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Health - Life Sciences - 20.01.2022

Attack on the malaria parasite cytoskeleton
Researchers succeeded in the purification of Plasmodium "tubulin", the molecular building block of cytoskeletal filaments - an important step in the search for novel anti-malarials Despite all efforts, malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases with an estimated 240.000.000 cases and more than 600.000 fatalities in 2020 alone.

Health - Pharmacology - 14.01.2022

New dual benefit mode of action for a drug candidate to fight Covid-19
A research team led by Prof. Stephan Ludwig, a virologist at the Institute of Virology at the University of Münster, has found a new dual attack mode of action while working on the development of a drug candidate against SARS-CoV-2 infections. This could constitute the basis for a broadly effective drug to fight Covid 19.

Health - 12.01.2022

People with hearing prostheses use timbre of voice to recognise emotions
Scientists at the University of Jena study the perception of vocal emotions by people with cochlear implants Doctoral candidate Celina von Eiff attaches electrodes to a cap worn by test person Lucas Riedel during an EEG study with cochlear implants. Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena) Cochlear implants can help people with hearing loss to perceive acoustic stimuli.

Life Sciences - Health - 12.01.2022

Unmuting the genome
Hereditary diseases as well as cancers and cardiovascular diseases may be associated with a phenomenon known as genomic imprinting, in which only the maternally or paternally inherited gene is active. An international research team involving scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG) in Berlin and Harvard University in Cambridge (USA) has now investigated the mechanisms responsible for the deactivation of the genes.

Health - 21.12.2021

Innovative X-ray imaging shows Covid-19 can cause vascular damage to the heart
Interdisciplinary research team from Göttingen University and Hannover Medical School are first to prove this directly An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Göttingen and Hannover Medical School (MHH) has detected significant changes in the heart muscle tissue of people who died from Covid-19.

Life Sciences - Health - 21.12.2021

’The balance is extremely important’
When you enter the Institute of Neuroand Behavioural Biology at Badestraße 9 and go up the stairs on the left... what you immediately see are the rows of pictures in the stairwell and the corridors. They look fascinating, in bright vibrant colours - but what they actually show is not apparent to the non-specialist at first glance.

Environment - Health - 10.12.2021

Real-time, interactive monitoring of forest health
Interactive online platform uses satellite images to display status of European forests. The output is based on the greenness of trees. With the latest functionality, users can also view and download data for individual countries and selected time ranges to learn more about the condition of forests.

Health - Life Sciences - 10.12.2021

Surviving ’butterfly disease’
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. But what if the skin "disintegrates" at just the slightest touch? This is exactly what happens with Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), sometimes also known by the name 'butterfly disease'. This skin disease is based on genetic defects and, because there is no cure, it can be fatal, often even in young patients.

Life Sciences - Health - 10.12.2021

Learning and protecting itself: how the brain adapts
Göttingen researchers investigate the effect of certain enzymes in the healthy and diseased brain The brain is a remarkably complex and adaptable organ. However, adaptability decreases with age: as new connections between nerve cells in the brain form less easily, the brain's plasticity decreases. If there is an injury to the central nervous system such as after a stroke, the brain needs to compensate for this by reorganising itself.

Health - Life Sciences - 08.12.2021

Defense or repair: How immune cells are controlled during wound healing
A Cologne-based research team has discovered that the metabolism of mitochondria, the energy suppliers of cells, in macrophages coordinate wound healing to a significant degree. Macrophages belong to the white blood cells and are also known as scavenger cells.Sabine Eming and her collaborators and colleagues at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne showed that wound macrophages undergo different metabolic programs during tissue repair, which are required to support the successive phases for skin reconstruction after injury.

Health - 08.12.2021

Making childbirth safer in Indonesia
Study led by Göttingen and Syiah Kuala Universities finds Safe Childbirth Checklist contributes to improved maternal and neonatal healthcare Every year, 295,000 maternal deaths, 2 million stillbirths, and 2.5 million neonatal deaths occur worldwide. Improved quality of care could prevent the majority of those deaths.

Life Sciences - Health - 02.12.2021

Plant pathogen evades immune system by targeting the microbiome
A team of biologists has identified that the pathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae , responsible for wilt disease in many crops, secretes an 'effector' molecule to target the microbiome of plants to promote infection. The research was performed by the team of Alexander von Humboldt Professor Dr Bart Thomma at the University of Cologne (UoC) within the framework of the Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) in collaboration with the team of Dr Michael Seidl at the Theoretical Biology & Bioinformatics group of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Pharmacology - Health - 30.11.2021

’Discussions with manufacturers often get nowhere’
Food supplements are available in a lot of places - in drugstores, health food shops, pharmacies and on the Internet - and the market is booming. Many of these products contain plant extracts whose ingredients are supposed to have healthy benefits - provided they do actually contain what they claim. Because nowhere near all of these so-called botanicals deliver what they promise.

Life Sciences - Health - 29.11.2021

Critical conflict in cancer cells
11/29/2021 The cells of a certain tumour type, called neuroblastoma, divide very rapidly. This rapid division can have potentially fatal consequences for them. A new study shows how neuroblastoma cells deal with this dilemma. Neuroblastomas occur predominantly in children. A specific subset of these tumours is very aggressive and difficult to treat.

Health - Life Sciences - 19.11.2021

How unhealthy diet makes you sick
New link between diet, intestinal stem cells and disease discovered Obesity, diabetes and gastrointestinal cancer are frequently linked to an unhealthy diet. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this are hitherto not fully understood. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Munich have gained some new insights that help to better understand this connection.

Life Sciences - Health - 16.11.2021

Sufficient energy supply decisive for nerve development
The bodies of animals and humans are innervated by a network of nerve cells which are connected through long extensions. The nerve cells use these so-called axons and dendrites to communicate with one another. During early development, nerve cells grow a large number of axons and dendrites. To make the connections specific, redundant extensions are removed at a later stage in a process called "pruning".

Life Sciences - Health - 15.11.2021

’Consequences for the patient’s life’
Dr. Francesco Catania is head of the working group "Evolutionary Cell Biology" at the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Münster. His group uses bioinformatics and experimental approaches to investigate how the interaction of cells and organisms with their environment leads to the emergence of new properties.

Health - 11.11.2021

Less than one-third of high cholesterol patients in low- and middle-income countries treated
International research team led by Göttingen University finds inadequate care Healthcare in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) is poorly prepared for the increasing number of individuals with high cholesterol (i.e. hypercholesterolemia). A study on 35 LMICs shows that more than two-thirds of all people affected go without treatment.

Social Sciences - Health - 11.11.2021

COVID-19 leads to a decrease in prosocial behaviour among disadvantaged adolescents
If a family member falls ill with COVID-19, this has a particularly negative effect on young people from an economically disadvantaged and less educated background. These adolescents not only fall behind in school, their non-cognitive abilities also suffer: they are less prosocial than before. This means that they behave less generously, altruistically, and cooperatively.

Health - Life Sciences - 05.11.2021

Success in the analysis of herpes viruses
Team including MHH and RESIST researchers has found starting point for therapy of diseases caused by herpes viruses A research team from the University of Lübeck, Hannover Medical School (MHH), CSSB Hamburg and the RESIST Cluster of Excellence has found a possible new starting point for the therapy of diseases triggered by herpes viruses.