Researchers developed a new method called wildDISCO that uses standard antibodies to map the entire body of an animal using fluorescent markers. This revolutionary technique provides detailed 3D maps of structures, shedding new light on complex biological systems and diseases. WildDISCO has the potential to transform our understanding of intricate processes in health and disease and paves the way for exciting advancements in medical research. This technology was now introduced in Nature Biotechnology. In the past, scientists relied on genetically…

Nitric oxide (NO) is a central molecule in the global cycling of nitrogen, and also toxic. Little is known about if and how microbes can use NO as a substrate for growth. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, have now managed to grow a microbial community dominated by two, so-far unknown species on NO for more than four years (and counting) and study their metabolism in great detail. Their research, now published in in…

KIMM develops the world’s first 3D bioprinting technology that enhances the function of NK immune cells. New technology expected to improve effectiveness of cancer treatment. A three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology capable of eliminating cancer cells using the function of immune cells has been developed for the first time in the world. Through joint research with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang Jin Park, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (President Jang Seong…

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the cells that let us hear can repair themselves after being damaged. That important insight could benefit efforts to develop new and better ways to treat and prevent hearing loss. “Hair cells” found in the inner ear, are important both for our ability to hear and our sense of balance. They are known as hair cells because the cells are covered in hair-like structures that serve as mechanical antennas for…

Scientists have unveiled a new mechanism that plants use to sense temperature. This finding could lead to solutions to counteract some of the deleterious changes in plant growth, flowering and seed production due to climate change. The results are published today in PNAS. The rise of temperatures worldwide due to climate change is having detrimental consequences for plants. They tend to flower earlier than before and rush through the reproductive process, which translates into less fruits and less seeds and…

…in children with mitochondrial disorders. One of the first human studies on how mitochondrial function impacts immune cells to guide future treatments. In a new study, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers found that altered B cell function in children with mitochondrial disorders led to a weaker and less diverse antibody response to viral infections. The study, published in Frontiers in Immunology was led by researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), who analyzed gene activity of immune cells in…

Proof-of-concept device could also monitor for flu, RSV, other respiratory viruses. Now that the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, scientists are looking at ways to surveil indoor environments in real time for viruses. By combining recent advances in aerosol sampling technology and an ultrasensitive biosensing technique, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a real-time monitor that can detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in a room in about 5 minutes. The inexpensive, proof-of-concept…

The strength of the immune reaction triggered by antibodies can be regulated. Antibodies are crucial, not only for treating tumors and infections. Sometimes, however, the immune reaction they trigger can be too strong and end up causing more damage, for example in the case of people infected with Covid-19. Problems such as these can often be avoided by finetuning antibodies, as Prof. Dr. Falk Nimmerjahn from FAU and two of his colleagues in the Netherlands and in the UK have…

An international team of chemists led by Professors Frank Glorius (University of Münster) and Kendall N. Houk (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) has succeeded for the first time in using structural editing to insert a four-membered molecular ring into a larger, aromatic ring. This resulted in a structurally complex bicyclic ring system. Most drugs on the market consist of cyclic (ring-shaped) molecules, many of which contain multiple rings. Developing simple and powerful methods for constructing important and novel ring…

How do leafcutter ants measure the size of the leaf pieces they cut off? A study by the University of Würzburg now provides answers. Up to three million specimens, translated into human terms about twice as many inhabitants as Munich – that’s how large a single colony of leafcutter ants can become. To feed so many creatures at the same time, the animals have developed a sophisticated system: In their underground nests, they grow fungi, which they distribute to the…

Studies focus on blocking an enzyme that plays a crucial role in replication of the HIV-1 virus. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Health, report that two new studies in mice with a humanized immune system and human cell lines have identified an enzyme that plays a critical role in the late stages of HIV replication. This enzyme, called neutral sphingomyelinase-2 (nSMase2), plays an important role in the body’s metabolism of lipids,…

Every time a stem cell divides, one daughter cell remains a stem cell while the other takes off on its own developmental journey. But both daughter cells require specific and different cellular materials to fulfill their destinies. Animal stem cells use the cytoskeleton – a transient network of structural tubules – to physically pull the correct materials from the parent cell into each daughter cell during the split. Plants also have stem cells that need to distribute different materials to…

Unveiling a groundbreaking and accurate AI-based method to classify cardiac function and disease using chest X-Rays. AI (artificial intelligence) may sound like a cold robotic system, but Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have shown that it can deliver heartwarming—or, more to the point, “heart-warning”—support. They unveiled an innovative use of AI that classifies cardiac functions and pinpoints valvular heart disease with unprecedented accuracy, demonstrating continued progress in merging the fields of medicine and technology to advance patient care. The results will…

A new study on the coexistence of bacteria and fungi shows that a mutually beneficial, functioning symbiosis can be very fragile. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) in Jena found out that the bacterial species Mycetohabitans rhizoxinica lives happily in the hyphae of the fungus Rhizopus microsporus only when the bacteria produce a certain protein. In a symbiosis, two organisms join together and benefit from each other; in endosymbiosis, one of the organisms…

As envisioned, first-of-its-kind African mosquito suppression system would reduce child mortality and aid economic development. Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Each year malaria infections result in hundreds of thousands of deaths, with the majority of fatalities occurring in children under five. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that five cases of mosquito-borne malaria were detected in the United States, the first reported spread in the country in two decades. Fortunately, scientists are developing safe…

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a heavy burden for those affected and for the healthcare system. The “EXTINCT post COVID” project is investigating the effectiveness of apheresis therapy and is seeking participants for a study. The Corona pandemic seems to have been overcome; mandatory masks and other restrictions have largely been abolished. However, about one in ten people continue to suffer the consequences of a Corona infection for longer: persistent fatigue, exhaustion, heart problems, poor concentration and shortness of breath….