Life & Chemistry

Life & Chemistry

New Portable Device Identifies Airborne Chemicals Instantly

The new prototype device is portable and suitable for rapid deployment by agencies to identify airborne hazards, such as from tiny gas molecules like sulphur…

Life & Chemistry

Exploring Brain Case Dynamics: How Brain Fills Its Space

The human brain is like a fish in an aquarium, floating inside the liquid-filled braincase – but filling it out almost completely. The relationship between the…

Life & Chemistry

Shipment tracking for 'fat parcels' in the body

Without fat, nothing works in the body: These substances serve as energy suppliers and important building blocks – including for the envelopes of living cells….

Life & Chemistry

Unlocking Microbial Secondary Metabolites for Innovation

Secondary metabolites – the compounds produced by microbes to mediate internal and external messaging, self-defense, and chemical warfare – are the basis for…

Life & Chemistry

Enhancing Neuron Communication: Innovations in Receptor Complexes

Rapid communication of neurons in the brain, as well as the ability to learn, fundamentally rely on neurotransmitter receptors located in the contact sites of…

Life & Chemistry

High-Resolution Reveal of Luteoviridae Crop Viruses

The Luteoviridae are pathogenic plant viruses responsible for major crop losses worldwide. Transmitted by aphids, the viruses infect a wide range of food crops…

Life & Chemistry

DNA-PAINT: Fast Super-Resolution Microscopy Breakthrough

Recent advances in fluorescence microscopy allow researchers to study biological processes below the classical diffraction limit of light. Ralf Jungmann, Professor for Experimental Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich and research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and colleagues developed DNA-PAINT, a variant of these so-called super-resolution approaches. “DNA-PAINT yields super-resolved images using comparably simple microscopes”, says Jungmann. The technique uses short, dye-labeled DNA strands that transiently interact with their target-bound complements in order to create the…

Life & Chemistry

15-Minute Test Offers Quick Lyme Disease Diagnosis

Some 300,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year. Caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by the bite of infected Ixodes…

Life & Chemistry

BiClean – Smart antibacterial surfaces using bidirectional display technology

You can find them everywhere – at the shower curtain, in pipes or at the tap. Biofilms can form on almost any surface, as long as the supply of moisture is…

Life & Chemistry

New method for quicker and simpler production of lipidated proteins

Some of the body’s proteins are not just made up of amino acids, they are also ‘decorated’ with lipid chains, which significantly influence the biological…

Life & Chemistry

Genetic globetrotter protects marine bacteria from pollution

Dr. Jörn Petersen and his team of scientists at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures have jointly with Dr. John…

Life & Chemistry

Diagnostics for everyone

Microarrays are state-of-the-art tools in molecular biology that enable the rapid and parallel diagnosis of various diseases. Therefore, they are indispensable…

Life & Chemistry

Many cooks don't spoil the broth: Manifold symbionts prepare their host for any eventuality

Hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are fascinating and rich habitats. Mussels, for example, thrive in this seemingly hostile environment, nourished by…

Life & Chemistry

New Insights Into Tuberculosis Pathogen and Its Impact

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious infectious disease that is typically spread through aerosols and mainly affects the lungs. According to the World Health…

Life & Chemistry

Exploring Mitochondria’s Role in Neuron Function and Hearing

The ability to hear relies on neurons to constantly transmit information at very rapid timescales. This rapid rate of information transmission results in…

Life & Chemistry

Scientists Discover Gender-Distinct Brain Circuit for Depression

Michigan State University researchers, however, have found and flipped a switch in the brain, revealing a single circuit in mice that activates during stress…

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