news 2023

Bonn researchers uncover contribution of Cylicin proteins to male fertility For successful fertilization, sperm should move forward rapidly and be shaped correctly. The unique structure of the sperm cells forms during spermiogenesis. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn have found that fertility problems in both mice and humans can be caused by loss of so-called cylicines.

In a study published in the journal "Scientific Reports," researchers from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (SHEP) at the University of Tübingen show that early humans of the Middle Paleolithic had a more varied diet than previously assumed. The analysis of a site in the Zagros Mountains in Iran reveals that around 81,000 to 45,000 years ago, the local hominins hunted ungulates as well as tortoises and carnivores.

Damage to the body's peripheral nerves can cause pain and movement disorders. Researchers at the Leipzig University have recently investigated how damaged nerves can regenerate better. They found that fat tissue strongly supports the Schwann cells needed for repair during the healing process. The results were published in the renowned journal "Cell Metabolism".

In a study recently published in "Nature Water", the Analysis of Hydrological Systems group at the University of Potsdam, together with an international team, investigates the extent to which global water models agree with each other and with measured data. Using a new evaluation approach, the researchers can show in which climate regions the models agree and where they differ.

News from The Collaborative Research Centre "Arctic Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and Surface Processes and Feedback Mechanism (AC)³", which is headed by meteorologist Professor Manfred Wendisch from Leipzig University, is to enter its third funding phase. This was announced today (24 November 2023) by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Primary school children influence their peers' snack purchases, as revealed by a study conducted at the University of Bonn Do primary school children influence the snack purchases of their peers? A study by the University of Bonn reveals that they do indeed. In the presence of friends or classmates, kids are more likely to choose the unhealthier, but also the cheaper option.

Plants in which an ion channel of the vacuole is hyperactive are extremely stressed and grow poorly. But the broad bean is an exception, as Würzburg researchers have discovered. Like the human body, plants also use electrical signals to process and pass on information. In addition to the cell membrane, the membrane of the central vacuole plays an important role in this process.

A heat shock protein protects the cells against protein clumping. It degrades, however, over longer treatment periods. Plasmas are used, for example, in wound treatment against pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics. However, bacteria can defend themselves: They employ a heat shock protein that protects them.

Innovations in AI-assisted social sciences, sustainable agriculture and medicine are being funded in the third round of prototyping grants by the Transfer Center enaCom at the University of Bonn. Whether an AI solution for better understanding of scientific communities, a robot that treats weeds differently depending on the species, or a preventive nasal spray - scientists from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are developing innovative prototypes for practical challenges of our time.

Study is the first to document dialect differences in a parrot across its European range In the 50 years since monk parakeets arrived in Europe and spread across the continent, the species has developed distinct dialects that vary across countries and cities, according to a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

A new study by Würzburg botanist Kenji Fukushima shows the role of subgenome dominance for plants in the evolutionary development of special traits, such as a carnivorous lifestyle. In a recent study, a team led by Würzburg botanist Kenji Fukushima investigates the genomic structure of the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis and shows how polyploidy - the phenomenon of having more than two sets of chromosomes in cells - contributes to evolutionary innovation.

Researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University Hospital Bonn have demonstrated that certain derivatives of vitamin B2 can alleviate chronic kidney inflammation in mice. Their findings have been published in the journal "Nature Communications."  The term glomerulonephritis denotes several types of chronic kidneys inflammation that can lead to the loss of renal function.

Plasmas can provide the co-substrate needed for biocatalysis of valuable substances, but are also harmful to enzymes. By attaching enzymes to small beads the enzymes are protected and remain active up to 44 times longer. Some enzymes, such as the one derived from fungi and investigated in this study, are able to produce valuable substances such as the fragrance (R)-1-phenylethanol.

Over 2,000 seal impressions discovered provide vivid insights into city administration in Roman Antiquity Archaeologists from the Asia Minor Research Centre have uncovered the city archives in the ancient city of Doliche in south-eastern Türkiye and recovered more than 2,000 seal impressions used to seal documents.

A team of researchers from the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has developed a measuring method to analyze soil samples with neutrons and X-rays and create 3D tomographies from them: This makes it possible for the first time to precisely localize microplastics in the soil.

As we all know, only what goes in goes out: how flexible the heart walls are is therefore also crucial for the heart's pumping function. A working group from the Institute of Physiology II at the Medical Faculty of the University of Münster has been able to show for the first time which structural elements influence this flexibility and to what extent.

Research team including Göttingen University confirm effects of treatment in people at increased risk More than 500 million people worldwide have diabetes and the number is predicted to rise in the future. A programme that provides recommendations on exercise and nutrition, as well as supporting the implementation of these measures, can prevent type 2 diabetes.

The rising resistance of bacteria to antibiotics presents an escalating global health risk. Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, have combined synthetic biology and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a more efficient approach to finding and creating new antimicrobial peptides that are effective against a wide range of bacteria.

Contrary to what is often reported, only one species is known to have transmitted pathogens to humans The scientific community and the public alike have often been presented with portrayals of bats as carriers of numerous dangerous viruses that are passed onto humans. In a pioneering scientific paper published in Biology Letters, an international team of biologists, virologists and conservationists challenge this narrative surrounding bats.

Skin blemishes are a problem many people are familiar with. Cold plasma can be a remedy, as shown by studies at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. A Worldfactory start-up is already getting off the ground, too. Cold plasma has an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effect. This is shown by studies conducted by the Chair of Applied Electrodynamics and Plasma Technology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.