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Administration - Chemistry - 10.12.2015
Funding for Successful Collaborative Research Center at Freie Universität Berlin Extended Again
German Research Foundation Grants CRC 765 "Multivalency as Chemical Organization and Action Principle: New Architectures, Functions and Applications" Additional Funding through 2019 / New Partner: Robert Koch Institute The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the funding for a Collaborative Research Center (CRC) based at Freie Universität Berlin, "Multivalency as Chemical Organization and Action Principle: New Architectures, Functions and Applications.

Chemistry - Physics - 07.12.2015
New approaches for hybrid solar cells
New approaches for hybrid solar cells
Using a new procedure researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Ludwig Maximillians University of Munich (LMU) can now produce extremely thin and robust, yet highly porous semiconductor layers. A very promising material - for small, light-weight, flexible solar cells, for example, or electrodes improving the performance of rechargeable batteries.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 04.12.2015
Cut, File, Shred - A Type of Multi-tool Pocketknife Processes Ribosomal RNA
Researchers from the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have discovered a complex of four proteins that, much like a multi-tool pocketknife, serves as a knife, a file and a pair of scissors in the manufacture of ribosomes. The complex helps eliminate the residual ribonucleic acid (RNA) that are produced during the manufacturing of the ribsome and must be removed to complete the process.

Chemistry - Environment - 27.11.2015
Largest continuous ecosystem on earth has undergone major shifts
Study finds that changes in the composition of phytoplankton community of North Pacific Subtropical Gyre relate to large-scale regional climate phenomena [Deutsche Version folgt in Kürze] It is unparalleled: the subtropical North Pacific Ocean has recently gone through a change of plankton regime that enhances nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterial production.

Chemistry - Physics - 12.11.2015
New Class of Materials for Organic Electronics
New Class of Materials for Organic Electronics
Joint Project Details Charge Transport in Polymeric Carbon Nitride for First Time Polymeric carbon nitride is an organic material with interesting optoelectronic properties. As an inexpensive photocatalyst, it can be used to facilitate water splitting using sunlight. Joint research by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, the University of Rostock, and Freie Universität Berlin as well as other partners has now investigated for the first time how light creates charge carriers in this class of materials and established details about charge mobility and lifetimes.

Chemistry - Physics - 29.10.2015
Einstein's Theory of Relativity Explains Fundamental Properties of Gold
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity Explains Fundamental Properties of Gold
Some fundamental properties of the coinage metal elements gold, silver and copper, such as chemical behaviour or colours, are already predetermined in their atoms. The unique properties of gold can be largely explained by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Chemists from Heidelberg University have been able to demonstrate this through their investigations of gold, silver and copper carbenes.

Chemistry - Physics - 08.10.2015
Faster design - better catalysts
Faster design - better catalysts
While the cleaning of car exhausts is among the best known applications of catalytic processes, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Practically the entire chemical industry relies on catalytic reactions. Catalyst design plays a key role in improving these processes. An international team of scientists has now developed a concept that elegantly correlates geometric and adsorption properties.

Chemistry - 02.10.2015
First-aid for defective mucus
In our mouths, stomachs and eyes, mucus forms a protective layer that prevents friction and keeps foreign bodies out. The main components of mucus are mucins, which bind water molecules. However, if these mucins are damaged, they can lose this ability. A team of researchers, headed by Professor Oliver Lieleg at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has now found a way to repair defective mucins.

Health - Chemistry - 01.10.2015
Cell marker enables prognosis about the course of infections
Cell marker enables prognosis about the course of infections
When a pathogen invades the body, specific cells in the human immune system are ready to take immediate action in order to destroy it. The molecular characteristics of these killer cells were unknown until recently. Now, for the first time, a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has managed to create a molecular profile of the protective cells.

