how the device works and its potential applications. With top speed and performance, the transistor could open new frontiers in heat management of computer…
New observations down to light-year scale of the gas flows around a supermassive black hole have successfully detected dense gas inflows and shown that only a small portion (about 3 percent) of the gas flowing towards the black hole is eaten by the black hole. The remainder is ejected and recycled back into the host galaxy. Not all of the matter which falls towards a black hole is absorbed, some of it is ejected as outflows. But the ratio of…
A surprising mechanism that makes some cancers treatment-resistant has been discovered by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The mechanism, which involves the shuttling of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, ultimately facilitates DNA repair in cancer cells. These cancer cells can thereby thwart treatments aimed at damaging their DNA. In a project encompassing both fundamental research and clinical studies they demonstrated that a combination of approved chemotherapies, one of which targets the DNA repair-facilitating mechanism, could…
Mount Sinai researchers have shed valuable light on the mechanism of a key protein that regulates the plasticity and function of the hippocampus, a key brain region involved in memory and learning, and that decreases with age in mice. The team’s findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, could pave the way for a better understanding of how the protein, known as tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP2), could potentially be targeted in age-related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease to help restore affected…
Scientists shoot first true-to-life 3D image of the thick filament of mammalian heart muscle. The human heart, often described as the body’s engine, is a remarkable organ that tirelessly beats to keep us alive. At the core of this vital organ, intricate processes occur when it contracts, where thick and thin protein-filaments interact within the sarcomere, the fundamental building block of both skeletal and heart muscle cells. Any alterations in thick filament proteins can have severe consequences for our health,…
Fraunhofer at MEDICA and COMPAMED 2023… With long waiting lists, significant journey times, an ever-shrinking number of doctor’s practices, medical care services in sparsely populated regions are under mounting pressure. As part of its Neighborhood Diagnostics project, the Fraunhofer ZDD® is working to develop a digital ecosystem for delivering patient treatment close to where they live in order to ensure that people in rural areas can access high-quality medical care despite the shortage of doctors. One of the digital ecosystem’s…
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Due to numerous resistance mechanisms, infections with the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are particularly feared. Researchers at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the University Hospital Cologne, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf have now discovered antibodies that could lead to a highly potent treatment option of acute and chronic infections with P. aeruginosa. The study was published in the prestigious scientific…
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