Today, genome editing is almost as easy as programming software. However, the generation of viral vectors as initial material is still associated with many expensive and error-prone handling procedures. Viruses are generated via complex biological processes that have to be optimised virus-specifically in order to produce high-quality therapeutics. A new method is needed that simplifies and optimises these processes. Fraunhofer IPA is the overall coordinator of the European biointelligence project BioProS, which is funded with over 6 million euros as…
Hydrogen (H2) is currently discussed as an ideal energy carrier in a world requiring renewable energies. Hydrogen has the highest gravimetric energy density of all chemical fuels (141 MJ/kg), which is three times higher than gasoline (46 MJ/kg). However, its low volumetric density restricts its widespread use in transportation applications — as current storage options require a lot of space. At ambient temperature, hydrogen is a gas, and one kilogram of hydrogen occupies a volume of 12000 liters (12 cubic…
A team of researchers, including UvA physicists and astronomers, has studied gamma rays caused by the Sagittarius Dwarf, a small neighbouring galaxy of our Milky Way. They showed that all the observed gamma radiation can be explained by millisecond pulsars, and can therefore not be interpreted as a smoking gun signature for the presence of dark matter. The results were published in Nature Astronomy this week. The center of our galaxy is blowing a pair of colossal bubbles of gamma…
Lactate, a metabolic byproduct produced during exercise, could augment current immunotherapies. A new study by UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center scientists suggests that lactate, a metabolic byproduct produced by cells during strenuous exercise, can rejuvenate immune cells that fight cancer. The finding, published in Nature Communications, could eventually be used to develop new strategies to augment the anti-tumor effect of cancer immunotherapies, the study authors said. “The lactate that we usually think of as a waste product appears to have a previously…
Chip mimics inhalation and exhalation, allowing scientists to study flow patterns in the bronchial network. Alveoli are the basic functional units of the human respiratory system, acting as tiny air sacs that exchange gases. Air inhaled through the mouth and nose flows into the lungs through the branched structure of the bronchial tubes, and the alveoli appear in the deep sections of this network. To fully understand and treat respiratory diseases, it is important to determine the flow pattern of…
Ultrasound color Doppler twinkling may aid the detection of certain biopsy markers in metastatic axillary nodes that resume normal morphology after neoadjuvant systemic therapy. According to ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), ultrasound color Doppler twinkling may aid the detection of certain biopsy markers in metastatic axillary nodes that resume normal morphology after neoadjuvant systemic therapy. Noting that certain breast biopsy markers exhibited actionable twinkling (i.e., sufficient confidence to rely solely on twinkling for target localization) in cadaveric breast, “twinkling…
Technology reported in UC Riverside-led study has nanoelectronic applications. A research team led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, has demonstrated a new magnetized state in a monolayer of tungsten ditelluride, or WTe2, a new quantum material. Called a magnetized or ferromagnetic quantum spin Hall insulator, this material of one-atom thickness has an insulating interior but a conducting edge, which has important implications for controlling electron flow in nanodevices. In a typical conductor, electrical current flows evenly everywhere….
Research led by Sanford Burnham Prebys professor Francesca Marassi, Ph.D., is helping to reveal the molecular secrets of macular degeneration, which causes almost 90% of all age-related vision loss. The study, published recently in the Biophysical Journal, describes the flexible structure of a key blood protein involved in macular degeneration and other age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and atherosclerosis. “Proteins in the blood are under constant and changing pressure because of the different ways blood flows throughout the body,” says…
Highly sensitive electronic components are the drivers of our digitalized world. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) open up new possibilities for miniaturization in wide-ranging application areas. With its state-of-the-art 200 mm clean room, Fraunhofer IPMS offers the complete value chain for MEMS as well as optical components MOEMS (Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems). The range of services extends from consulting on feasibility through initial demonstration at wafer level to pilot fabrication with manufacturing capacities of more than 1100 waferstarts per month. Under the motto “Intelligent…
A Greifswald research team from the Centre of Excellence ZIK plasmatis at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology e.V. (INP) was able to demonstrate for the first time in laboratory experiments the inactivation of corona viruses by physical plasma. The new method promises innovative therapies for the corona pandemic and other infectious diseases. Physical plasma, the so-called fourth state of matter, has been finding its way into medicine for several years. Clinical successes are increasingly being recorded, particularly…
… in industrial high-power USP processes. Together with Hamamatsu, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen has set up an application lab for advanced laser material processing with ultrashort pulsed (USP) laser radiation. In Aachen, the partners jointly developed an industrial processing SLM-head that can use customized, dynamic beam shaping combined with large laser average output powers for a wide range of applications. The applied, new Spatial Light Modulator from Hamamatsu can be operated up to 150 watts…
In a recent publication in the scientific journal “Advanced Materials”, a team of physicists and chemists from TU Dresden presents an organic thin-film sensor that describes a completely new way of identifying the wavelength of light and achieves a spectral resolution below one nanometer. As integrated components, the thin-film sensors could eliminate the need for external spectrometers in the future. A patent application has already been filed for the novel technology. Spectroscopy comprises a group of experimental methods that decompose…
Aphids are one of the least welcome garden visitors. These small insects can cause all the more damage in agriculture. But how do they actually choose their host plants? What are the basic mechanisms behind this? Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Kassel now present two novel models that can be used to analyze aphid color vision and thus how the animals respond to plants. This opens up new possibilities for future research on this topic – but may…
Interdisciplinary team around Jena astrophysicist utilized observations from antiquity to prove, that Betelgeuse – the bright red giant star in the upper left of the constellation Orion – was yellow-orange some 2,000 years ago. With progressing nuclear fusion in the center of a star, brightness, size, and color also change. Astrophysicists can derive from such properties important information on age and mass of a star. Those stars with significantly more mass than our Sun are blue-white or red – the…
For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable. The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb’s powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system, pointing the way to future observations that will reveal more information than ever before about exoplanets….
An international team led by researchers at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) has engineered a system for creating remote controlled cyborg cockroaches, equipped with a tiny wireless control module that is powered by a rechargeable battery attached to a solar cell. Despite the mechanic devices, ultrathin electronics and flexible materials allow the insects to move freely. These achievements, reported in the scientific journal npj Flexible Electronics on September 5, will help make the use of cyborg insects a…
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