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 01.10.2015
The Carbohydrate Wind Tunnel
The Carbohydrate Wind Tunnel
"Nature" Reports on Powerful Carbohydrate Analytics for Sequencing and Quality Control / WITH PRESS PHOTOS A team of researchers from Berlin succeeded in an effort to fundamentally improve carbohydrate analysis. With the new method, developed by Prof. Kevin Pagel (Freie Universität Berlin and Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society) and Prof. Peter Seeberger (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and Freie Universität Berlin), complex glycans, building blocks of life such as DNA and proteins, can now be sequenced.

Chemistry - Physics - 30.09.2015
Hydrogen for all seasons
LMU chemists have developed novel porous materials called "covalent organic frameworks", which provide a basis for the design of polymeric photocatalysts with tunable physical, chemical and electronic properties. Chemical systems that are capable of generating hydrogen gas by light-activated scission of water molecules (often termed artificial photosynthesis) represent a promising technology for the efficient storage of solar energy.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 28.09.2015
Tweaking proteins with ’Tub-tag’
LMU researchers, together with colleagues based in Berlin, have developed a rapid and efficient technique for targeted chemoenzymatic functionalization of proteins. The new method has a wide range of potential therapeutic applications. Selective intermolecular recognition is at the heart of all biological processes.

Physics - Chemistry - 22.09.2015
Laser-based molecular fingerprinting
A team of researchers based at LMU and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics has developed an infrared laser that can be used to identify and quantify molecules in complex mixtures with high specificity and sensitivity. The new laser system developed at LMU emits ultrashort pulses of infrared light at a repetition rate of 100 million per second.

Chemistry - Physics - 03.09.2015
Molecular models come to the aid of chocolatiers
For many it's simply irresistible and their favorite candy: chocolate. Its success is presumably due not only to its taste but also to its smooth texture, which is achieved by a process known as conching and the addition of lecithin. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now explained how all the ingredients interact at the molecular level and what gives chocolate its characteristic texture.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 28.08.2015
A Barcode For Shredding Junk RNA
A growing, dividing cell uses most of its energy store to make its "protein factories", the ribosomes. An important player in their "assembly" is the exosome, a molecular shredding machine that breaks down excess ribonucleic acid (RNA). Researchers working with Ed Hurt at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH) have discovered how the exosome identifies its target RNA.

Chemistry - Pharmacology - 20.08.2015
Arylboronates made easy
08/20/2015 Abandoning expensive and toxic materials in chemical synthesis: This is the goal pursued by scientists at the University of Würzburg. In the magazine "Angewandte Chemie", they describe a new way to achieve this goal, a surprise included. Arylboronates are important base materials for the industrial fabrication of countless products, including pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals for agriculture or liquid crystals for displays.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 11.08.2015
Latest Findings on Skeletal Structure of the Cell
Scientists at Freie Universität Improve Methods for Imaging the Organization of the Cytoskeleton Scientists at Freie Universität Berlin and the Dutch University of Utrecht have developed a method for mapping the structure of the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is the backbone of every cell of the human body.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 11.08.2015
How Human Cells Can Dissolve Damaging Protein Aggregates
Cellular repair systems can dissolve aggregated proteins and now Heidelberg researchers have successfully decoded the fundamental mechanism that is key to dissolving these protein aggregates in human cells. Their in-vitro experiments uncovered a multi-stage biochemical process in which protein molecules are dissolved from the aggregates.

Chemistry - 09.08.2015
The eight-step path
LMU chemists report the first total synthesis of the natural product epicolactone, which is found in certain species of endophytic fungi. The data shed light on its biosynthesis and reveal its relationship to the pigment purpurogallin. Epicolactone is produced by an endophytic fungus which grows on agriculturally important tropical plants such as the cocoa tree.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 06.08.2015
Membrane Research Continues
German Research Foundation Extends Funding for Collaborative Research Center 958 "Scaffolding of Membranes - Molecular Mechanisms and Cellular Functions" The Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 958 "Scaffolding of Membranes - Molecular Mechanisms and Cellular Functions" at Freie Universität has been granted funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for an additional four years.