news

Did you know that a woman's heartbeat changes in subtle ways during her menstrual cycle? These rhythmic changes, triggered by hormonal fluctuations, offer a unique insight into the complex interactions between the female brain and heart. In a new paper published in Science Advances, Max Planck researchers Jellina Prinsen, Julia Sacher and Arno Villringer explain how these naturally occurring fluctuations could affect stress, mood and long-term cardiovascular and neurological health.

Team led by plant physiologists Iris Finkemeier and Guillaume Née at the University of Münster discovers molecular basis for balance between seed dormancy and stress resistance To germinate or not to germinate? With plants, the right time to start their life cycle determines their chances of growth.

Egg cells need stamina: They are formed in a women-s body before birth and have to be on standby for decades to possibly be fertilized one day. But as they age, they accumulate more and more DNA damage. Until now, it has been unclear why the cell-s repair mechanisms do not fix the damage. Researchers led by Melina Schuh and Ninadini Sharma at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences have now shown in experiments with mice that aged egg cells repair their DNA less efficiently than young ones, and that repair becomes more error-prone with advancing maternal age.

For the first time, an international collaboration has demonstrated that synthetic carbon assimilation can operate more efficiently in a living system than its natural counterpart. Researchers in Tobias Erb-s lab at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology engineered a synthetic metabolic pathway into a bacterium and showed in a direct comparison that it can generate significantly more biomass from the one-carbon compound formic acid and CO2 than the natural bacterial strain.

Researchers reveal new insights into the how the matrix layer of HIV-1 becomes mature Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have discovered the mechanism behind an important step in the life cycle of HIV. Working together with teams at Heidelberg and Yale Universities, they found that the enigmatic -spacer peptide 2-, one of the virus components, plays a key role in converting immature HIV-1 particles into infectious particles.

Classical models of collective behavior fail to explain the mechanisms driving desert locust swarms Desert locust swarms affect millions of lives worldwide.

A new study shows how the brain reorganises itself in the first few months after a stroke to improve the ability to speak again. The findings will help researchers understand how functional networks work in the brain. They also have the potential to be used in the future for personalised treatment of stroke patients.

International research team led by Göttingen University develops user-friendly software method Identifying and delineating cell structures in microscopy images is crucial for understanding the complex processes of life. This task is called "segmentation" and it enables a range of applications, such as analysing the reaction of cells to drug treatments, or comparing cell structures in different genotypes.

A recent study shows how the brain reorganizes itself in the first few months after a stroke in order to improve language ability. The findings help to better understand the functioning of functional networks in the brain. They also have the potential to be used in personalized therapy after a stroke in the future.

A new study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology sheds fresh light on one of the most debated concepts in biology: evolvability. The work provides the first experimental evidence showing how natural selection can shape genetic systems to enhance future capacity for evolution, challenging traditional perspectives on evolutionary processes.

Great apes, like humans, remember objects better when introduced by a social agent, but develop this skill only in adulthood Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, examined how social models influence memory in great apes. They presented young and adult apes with videos of either a human hand (a social model) or a mechanical claw (a non-social model) building a tower.

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) and Freie Universität combined a mixture of mucilaginous and sticky proteins to produce an adhesive for biomedical applications / Results published in journal PNAS An international team of engineers from MIT and the Collaborative Research Center "Dynamic Hydrogels at Biointerfaces," located at Freie Universität Berlin, has developed a new type of glue that combines the waterproof stickiness of the mussels' plaques with the germ-proof properties of another natural material: mucus.

Stress hormones, often prescribed after premature delivery, affect the brain development of the embryo Infections, chemicals, stress - these environmental factors influence the risk of developing psychiatric or neurological disorders, especially if they occur before birth. The biological mechanisms behind this are still not fully understood.

An interdisciplinary research team from Leipzig University and the Saxon AI center ScaDS.AI have developed a new approach that combines methods of artificial intelligence (AI) and biophysical modeling. This new approach can be used to develop new active substances such as antibodies and vaccines, for example for pandemic prevention.

In a recent study, scientists at Leipzig University have for the first time demonstrated play-like behaviour in flies. They found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) voluntarily and repeatedly visited a carousel. "Until now, play-like behaviour has mainly been described in vertebrates," says Professor Wolf Huetteroth, who led the study at the Institute of Biology at Leipzig University and recently moved to Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, as an associate professor.

News from Since the Industrial Revolution, global changes have driven declines in biodiversity. Understanding, protecting, and constructing healthy ecosystems is crucial to addressing these changes. A new meta-analysis by an international team including Professor Nico Eisenhauer (iDiv, Leipzig University) revealed that the soil engineering effects of the three major invertebrate groups - termites, earthworms, and ants - can enhance soil nutrient contents, soil respiration rates, microbial biomass, and plant biomass at a global scale.

Since the industrial revolution, global changes have led to a decline in biodiversity. To counter these changes, it is crucial to understand what constitutes healthy ecosystems - and how to protect and build them.

In a recent study, scientists at Leipzig University have demonstrated the potential play behavior of flies for the first time. They found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) voluntarily and repeatedly visit a carousel. "Until now, play behavior has mainly been described in vertebrates," says Wolf Hütteroth, who led the study at Leipzig University's Institute of Biology and recently moved from Leipzig to Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, as an Associate Professor.

Utrophin increase in muscle cells after transcriptional adaptation normalises cell function in Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a rare hereditary disease with severe consequences such as muscle atrophy. It is caused by some mutations in the dystrophin gene, which results in disrupted gene expression.

People watching videos of sneezing or sick people show increased activity at the junction of brain regions and the immune system that react to potential dangers. At the same time, the concentration of antibodies in their saliva increases. Findings from a study conducted by researchers in the University of Hamburg's Department of Biology indicate that a significant part of the immune system responds even before a pathogen enters the body.