news 2017

The white mouse has been anaesthetized. Its little legs have been affixed to a heating plate by means of adhesive strips, and a large amount of gel has been spread over its clean-shaven breast. An ultrasound probe is positioned overhead, and Richard Holtmeier, a member of the team at the European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI) at the University of Münster is using this to study how the mouse copes with a plastic catheter which has been inserted into its carotid artery.

When an embryo develops, single cells acquire specific fates that allow them to perform specific tasks in the adult organism. The primordial germ cells are formed very early in embryonic development and migrate within the embryo to the developing testis or the ovary, where they give rise to sperm and egg cells.

Research news It is the double strands of our genes that make them so strong. Using a technique known as DNA origami, biophysicist Hendrik Dietz has been building nanometer-scale objects for several years at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Now Dietz and his team have not only broken out of the nanometer realm to build larger objects, but have also cut the production costs a thousand-fold.

Research news A safety switch that automatically stops the device for example before it overheats are built into many electrical appliances. The body's cells are also equipped with this kind of "emergency stop" functions. They make sure that a defective cell doesn't grow uncontrollably, becoming a tumor cell.

Research news Antibodies defend our bodies against intruders. These molecules consist of proteins with attached sugars. However, the blueprint directing the processing of these sugars on the protein was not well understood until now. Scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the Helmholtz Zentrum München used computer analysis to complete this blueprint and confirmed their findings in the laboratory.

Research news Medications which block enzymes belonging to the kinase family, are among the most effective pharmaceuticals for targeted cancer therapies. Scientists at the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have examined 243 kinase inhibitors which are either approved drugs or have been tested in clinical trials.

Research news Key processes in the body are controlled by the concentration of calcium in and around cells. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Helmholtz Zentrum München have developed the first sensor molecule that is able to visualize calcium in living animals with the help of a radiation-free imaging technique known as optoacoustics.

Research news How serious is the loss of species globally? Are material cycles in an ecosystem with few species changed? In order to find this out, the "Jena Experiment" was established in 2002, one of the largest biodiversity experiments worldwide. Professor Wolfgang Weisser from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) reports on two unexpected findings of the long-term study: Biodiversity influences almost half the processes in the ecosystem, and intensive grassland management does not result in higher yields than high biodiversity.

ERC Consolidator Grants for Physicist Stephanie Reich and Computer Scientist Frank Noé No 332/2017 from Nov 28, 2017 Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin have been awarded two prestigious grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Physicist Stephanie Reich and computer scientist Frank Noé won ERC Consolidator Grants, as the ERC announced on Tuesday in Brussels.

Research news A healthy heart beats about two billion times during a lifetime - thanks to the interplay of more than 10,000 proteins. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) and the German Heart Centre at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now determined which and how many individual proteins are present in each type of cell that occurs in the heart.

Research news Computer Tomography (CT) is a standard procedure in hospitals, but so far, the technology has not been suitable for imaging extremely small objects. In PNAS, a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) describes a Nano-CT device that creates three-dimensional x-ray images at resolutions up to 100 nanometers.

Researchers at the universities of Münster, Exeter and Oxford have developed a miniature "abacus" which can be used for calculating with light signals. With it they are paving the way to the development of new types of computer in which, as in the human brain, the computing and storage functions are combined in one element - in contrast to conventional computers, in which the two are separated in line with the so-called Von Neumann Principle.

Research news Professor Michael Schemann from the Department of Human Biology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is part of a consortium that intends to investigate the role of nerves in normal and diseased colon functions over the next three years. S. Department of Health through the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Two such different organisms as plants and humans developed from a common precursor cell. Traces of this over one-billion-year kinship remain anchored in the genetic material of both organisms. An international team of plant researchers led by Dr Markus Wirtz and Rüdiger Hell of Heidelberg University has looked more closely into one such trace - the TOR protein.

Research news Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by restless, painful legs that do not settle down at night. The causes are largely unknown. An international team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Helmholtz Center has now carried out the world's largest genome-wide association study on the genetic causes of the disorder.

New insights into the development of the vascular system: researchers in the team of Dr Carmen Ruiz de Almodóvar of the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center have discovered a crucial biological step that regulates the formation of blood vessels. They were able to show that the proteins YAP and TAZ play an important role in this process.

A team under the direction of chemist Peter Comba is investigating radioactive metal complexes for use in the diagnosis and treatment of tumours. In their recent studies at Heidelberg University's Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, the researchers demonstrated that developing radiopharmaceutical tracers based on indium and actinium shows great promise for new radiopharmaceuticals.

Researchers from the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have investigated the mode of action of a molecular chaperone vital to protein synthesis. Together with colleagues from the University of Cologne and the Penn State University (USA), they were able to demonstrate that the speed of protein synthesis is associated with the function of the Ssb chaperone.

Research news How do cells work together and use their genome to develop into human liver tissue? An international research team from the Max Planck Institute, headed by Prof. Barbara Treutlein from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has applied this question by using novel technologies of genomics and stem cell research.

When researchers and physicians analyse tissue, for example in order to investigate any pathological changes, they often look at the tissue samples under the light microscope. However, producing meaningful images is not always easy. Researchers at the Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence at the University of Münster and at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster have now developed a new method which, in the case of lymphoedema, can create digital 3D images of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels of entire tissue biopsies.