Old DSMZ treasures with new potential. Researchers name newly described bacteria exclusively after female scientists. Researchers led by Dr Imen Nouioui and Prof. Dr Yvonne Mast from the Department Bioresources for Bioeconomy and Health Research at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH have characterised 28 actinomycetes and investigated their biotechnological potential. The results of the study show that all actinomycetes have an inhibiting effect against a panel of test bacteria and yeasts. The researchers have…

Improvements in super-resolution microscopy have wide-ranging implications for biological and biomedical research. A team of researchers led by Anna-Karin Gustavsson at Rice University has developed an innovative imaging platform that promises to improve our understanding of cellular structures at the nanoscale. This platform, called soTILT3D for single-objective tilted light sheet with 3D point spread functions (PSFs), offers significant advancements in super-resolution microscopy, enabling fast and precise 3D imaging of multiple cellular structures while the extracellular environment can be controlled and…

Nerve cells in the retina were analysed at TU Wien (Vienna) using microelectrodes. They show astonishingly stable behavior – good news for retina implants. The retina is often referred to as an “outpost of the brain” – after all, important steps in visual signal processing do not take place in the cerebrum, but in the nerve cells in the eye. When light falls on the retina, sensor cells become active and send electrical signals to layers of nerve cells located…

…shows promise as antimicrobial agent. Rice scientists develop nanocrystals that kill bacteria under visible light. Newly developed halide perovskite nanocrystals (HPNCs) show potential as antimicrobial agents that are stable, effective and easy to produce. After almost three years, Rice University scientist Yifan Zhu and colleagues have developed a new HPNC that is effective at killing bacteria in a biofluid under visible light without experiencing light- and moisture-driven degradation common in HPNCs. A new method using two layers of silicon dioxide…

Chemists at the University of Jena develop graphene-based biosensor. Just like other biosensors, a graphene-based biosensor requires a functionalised surface on which only specific molecules can attach. If, for example, a specific biomarker is to be detected from a blood or saliva sample, a corresponding counterpart – a so-called capture molecule – must be applied to the sensor surface. The problem: “If graphene is functionalised directly, its electronic structure changes unfavourably,” explains Prof. Dr Andrey Turchanin from the University of…

…for diagnostics and blocks cell entry. A tiny, four-fingered “hand” folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report. Dubbed the NanoGripper, the nanorobotic hand also could be programmed to interact with other viruses or to recognize cell surface markers for targeted drug delivery, such as for cancer treatment. Led by Xing…

A fungus discovered in the mouse stomach may hold a key to fungal evolution within the gastrointestinal tract, according to new research led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The finding suggests that preclinical studies until now have overlooked a major influencer of mouse physiology. Scientists recently have come to appreciate the importance, for human health and disease, of microbes—often called “commensals”—that naturally dwell in the gut. Bacterial commensals, for example, are known to have a big influence on human immunity;…

ISTA scientists use harmless viruses to investigate the nervous system in frogs. Amphibians hold a significant place in evolution, representing the transition from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles. They are crucial for understanding the brain and spinal cord of tetrapods—animals with four limbs, including humans. A group of scientists led by a team at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how harmless viruses can be used to illuminate the development of the frog nervous system. The results…

In nature, plant roots are always colonized by fungi. This interaction can be either mutualistic, benefiting both the plant and the fungus, or pathogenic, where the fungus harms the host plant. A research group led by Professor Dr Alga Zuccaro at the CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence has now deciphered how the beneficial root fungus Serendipita indica successfully colonizes plant roots of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Initially, the fungus colonizes living root cells. Subsequently, limited cell death is triggered in…

New insights into how checkpoint inhibitors affect the immune system could improve cancer treatment. A multinational collaboration co-led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has uncovered a potential explanation for why some cancer patients receiving a type of immunotherapy called checkpoint inhibitors experience increased susceptibility to common infections. The findings, published in the journal Immunity, provide new insights into immune responses and reveal a potential approach to preventing the common cancer therapy side effect. “Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies have…

University of Wisconsin–Madison biochemists have developed a new, efficient method that may give first responders, environmental monitoring groups, or even you, the ability to quickly detect harmful and health-relevant substances in our bodies and environments. Small molecules that interact with proteins can initiate, enhance, and inhibit vital biological processes. Some small molecules, like vitamins or hormones, are linked to our health. Others, like opioids, are toxic, and knowing whether they’re in a patient’s system can be essential for emergency medical…

A German Cancer Aid study offers people with Li-Fraumeni syndrome new preventive strategies: Researchers at Hannover Medical School (MHH) are investigating for the first time in a new efficacy study whether cancer-free survival can be extended in LFS sufferers with the daily intake of metformin. Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a cancer predisposition syndrome (CPS) in which almost all sufferers are diagnosed with cancer at least once in their lives. Many are diagnosed as children or adolescents. In a new efficacy…

Constant ‘churn’ of new cancer cells gives the disease ample room for evolutionary innovation, according to a study in the journal eLIFE. Researchers at the University of Cologne and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have discovered that cancer grows uniformly throughout its mass, rather than at the outer edges. The work, published today in the journal eLIFE under the title ‘High-density sampling reveals volume growth in human tumours’, questions decades-old assumptions about how the disease grows and…

Exploring Life at Its Simplest: Lipids, or fats, are essential to life. They form the membranes around cells, protecting them from the outside. In nature, there is an enormous diversity of lipids, with each organism having its own unique combination. But what are the minimum lipid requirements for a cell to survive? A research team at the B CUBE – Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TUD Dresden University of Technology showed that cells can function with just two lipids. They…

Not all plastics are equal — some types and colors are easier to recycle than others. For instance, black foam and black coffee lids, which are often made of polystyrene, usually end up in landfills because color additives lead to ineffective sorting. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science the ability to leverage one additive in black plastics, with the help of sunlight or white LEDs, to convert black and colored polystyrene waste into reusable starting materials. “Simple, visible light…

Some sequences in the genome cause genes to be switched on or off. Until now, each of these gene switches, or so-called enhancers, was thought to have its own place on the DNA. Different enhancers are therefore separated from each other, even if they control the same gene, and switch it on in different parts of the body. A recent study from the University of Bonn and the LMU Munich challenges this idea. The findings are also important because gene…