Carl Zeiss Foundation supports new research project. New Halocycles project aims to develop a halogen recovery technique contributing to the stabilization of the power grid and the defossilization of the future industrial society. Increasing the recovery of valuable fossil raw materials, avoiding climate-damaging carbon dioxide emission, and stabilizing our energy supply network – these are the three major objectives of a new joint research project of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and TU Kaiserslautern. With their pioneering concept, the two…
Researchers from Dresden, together with Danish and Finnish colleagues, identify a gene that enables beta cells to communicate with each other, helping the pancreas to respond to glucose by insulin secretion. Diabetes, which affects millions of people worldwide, develops when the body either generates insufficient amounts of the hormone insulin– a hormone that maintains healthy blood sugar – or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. When the number of beta cells is too low or they…
Study published in Nature identifies novel approaches for anti-allergic therapies. Inflammation and increased mucus production are typical symptoms of worm infections and allergies. This immune response involves our innate immune cells, but their exact functions are not yet fully understood. A research team from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has now shed light on the key tasks that these cells perform. In the study, which has been published in the journal Nature*, the researchers also identify potential therapeutic approaches for the treatment of allergies….
Fraunhofer at MEDICA/COMPAMED 2022. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT have developed the “BioSensoLab“, a mobile biological laboratory with which they can demonstrate new developments to customers and test them together – on site at their companies. These new technologies rely in particular on intelligent sensors combined with artificial intelligence to perform analyses. The lab will be presented at the joint Fraunhofer booth at the MEDICA 2022 trade fair in Düsseldorf from November 14 to 17. “Never…
DSMZ publishes unique database for the cultivation of microorganisms. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH in Braunschweig, Germany have published a freely accessible database for growth media of microorganisms. The content and functions of this worldwide unique database – MediaDive (https://mediadive.dsmz.de/) – are explained by the researchers in their article published in the renowned journal Nucleic Acids Research. Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are the basis for life and survival on Earth….
Advances and challenges in molecular nanoscience. Molecular nanoscience and magnetic materials: In the field of molecular magnetism, the design of devices with technological applications at the nanoscale —quantum computing, molecular spintronics, magnetic cooling, nanomedicine, high-density information storage, etc.— requires those magnetic molecules that are placed on the surface to preserve their structure, functionality and properties. Now, a paper published in the journal Coordination Chemistry Reviews analyses the most updated knowledge on the processes of deposition and organization of magnetic molecules on…
Researchers have developed a technique that could help fine-tune the production of monoclonal antibodies and other useful proteins. Using an approach based on CRISPR proteins, MIT researchers have developed a new way to precisely control the amount of a particular protein that is produced in mammalian cells. This technique could be used to finely tune the production of useful proteins, such as the monoclonal antibodies used to treat cancer and other diseases, or other aspects of cellular behavior. In their…
Can we survive three minutes without air or three days without water? How about without batteries? Imagine not having a battery for three hours. Lightweight, high-capacity lithium-ion batteries are widely used in mobile phones, laptops, and other necessities in today’s world. However, the organic electrolytes in conventional lithium-ion batteries are highly flammable, leading to fatal fires or explosions. As lithium-ion batteries are widely used in our lives, such accidents can cause direct damage to users, which has led to a…
A team of Canadian researchers from Université de Montréal has designed and validated a new class of drug transporters made of DNA that are 20,000 times smaller than a human hair and that could improve how cancers and other diseases are treated. Reported in a new study in Nature Communications, these molecular transporters can be chemically programmed to deliver optimal concentration of drugs, making them more efficient than current methods. Optimal dosing at all times: a medical challenge One of…
Studying noncoding RNAs opens new avenues to understand human disease. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and Imperial College London have found a switch that regulates the activity of a gene that causes diabetes. The findings, published in Nature Cell Biology, highlights potential new vulnerabilities in the disease and could lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies. HNF1A is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein called hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 alpha. The protein is expressed in many…
Could the future of data storage be DNA? It’s the original format after all, storing the information needed to build every living thing. And it has a handful of qualities that would make it perfect for storing all the digital information in our world. With recent advances in sequencing and printing DNA, it’s technically possible, but there are a few obstacles to overcome before this sci-fi-sounding tech can become a household reality. https://youtu.be/jQOKbkyG1Jg Reactions is a video series produced by…
Researchers at Turku University and Åbo Akademi University, Finland, have identified that finger-like cellular extensions called filopodia contribute to building a barrier surrounding breast tumours. At the early stage of breast cancer malignant cells are imprisoned by a tissue barrier called a basement membrane that stops them from disseminating into other parts of the body. This early disease stage is typically not life-threatening, as surgery can remove the tumour. However, breast cancer can become lethal if it spreads and forms…
Prodrug curcumin shows clinical potential in mice. Curcumin, a natural molecule related to turmeric, has been used to treat cancer patients in cancer clinical studies. While it has documented antitumor effects, challenges involving its chemistry have caused drug development to lag. Now, a team of researchers at Kyoto University has developed a prodrug form of curcumin, TBP1901, that has shown anti-tumor effects without toxicities. “Curcumin has long been used as a spice or food coloring, so we expect to see…
Battery research – Dr. Aleksandr Savateev, group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, has developed a unique online database. To do so, he has analyzed and standardized research data from 300 papers published over the past forty years in the field of photocharged semiconductors. The database could be used to find suitable photosemiconductors for designing new batteries, rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors more quickly and in a more targeted manner. Materials chemistry is a rapidly evolving area…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Plön show that reputation plays a key role in determining which rewarding policies people adopt. Using game theory, they explain why individuals learn to use rewards to specifically promote good behaviour. Often, we use positive incentives like rewards to promote cooperative behaviour. But why do we predominantly reward cooperation? Why is defection rarely rewarded? Or more generally, why do we bother to engage in any form of rewarding in the first place? Theoretical…
Enzymatic reactions create micro-environments to organize cellular processes. Inside cells, molecular droplets form defined compartments for chemical reactions. Not only sticky interactions between molecules, but also dynamic reactions can form such droplets, as it was found by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the University of Oxford. They revealed a new regulatory mechanism by which life controls and organizes itself. Traditionally, cellular organelles defined by a membrane have been considered the functional units of…
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