An international research team, comprising scientists from DZNE, University Hospital Bonn, the Netherlands, and the US has been awarded a US$ 1.3 million grant by the “Human Frontier Science Program” to investigate brain immune cells and manipulate them via light irradiation. This will involve using gene transcripts (mRNAs) as molecular mediators. From these laboratory studies, the scientists aim to gain new insights into how these cells change their shape in response to hazards and the role they play in neurodegenerative…

Animals can synthesize phytosterols. Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study, now published in Science, provides evidence that many…

By using deep learning-generated ‘fingerprints’ to characterize millions of protein fragments, EPFL researchers have computationally designed novel protein binders that attach seamlessly to key targets, including the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. In 2019, scientists in the joint School of Engineering and School of Life Sciences Laboratory of Protein Design and Immunoengineering (LPDI) led by Bruno Correia developed MaSIF: a machine learning-driven method for scanning millions of protein surfaces within minutes to analyze their structure and functional properties. The researchers’ ultimate goal…

Joint expertise from industry and research: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a groundbreaking imaging technique that generates high-resolution cross-sectional images of transparent and semitransparent media. It is used both in industrial metrology, for example in quality assurance, and in biomedical diagnostics, such as ophthalmology or tissue diagnostics. Companies and research institutes focusing on industrial metrology and medical technology also expect a wide range of other fields of application. They cooperate in the VDI/VDE – Society for Measurement and Automatic Control…

Breakthroughs in ancient genome reconstruction and biotechnology are now revealing the rich molecular secrets of Paleolithic microorganisms. In a new study published in Science, a transdisciplinary team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and Harvard University reconstructed bacterial genomes of previously unknown bacteria dating to the Pleistocene. Using their genetic blueprints, they built a biotechnology platform to revive the ancient bacteria’s natural products. Microbes are…

Scientists from four research institutes in the Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld have joined forces to develop a ground-breaking experimental setup. Their new Spitrobot greatly simplifies observing changes in proteins as they carry out their functions. This makes time-resolved crystallography accessible for non-specialist research groups, as samples can now be prepared in standard labs and processed by automated established high-throughput methods elsewhere. The device will accelerate fundamental research in health and disease. The team has now presented the concept behind the…

In multiple sclerosis (MS), the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain and spinal cord, causing the complete loss of myelin. “Synthesized by specialized cells, oligodendrocytes, myelin protects nerve fibers, guarantees the good conduction of nerve impulses, and provides nutrients to the axons, Bernard Zalc recalls. This protective sheath envelops nerve fibers and is essential for their proper functioning. Its disappearance, called demyelination, causes sensory and motor symptoms: weakness of the lower or upper limbs, loss of balance, sensitivity, and vision…

More effectively measuring tissue stiffness could help treat cancer, sports injuries and more. A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a stretchable ultrasonic array capable of serial, non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging of tissues as deep as four centimeters below the surface of human skin, at a spatial resolution of 0.5 millimeters. This new method provides a non-invasive, longer-term alternative to current methods, with improved penetration depth. The research emerges from the lab of Sheng Xu, a…

Health monitoring device from UH researchers. Link to video and sound (details below): https://go.hawaii.edu/qRX Sweat is more than just a sign of a good workout. It holds vital information about our health, providing clues to dehydration, fatigue, blood sugar levels and even serious conditions such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes and heart failure. Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Engineering have taken a giant leap forward in sweat analysis with an innovative 3D-printed wearable sweat sensor called the “sweatainer.” Harnessing the power…

Idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia leaves immune system vulnerable to other diseases, cancers. In an 11-year study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have further characterized idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL), a rare immune deficiency that leaves people vulnerable to infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancers. Researchers observed that people with the most severe cases of ICL had the highest risk of acquiring or developing several of the diseases associated with this immune deficiency. This study, published in the New England Journal…

Cocoa plays an important role in Brazilian agriculture. However, the fruit of the cacao tree (cocoa pods) is prone to fungal diseases. In the 1990s, a fungal epidemic caused cocoa production in Brazil to collapse. Nowadays, pest infestations are responsible for crop losses of up to 40 percent worldwide. In collaboration with the State University of Campinas, Brazil, researchers at the Fraunhofer IVV are looking to establish new ways of using damaged cocoa pods as part of the Damaged Beans…

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT have been working with international partners to develop a technology platform to help relieve the symptoms of muscle tremors. Tiny biocompatible electrodes in the muscles, combined with external electrodes and controllers, form an intelligent network of sensors and actuators to detect muscle signals and provide electrical stimuli as needed. Together with exoskeletons, the technology could also help people with spinal cord injuries. A compact controller on a belt or under a…

Harmful PFAS chemicals can now be detected in many soils and bodies of water. Removing them using conventional filter techniques is costly and almost infeasible. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB are now successfully implementing a plasma-based technology in the AtWaPlas joint research project. Contaminated water is fed into a combined glass and stainless steel cylinder where it is then treated with ionized gas, i.e. plasma. This reduces the PFAS molecular chains, allowing the toxic…

Using a “spooky” phenomenon of quantum physics, Caltech researchers have discovered a way to double the resolution of light microscopes. In a paper appearing in the journal Nature Communications, a team led by Lihong Wang, Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, shows the achievement of a leap forward in microscopy through what is known as quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which two particles are linked such that the state of one particle is tied to…

Scientists of the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology and Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands have revealed new scientific insights into the features of fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC), a rare type of childhood liver cancer. Their findings, published today in Nature Communications, may help in developing new drug therapies in the future. Mini organs and the ‘molecular scissor’ system CRISPR-Cas9, allowed the researchers to better understand tumor biology and biological consequences of different DNA changes. It also uncovered the probable cell-of origin of…

A new artificial intelligence system called a semantic decoder can translate a person’s brain activity — while listening to a story or silently imagining telling a story — into a continuous stream of text. The system developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin might help people who are mentally conscious yet unable to physically speak, such as those debilitated by strokes, to communicate intelligibly again. The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, was led by Jerry…