How to produce hydrogen cost-effectively and sustainably is one of the central questions of the energy transition. Highly conductive membranes for electrolyzers are a key component of hydrogen technology. A research team at Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, together with Zentrum für Brennstoffzellen Technik ZBT GmbH, has now developed innovative anion exchange membranes (AEM) that allow to reduce the costs of electrolyzers and to tap the potential of hydrogen as a climate-neutral energy source in an environmentally friendly…

Pivotal role of DNA copy number. A study performed at IRB Barcelona unveils how the number of copies of genetic material influences the cell death processes that shape organs during development. Autophagy, which is a process related to the degradation and recycling of cellular components, plays a fundamental role in response to stress and cancer. The study has been published in the journal Autophagy. During development and associated processes, the programmed death of certain cells plays an essential role in…

Combining two types of heart scan techniques could help doctors to detect the deadly heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) before symptoms and signs on conventional tests appear, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the journal Circulation, opens the prospect of treating the condition at the earliest stages. Being able to detect HCM earlier than ever before will also assist trials investigating gene therapies and drug treatments…

New factor influencing excess body weight discovered. What determines whether we become overweight? Aside from lifestyle, predisposition plays a role, but genes cannot fully explain the inherited propensity to accumulate excess weight. A new study by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Science Translational Medicine* shows that a kind of formatting of the DNA code in one gene that is associated with satiety is implicated in a slightly elevated risk of excess body weight – at least in women. This “epigenetic…

“Don’t eat me!” That’s how one might translate the signal that the cancer cells in a glioblastoma send to the macrophages (white blood cells specialized in removing dead and dying cellular matter) in the brain. Immunotherapy attempts to enable these cells to eradicate the abnormal cells, but so far, it has met with little success when it comes to glioblastomas. Researchers led by Professor Gregor Hutter from the Department of Biomedicine at the University and University Hospital Basel have recently…

There is news from the immune system: Dendritic cells migrate in a network along the outside of blood vessels. Local cytokines keep this dynamic network stable. The cells of the immune system circulate mainly in the blood and migrate into the body’s tissues after an inflammation. Some types of immune cells, however, are permanently located in the tissues, where they come together to form three-dimensional networks. How do these networks form and how are they maintained? For the long-lived macrophages…

Specific nerves may be stimulated artificially, for example to treat pain. The finer the nerves, the more difficult it is to attach the required electrodes. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and NTT Research have now developed flexible electrodes produced with 4D printing technology. On contact with moisture, they automatically fold and wrap themselves around thin nerves. The nervous system controls our movements through electrical impulses. These pass from nerve cell to nerve cell until finally, for example,…

Omicron variants are responsible for most COVID-19 infections worldwide. Compared to earlier virus variants, Omicron causes severe diseases less frequently. However, an international team including scientists from the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research has now identified a mutation in the spike protein of the Omicron subvariant BA.5 that enables the virus to efficiently infect lung cells again. The study shows that in the future, Omicron subvariants may emerge that could again effectively infect lung cells and…

… performed by Washington University surgeons. A surgical team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently performed the first robotic liver transplant in the U.S. The successful transplant, accomplished in May at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, extends to liver transplants the advantages of minimally invasive robotic surgery: a smaller incision resulting in less pain and faster recoveries, plus the precision needed to perform one of the most challenging abdominal procedures. The patient, a man in his 60s who needed…

Groundbreaking method offers a fast and cost-effective way to observe abnormal metabolic processes live in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner / Production of biological contrast agents / Publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. A team of scientists from the University Medical Center Freiburg, the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), and other locations has achieved a significant breakthrough in live observation of metabolic processes in the body using metabolic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They have developed a method to modify naturally…

…ever created with Save Our Seas Foundation and UMass Amherst. New interactive models, including the great white shark, free and publicly available, bring the evolution, adaptations of sharks and rays to life. Ground-breaking 3D interactive shark imagery created by a University of Massachusetts Amherst biology professor is powering a new World of Sharks website launched by the Save Our Seas Foundation to inform the public on the critical role sharks play in the world’s oceans. The Save Our Seas Foundation…

In the animal world, you don’t need to learn a numeral system – such as the ten-digit Indo-Arabic system we commonly use – to be able to count. Animals constantly use numerical information from their environment to make decisions. Estimating the number of conspecifics in a competing group before engaging in conflict, the amount of food available in a difficult-to-reach location, or the number of potential sexual partners in a new territory is essential for survival and reproduction. This skill…

Structure of an enzyme crucial for tRNA maturation sheds light on cause of neurodegenerative disorders. In all living organisms, the biomolecule transfer RNA (tRNA) plays a fundamental role in protein production. tRNAs are generated from precursor molecules in several steps. The enzyme tRNA splicing endonuclease (TSEN), among other things, catalyzes one step in this process. Mutations in TSEN lead to a neurodegenerative disorder called pontocerebellar hypoplasia, which is associated with severe disabilities and early death. Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt…

A team led by Prof. Ryan Gilmour at the Organic Chemistry Institute at the University of Münster has reported in “Nature Communications” on the rapid generation of new fluorinated molecular fragments for drug discovery using organocatalysis. Fluorine is found rarely in naturally occurring organic molecules. However, this chemical element is indispensable for the production of pharmaceuticals or agrochemicals. Synthetic chemistry has an important role to play in the development of new fluorine-containing molecular fragments. Simple, modular synthesis strategies are extremely…

The signal, produced by neurons, helps the barrier form and maintain its protective properties. At a glance: Working with mice and zebrafish, researchers identify a gene, expressed in neurons, that produces a signal needed for development and maintenance of the blood-brain barrier. When mutated, the gene makes certain regions of the blood-brain barrier more permeable. The findings could help scientists control the blood-brain barrier — important for delivering drugs into the central nervous system or countering damage from neurodegenerative disease…

How severe psychological stress impairs bone growth and fracture healing. A study at Ulm University and its Medical Centre has uncovered the molecular mechanisms by which psychological trauma and other massively stressful experiences slow down the healing of bone fractures. The research team, which included scientists from Canada and Japan, was able to demonstrate that certain immune cells respond to stress by producing an enzyme, which in turn promotes the release of stress hormones. These stress hormones act locally on…