An efficient contrast agent method for MRI imaging developed by Max Planck researcher Stefan Gloeggler raises hopes of being able to distinguish tumors from healthy tissue on the basis of their metabolic activity. The ForTra gGmbH für Forschungstransfer of the Else Kroener-Fresenius Foundation (ForTra) and the European Research Council (ERC) are now providing funding to further develop the method for clinical patient studies. Cancer cells consume vast amounts of energy: They grow and divide much faster and more frequently than…

How can pure hydrogen be produced in a climate-neutral process, independent of solar radiation or wind strength, and then utilized to operate fuel cells or for application in the semiconductor industry? This is the question being addressed by a current research project involving the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, and Veolia Umweltservice Süd GmbH & Co. KG. Their plan is to use organic waste as a…

Discarded electronic devices, such as cell phones, are a fast-growing source of waste. One way to mitigate the problem could be to use components that are made with renewable resources and that are easy to dispose of responsibly. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have created a prototype circuit board that is made of a sheet paper with fully integrated electrical components, and that can be burned or left to degrade. Most small electronic devices contain circuit…

This year, about 240,000 people in the U.S. will discover they have lung cancer. Some 200,000 of them will be diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer, which is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease. Georgia Tech researcher Ahmet Coskun is working to improve the odds for these patients in two recently published studies that are essentially focused on understanding why and how patients respond differently to disease and treatments. “What we have learned is connectivity and communication between molecules and…

Layers of gene control allow DNA to flexibly add new information. Genes and their genetic switches are organized into functional units to turn genes on or off just as needed. Disrupting these units can lead to disease, but a new study makes clear that they are more robust and flexible than previously thought. An international team of researchers found that a gene may still function even when new DNA segments get inserted in the same genomic organizational unit. Two meters…

Heidelberg neurobiologists gain new insights into formation of nerve cells. In the brain of adult mammals neural stem cells ensure that new nerve cells, i.e. neurons, are constantly formed. This process, known as adult neurogenesis, helps mice maintain their sense of smell. A research team led by Dr Francesca Ciccolini at the Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN) of Heidelberg University recently discovered a second stem cell population in the mouse brain. This new type of stem cell, and not the…

Ultrathin polymer-based ordered membranes that effectively remove salt from seawater and brine could provide a promising alternative to existing water desalination systems, a KAUST-led team demonstrates. “Water desalination membranes should simultaneously exhibit high water flux and high salt rejection,” says Yu Han, who led the study. Carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are expected to meet these requirements because of their unique surface chemistry and propensity to stack into channels with diameters smaller than one nanometer. Yet, channel alignment…

The structures are reminiscent of one wrinkle of a human brain at 15 to 19 weeks post-conception. Whatever you do, don’t call them “mini-brains,” say University of Utah Health scientists. Regardless, the seed-sized organoids—which are grown in the lab from human cells—provide insights into the brain and uncover differences that may contribute to autism in some people. “We used to think it would be too difficult to model the organization of cells in the brain,” says Alex Shcheglovitov, PhD, assistant…

The cerebellum is known primarily for regulation of movement. Researchers at the University of Basel have now discovered that the cerebellum also plays an important role in remembering emotional experiences. The study appears in the journal PNAS. Both positive and negative emotional experiences are stored particularly well in memory. This phenomenon is important to our survival, since we need to remember dangerous situations in order to avoid them in the future. Previous studies have shown that a brain structure called…

… will silicon nitride and common chemistry help? A research group led by Osaka University found a simple way to facilitate detections of single DNA molecules in silicon nitride nanopores, integration of which with compact electronics will be straightforward and could revolutionize genomic sequencing. Genomic sequencing has revolutionized our understanding of medicine and evolution, such as identifying hereditary anomalies. Arrays of nanometer-sized holes—nanopores—in silicon nitride can in principle dramatically speed up and lower the cost of such analyses. However, DNA…

Collaborators have pioneered the CMU Array, a new type of microelectrode array for brain computer interface platforms. Carnegie Mellon University researchers have pioneered the CMU Array—a new type of microelectrode array for brain computer interface platforms. It holds the potential to transform how doctors are able to treat neurological disorders. 3D printed at the nanoscale, the ultra-high-density microelectrode array (MEA) is fully customizable. This means that one day, patients suffering from epilepsy or limb function loss due to stroke could…

Despite decades of medical advances, children who develop the pediatric eye cancer retinoblastoma often lose their vision or an eye due to a lack of specific, targeted therapies and a poor molecular understanding of the cancer. Now researchers at UT Southwestern and the University of Miami have discovered that a molecule – estrogen-related receptor gamma, or ESRRG – becomes hyperactive and promotes tumor cell survival in retinoblastoma. Blocking ESRRG, the team reported in Science Advances, kills retinoblastoma cells. “Our discovery could…

Assessing nanoparticles with medical engineering. What happens when we breathe in nanoparticles emitted by a laser printer, for example? Could these nanoparticles damage the respiratory tract or perhaps even other organs? To answer these questions, Fraunhofer researchers are developing the “NanoCube” exposure device. The Nanocube’s integrated multi-organ chip set up in the laboratory of the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) and by its spin-off organization “TissUse” detects interaction between nanoparticles and lung cells, the uptake of nanoparticles into the…

Progress has been made on the path to sunlight-driven production of hydrogen. Chemists from Würzburg present a new enzyme-like molecular catalyst for water oxidation. Mankind is facing a central challenge: it must manage the transition to a sustainable and carbon dioxide-neutral energy economy. Hydrogen is considered a promising alternative to fossil fuels. It can be produced from water using electricity. If the electricity comes from renewable sources, it is called green hydrogen. But it would be even more sustainable if…

Water quality and the circular economy. If we look at all of the business sectors in Germany, industry requires the largest amount of water. This makes access to efficient technology for cleaning and recycling water all the more important for this sector in particular. Ideally, this technology should also allow energy and valuable raw materials to be retrieved so that they can be reused in production. In order to address all of these issues in a practical way, researchers at…

Swirling waters replenish nutrients in open ocean, a new study finds, and could mitigate some climate change effects. Subtropical gyres are enormous rotating ocean currents that generate sustained circulations in the Earth’s subtropical regions just to the north and south of the equator. These gyres are slow-moving whirlpools that circulate within massive basins around the world, gathering up nutrients, organisms, and sometimes trash, as the currents rotate from coast to coast. For years, oceanographers have puzzled over conflicting observations within…