Scientists have discovered that bacteria can create something like memories about when to form strategies that can cause dangerous infections in people, such as resistance to antibiotics and bacterial swarms when millions of bacteria come together on a single surface. The discovery — which has potential applications for preventing and combatting bacterial infections and addressing antibiotic-resistant bacteria — relates to a common chemical element bacterial cells can use to form and pass along these memories to their progeny over later…
For the first time, researchers at TU Wien have successfully observed the operating principle of so-called promoters in a catalytic reaction in real-time. These promoters play an important role in technology, but so far there is only limited understanding. Catalysts are essential for numerous chemical technologies, ranging from exhaust gas purification to the production of valuable chemicals and energy carriers. Often, tiny traces of additional substances are used alongside catalysts to make them highly effective. These substances are referred to…
The microbiome (the symbiotic community of microbial organisms of a host) is of existential importance for the functioning of every plant and animal, including human beings. A research team from Düsseldorf and Kiel headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now used the example of the sea anemone Nematostella vectenis to investigate how the microbiome develops together with the host. In the scientific journal Microbiome, the researchers describe that the bacterial community is primarily controlled by the host organism…
A team of scientists from the Institut Pasteur has used the database of the National Reference Center for Meningococci to trace the evolution of invasive meningococcal disease cases in France between 2015 and 2022, revealing an unprecedented resurgence in the disease after the easing of control measures imposed during the COVID-19 epidemic. Recently reported cases have mainly been caused by meningococcal serogroups that were less frequent before the pandemic, and there has been a particular uptick in cases among people…
The vision system, evolved over millions of years, is highly complex. To make vision sensitive throughout the whole range of visible wavelengths, Nature employs a supramolecular chemistry approach. The visual pigment, cis-retinal, changes its shape upon capturing a photon. This shape transformation is accompanied by changes in the supramolecular organization of the surrounding proteins, subsequently triggering a cascade of chemical signaling events that get amplified and eventually lead to visual perception in the brain. “Some deep-sea fish have evolved antenna-like…
Proteins that form clumps occur in many difficult-to-treat diseases, such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. The mechanisms behind how the proteins interact with each other are difficult to study, but now researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a new method for capturing many proteins in nano-sized traps. Inside the traps, the proteins can be studied in a way that has not been possible before. “We believe that our method has great potential to increase the understanding of…
Researchers establish green pharmaceutical production from wood waste. Sustainable and environmentally friendly production processes are playing an increasingly important role in almost all branches of industry. The production of active pharmaceutical ingredients in particular involves the use of various materials and reagents, many of which have environmentally harmful properties and therefore require costly processing and disposal. Researchers at the University of Graz and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) have now succeeded in developing a strategy for the…
Researchers from Göttingen and Karlsruhe have developed a new treatment approach for pancreatic cancer. The innovative method promises to be able to treat the disease in a more targeted way and with fewer side effects in the future. The therapy is now to be optimized for clinical application as quickly as possible. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancers in humans. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the western world. The early stages…
Tiny vesicles exchange genetic information between cells in the sea. Researchers around Susanne Erdmann from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen take a look at data that has so far been mostly discarded as contamination, revealing the previously underestimated role of extracellular vesicles (EVs). These are important for the exchange of genetic information between cells and thus for the microbial community in the sea. There is a lively exchange of genetic information between the numerous microorganisms in…
Research that could lead to the first early detection blood test for pancreatic cancer has received critical funding from PanKind, The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. Pancreatic cancer is one of Australia’s biggest killers, with poor survival rates marred by a lack of distinct symptoms and screening tools needed to detect the disease in its initial stages. It’s hoped the test will, for the first time, accurately identify patients with early stages of pancreatic cancer – a crucial step towards improving…
Genetic switch rescues old fish from fasting trap. Health is thought to be improved by fasting interventions, which involve alternating periods of fasting and feeding. But this doesn’t work as well in old animals. By studying the short-lived killifish, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne have shown that older fish deviate from a youthful fast and refeed cycle, and instead enter a state of perpetual fasting, even when feeding. However, the benefits of refeeding…
Researchers at the universities in Mainz, Cologne, and Oldenburg gain important insights into a cryptochrome protein involved in synchronization of marine organisms’ inner lunar calendar with moon phases. JOINT PRESS RELEASE OF JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITY MAINZ AND THE UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE In a recent publication in “Nature Communications”, a joint research team of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the University of Cologne, and the University of Oldenburg has presented their findings on the functioning of an atypical cryptochrome protein (Cry)….
Fatty acids are essential in all living organisms: to store energy, form membranes, and multiply. They are produced by a complex cellular machinery – the fatty acid synthase (FAS). A team of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences, led by Ashwin Chari and Holger Stark, have now visualized the FAS structure in unprecedented detail. This allows the direct observation of enzymatic reactions and the reconstruction of structural transitions within a fatty acid synthesis cycle. The findings enable new…
How fungal proteins efficiently make ice. Snow and hail are formed in clouds, while fungi and other microorganisms thrive on the ground. But the fact that the two can be related, with microbes influencing ice formation in clouds, has been studied in more detail only in recent years. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research led by Konrad Meister have now investigated in more detail how microbes achieve ice formation at the molecular level and how it can…
Groundbreaking study opens new avenues for future treatment and diagnosis. Researchers at the Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling have released a groundbreaking study identifying 4,749 key gene clusters, termed “prognostic modules,” that significantly influence the progression of 32 different types of cancer. The study, published in Genome Research, serves as a comprehensive resource and lays the foundation for the development of next-generation cancer treatments and diagnostic markers. Despite significant progress in cancer research, understanding the disease’s genetic intricacies…
The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) into carbon-based fuels provides a promising strategy to mitigate CO2 emission and promotes the utilization of renewable energy. The Cn (n≥2) liquid products are desirable because of their high energy densities and ease of storage. However, manipulation of C-C coupling pathway remains a challenge due to the limited mechanistic understanding. Recently, a research group led by Profs. ZHANG Tao and HUANG Yanqiang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed…
Feedback
