An international research team has gained new insights into the mode of operation of an iron catalyst that can be used to split ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is converted into ammonia to make the energy carrier easier to transport. This means that catalysts are also needed that can subsequently break ammonia down into its starting materials again. A team from the German Ruhr University Bochum, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) in Mülheim an…
An efficient way to hydrogenate nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds has been developed. Successful reduction of the chemical manufacturing industry’s environmental impact relies on finding a greener way to make the chemical building blocks for common and massively consumed compounds. It’s no secret manufacturing processes have some of the most impactful and intense effects on the environment, with the chemical manufacturing industry topping the charts for both energy consumption and emissions output. While this makes sense thanks to the grand scale in…
Investigation of the symbiosis between bacteria and birds leads to the discovery of new natural products with antimicrobial properties. Bacteria are a valuable source for the discovery of natural products that can be used for the development of new drugs. A HIPS research team has now identified two new classes of active substances with antimicrobial properties from bacteria that live in symbiosis with a toxic bird. This strategy and the substances discovered offer promising avenues towards the development of new…
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf have described a previously unknown mechanism in the perception of light and heat in plants. The results contribute to a better understanding of plant physiological processes. The researchers report on their findings in the journal “The Plant Cell”. What for? Plants can perceive light and heat via so-called phytochromes and use these pigments to trigger vital reactions such as growth. Climate change and steadily rising temperatures can disrupt plant…
MPI scientists from Dortmund unveiled the role of enzyme PLK1 in regulating centromeres’ restoration after cell division, a process at the basis of life. A centromere is a specialized location in the DNA that functions as the control centre of cell division and is maintained, unchanged, across generations of cells. It is characterized by a special protein, called centromeric protein A (CENP-A), which marks the centromere and mobilizes other players necessary for cell division. “One of the fundamental questions of…
A protein determines the shape of bacteria. Bacteria come in a wide variety of shapes, which are important for their fitness in their respective ecological niches. However, despite intensive research, the factors that determine the shape of bacterial cells remain, in many cases, unknown. A team of researchers led by Martin Thanbichler has now discovered the mechanism that determines the spiral shape of Rhodospirillum, shedding new light on the link between cell shape and fitness. Bacteria come in a surprising…
… improves early detection of pancreatic cancer. An experimental blood test detects early-stage pancreatic cancer more effectively than other available tests, reports a new study published in Cancer Letters. The findings pave the way for further evaluation of the test in a clinical setting, an important step toward approval as a potential diagnostic method for pancreatic cancer. “Catching pancreatic cancer early dramatically improves survival, but our current tools for doing so are limited,” said the study’s co-corresponding author Brian Haab,…
Researchers at the University of Bonn and University of Montreal have developed a new type of catalyst and used it in their study to produce methane out of carbon dioxide and water in a highly efficient way using electricity. Methane can be used, for example, to heat apartments or as a starting material in the chemical industry. It is also the main component of natural gas. If it is produced using green electricity, however, it is largely climate neutral. The…
An international research team led by Prof. Dr. Janosch Hennig from the University of Bayreuth has discovered how the TRIM25 protein contributes to defense against RNA viruses whose genetic material is contained as ribonucleic acid (RNA). The results provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the human immune system. The researchers have now reported their findings in Nature Communications. What for? The coronavirus has shown that there is a risk of a pandemic if viruses that are dangerous…
LMU researchers demonstrate that certain immune cells already play an important role in the early stages of multiple sclerosis. The researchers compared the CD8 T cells of monozygotic twin pairs, of which one twin suffers from MS while the other is asymptomatic and found specific changes These findings could open new therapeutic avenues and could be used to develop new diagnostic methods Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system….
Found the bacterial needle in the haystack. Imagine a country with a billion people, where every individual has different interests and different goals. You will never know their interests and goals until you ask them, but asking a billion people is not an easy task. This is the same complex scenario that scientists face when we study bacteria. There are about a billion of them in a colony the size of tip of a pencil, but when we look at…
Saarland Remains a Beacon in Biomedical Science. Good news for biomedical research in Saarland: The Leibniz ScienceCampus (LSC) “Living Therapeutic Materials” is entering its second funding phase after four years of successful research. The Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM), Saarland University (UdS), and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) are starting the next phase of the Leibniz ScienceCampus on October 1. The Leibniz Association and the Saarland government are contributing a total of €1.6 million to fund…
The BICAN Rapid Release Inventory provides early access to comprehensive single-cell data, aiming to accelerate brain research. The BRAIN Initiative® Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) has launched its first major data release, marking a significant milestone in the ambitious effort to map the whole human brain. The data, accessible through the BICAN Rapid Release Inventory, includes single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptomic and epigenomic profiles from humans, mice, and 10 other mammalian species. Sourced from multiple grants and labs within the consortium, including…
In-vitro Skin Makes Cell Reaction to Test Substance Measurable in Real Time. The EU has banned animal testing for cosmetics and non-animal alternative methods are preferable for the risk assessment of new chemical substances. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, a three-dimensional skin model has now been set up for the first time that directly displays the skin’s reaction to substances: The reporter skin. Thanks to the built-in reporter, the cellular response can be measured precisely…
In a recent study, researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena have shown how they can non-invasively and non-destructively investigate the growth and interactions of the green alga Ulva and its bacterial community using Raman spectroscopy. This method allows precise analysis of algae development without disturbing the sensitive processes. The study was published in the journal ChemPhysChem. Algae such as Ulva, also known as sea lettuce, play a vital role in…
A new study by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich shows for the first time that bitter tasting protein fragments (peptides) are produced in the stomach during the digestion of the natural sweetener thaumatin. In a cellular test system, the peptides are able to stimulate the acid secretion of human stomach cells and influence inflammatory reactions. “Our research helps to elucidate the health effects of the plant protein, which is widely used as…
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