Insights provide new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies Researchers identify master regulator genes of asthma, provide new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies. Bottom Line: Identification of these master regulator genes provides a new path forward in the study of asthma and the development of novel therapies and treatments. Results: After identifying nasal gene signatures for mild, moderate, and severe persistent asthma, the researchers applied…

The airborne transmission of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 via aerosol particles in indoor environment seems to be strongly influenced by relative humidity. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig and the CSIR National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi from the analysis of 10 most relevant international studies on the subject. Therefore, they recommend controlling the indoor air in addition to the usual measures such as social distancing and masks. A relative…

ERA-NET project NExT on translational research on cancer Since autumn 2019, the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT coordinates the BMBF-funded ERA-NET project “NExT” that aims to detect endocrine pancreatic tumors at an earlier stage and to improve therapies in cooperation with international research partners. The consortium is setting up a tissue bank, developing patient-specific cell models and identifying corresponding biomarkers with the aid of a microfluidic chip system. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are rare tumors of the pancreas and…

A research team led by Hokto Kazama at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) in Japan has combined brain imaging and models of brain activity to explain how smells can be generalized into categories. The team examined a region of the fly brain that plays a central role in forming olfactory memories and discovered clustered representations of mixtures and groups of odors that are conserved across individual flies. This study, published in Neuron, explains how varying odors are perceived…

The mystery of why zebras have their characteristic stripes has perplexed researchers for over a century. Over the last decade, Professor Tim Caro at the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences has examined and discredited many popular theories such as their use as camouflage from predators, a cooling mechanism through the formation of convection currents and a role in social interactions. Stripes acting to confuse predators is another common explanation, but it too is flawed when looking at the…

Some bacteria become increasingly infectious when they have to move from cell to cell in order to survive In the environment, they are often found inside unicellular organisms. A research team led by Matthias Horn at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science at the University of Vienna has made use of laboratory experiments to gain a better understanding of how these bacteria adapt to their host cell over time. This is due to changes in the genome and…

Huddersfield researchers publish study that found that dexamethasone could reduce death rates in hospitalised COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic. A study from early in the global coronavirus pandemic that evidenced the benefits of using steroids to combat COVID-19 in severely ill patients could have saved lives, according to the University of Huddersfield researchers involved. Dr Hamid Merchant and Dr Syed Shahzad Hasan assessed the results of using corticosteroid such as dexamethasone on hospitalised COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress…

To combat the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, research has been stepped up in search of new vaccines and treatments. To enter the cells, the virus needs the spike protein on its surface. Researchers of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut in co-operation with some research groups in Germany (EMBL at Heidelberg, MPI for Biophysics at Frankfurt) have analysed the spike protein in its natural environment using high resolution imaging and computer-assisted methods. In doing so, they have discovered a degree of mobility of the spikes on…

Through their basic research, physicians at the Heart Center of the University Hospital Bonn have discovered how the communication between individual cells can be influenced with the help of a specific protein. These findings are an important approach to improving the treatment of diseases such as arteriosclerosis (calcified blood vessels), which causes heart attacks. The study was published online in advance in the “Journal of Extracellular Vesicles”, the printed version will be published shortly. The human body consists of an…

Scientists at Osaka University demonstrate a simple method for inserting high-energy cubane molecules into an existing single-crystal supramolecular framework, work that may lead to next-generation energy storage and engineered catalysts Researchers at Osaka University have discovered a new method to easily add lanthanide cubanes into a previously synthesized metallo-supramolecular framework. By simply soaking a crystal in a cubane-containing solution, the molecules become intercalated via a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation. This research may help chemists design cost-effective methods of storing energy or develop…

One-of-a-kind video shows how bacterium annihilates the body’s immune cells. The tuberculosis bacterium has been around as long as mankind has. To fight the bacterium, we need to know how it attacks the body’s immune system. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have taken the next step toward that goal by filming the process. It’s thought that every fourth person harbors tuberculosis bacteria in their body, although only five to ten percent of the infected population…

When children are born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), they require a series of major surgical procedures to survive. But even with a repaired heart, as many as one in four children die from complications before age 25. Now, a study published by a new faculty member at Cincinnati Children’s reports a potential therapeutic target that might promote heart cell regeneration even before birth. Details were published online Aug. 17, 2020, in Cell Stem Cell. ATLAS PROVIDES DEEP LOOK…

Bacteria show a wide range of capabilities in withstanding antibiotic treatment or attack by our immune system, which are great challenges in infection research. Scientists at the Würzburg-based Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), have developed a novel approach to reading the activity of hundreds of genes in an individual bacterium by sequencing its RNA. This groundbreaking work was just published in the journal Nature Microbiology. Using bacterial single-cell…

Although true “cyborgs” — part human, part robotic beings — are science fiction, researchers are taking steps toward integrating electronics with the body. Such devices could monitor for tumor development or stand in for damaged tissues. But connecting electronics directly to human tissues in the body is a huge challenge. Now, a team is reporting new coatings for components that could help them more easily fit into this environment. The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical…

Corals growing on the reefs of the Bahamas produce an active agent that kills multi-resistant tuberculosis bacteria. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have managed to produce the antibiotic biotechnologically in the laboratory – fast, cost-efficient and sustainably. Thomas Brück saw the sea whip Antillogorgia elisabethae for the first time 17 years ago while diving on a research trip to the Bahamas. He still remembers this encounter vividly, which took place 18 meters below the water’s surface: “Their…

Does urbanisation drive bumblebee evolution? A new study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig provides an initial indication of this. According to the study, bumblebees are larger in cities and, therefore, more productive than their rural counterparts. In “Evolutionary Applications”, the research team reports that differences in body size maybe caused by the increasingly fragmented habitats in cities. Over the last 200 years, the habitat of bumblebees and other insects…