New Emmy Noether group at the University of Potsdam conducts joint research with Fraunhofer IAP On January 1, 2021, the new Emmy Noether Group “Next Generation Antimicrobial Polymers” started its work at the University of Potsdam in close cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP. The goal is to develop antimicrobial polymers that can replace antibiotics. “The fight against antibiotic resistance is unfortunately becoming increasingly important. After all, if we as a society lose the ability to…

Nerve cells communicate with one another via synapses. Neuroscientists at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich have now found that these connections seem to be much more powerful than previously thought. The larger the synapse, the stronger the signal it transmits. These findings will enable a better understanding of how the brain functions and how neurological disorders arise. The neocortex is the part of the brain that humans use to process sensory impressions, store memories, give instructions to the…

Using mathematical image processing, scientists at the BioTechMed-Graz research cooperation have found a way to create digital twins from human hearts. The method opens up completely new possibilities in clinical diagnostics. Although treatment options are constantly improving, cardiovascular diseases are still one of the most frequent causes of death in Europe. The success of the treatment varies from patient to patient and depends on the individual clinical picture, as Gernot Plank, researcher at the Institute of Biophysics at the Medical…

Tiny devices use samples taken directly from patients to combine in vivo and in vitro testing. Despite cancer being a leading cause of death worldwide, treatment options for many types of cancers remain limited. This is partly due to the in vitro tools used to model cancers, which cannot adequately predict the behavior of a cancer or its sensitivity to drugs. Further, animal models, like mice, biologically differ from humans in ways that play a critical role in immunotherapy, and…

Shelled pteropods, microscopic free-swimming sea snails, are widely regarded as indicators for ocean acidification because research has shown that their fragile shells are vulnerable to increasing ocean acidity. A new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that pteropods sampled off the coasts of Washington and Oregon made thinner shells than those in offshore waters. Along the coast, upwelling from deeper water layers brings cold, carbon dioxide-rich waters of relatively low pH to the surface. The research, by a…

Scientists have discovered how bacteria commonly responsible for seafood-related stomach upsets can go dormant and then “wake up”. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a marine bacterium that can cause gastroenteritis in humans when eaten in raw or undercooked shellfish such as oysters and mussels. Some of these bacteria are able to turn dormant in poor growth conditions such as cold temperatures – and can remain in that state of hibernation for long periods before resuscitating. University of Exeter scientists have identified a…

Pathogenic bacteria in humans are developing resistance to antibiotics much faster than expected. Now, computational research at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that one reason could be significant genetic transfer between bacteria in our ecosystems and to humans. This work has also led to new tools for resistance researchers. According to the World Health Organisation, antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to global health, food safety and development. It already causes over 33,000 deaths a year in…

Chemists at the University of Jena harness synergy effect of gallium Chemists at Friedrich Schiller University Jena have demonstrated the value of “teamwork” by successfully harnessing the interaction between two gallium atoms in a novel compound to split the particularly strong bond between fluorine and carbon. The gallium compound is also cheaper and more environmentally friendly than conventional alternatives. Sustainable and inexpensive “Such reactions are usually carried out using transition metals, such as nickel or iridium,” explains Prof. Robert Kretschmer,…

Watching the brain at work and studying its functions – this is now possible at the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The new three tesla MRI scanner will intensify interdisciplinary research at IfADo for the benefit and protection of working people. With the MRI scanner, researchers at IfADo will comprehensively examine brain structure and functions in different contexts. For example, they will focus on how the brain changes with age…

Until recently, oligodendrocytes were primarily thought to be a kind of cellular insulating tape that accelerates the transmission of electrical signals in the brain. A study by the University of Bonn now shows that they are also important for the energy supply of neurons in some brain regions. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports. The human brain has about as many neurons as glial cells. These are divided into four major groups: the microglia, the astrocytes, the…

A mathematical framework enables accurate characterization of shapes In nature, many things have evolved that differ in size, color and, above all, in shape. While the color or size of an object can be easily described, the description of a shape is more complicated. In a study now published in Nature Communications, Jacqueline Nowak of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) and her colleagues have outlined a new and improved way to describe shapes based on a…

Newly identified pathway explains why antihistamine drugs often don’t work to control severe itch. In addition to a skin rash, many eczema sufferers also experience chronic itching, but sometimes that itching can become torturous. Worse, antihistamines — the standard treatment for itching and allergy — often don’t help. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that allergens in the environment often are to blame for episodes of acute itch in eczema patients, and that the…

Cell velocity, or how fast a cell moves, is known to depend on how sticky the surface is beneath it, but the precise mechanisms of this relationship have remained elusive for decades. Now, researchers from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and Ludwig Maximilians Universität München (LMU) have figured out the precise mechanics and developed a mathematical model capturing the forces involved in cell movement. The findings, reported in the journal Proceedings of the…

Taurine, which helps the body digest fats and oils, could offer treatment benefit Scientists studying the body’s natural defenses against bacterial infection have identified a nutrient–taurine–that helps the gut recall prior infections and kill invading bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn). The finding, published in the journal Cell by scientists from five institutes of the National Institutes of Health, could aid efforts seeking alternatives to antibiotics. Scientists know that microbiota–the trillions of beneficial microbes living harmoniously inside our gut–can protect…

Images of a protein involved in creating a potent antibiotic reveal the unusual first steps of the antibiotic’s synthesis. The improved understanding of the chemistry behind this process, detailed in a new study led by Penn State chemists, could allow researchers to adapt this and similar compounds for use in human medicine. “The antibiotic thiostrepton is very potent against Gram-positive pathogens and can even target certain breast cancer cells in culture,” said Squire Booker, a biochemist at Penn State and…

In a large genome study, a Kiel University research team demonstrates correlations between certain gene variants and the composition of bacterial colonization in the human body For several years, scientists worldwide have been investigating the extent to which microorganisms living in and on the human body influence central life processes and thus health and disease. Today they assume that there is a connection between the totality of the microbial colonization in the human body, called the microbiome, and the development…