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Environment - Life Sciences - 07.06.2021

Forest use changes life cycles of wildflowers
One of the most striking features of global warming is that the life rhythms of plants are changing all over the world. A study at the University of Tübingen has found that human land use can also significantly influence the pace of plant life cycles. In a comparative study, a research team from the Plant Evolutionary Ecology group surveyed one hundred forest sites of different management intensities.

Life Sciences - Health - 01.06.2021

Main switch for hereditary muscle atrophy found
Research team investigates molecular mechanisms of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Stand: 01.06.2021 Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease. Motor nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain stem, which are connected to the muscles and control their movements, gradually die.

Health - Life Sciences - 28.05.2021

Layer by layer: Scientists decipher how skin layers are formed
Cologne scientists present a new two-phase model of skin formation The data provide insights into the balance of tissues and diseases associated with greatly increased cell division rates The complex layering (stratification) of skin arises form one layer of cells during embryonic development. How stratification is stimulated and driven is still largely unknown.

Health - Life Sciences - 25.05.2021

From harmless skin bacteria to dreaded pathogens
The bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidisis primarily a harmless microbe found on the skin and in the noses of humans. Yet some strains of this species can cause infections - in catheters, artificial joints, heart valves, and in the bloodstream - which are difficult to treat. These bacteria are often resistant to a particularly effective antibiotic, methicillin, and are among the most feared germs in hospitals.

Life Sciences - 21.05.2021

A plant-fungus partnership is at the origin of terrestrial vegetation
Plants that exist on land today have genes that allow them to exchange valuable lipids with beneficial fungi. This plant-fungus partnership is at the origin of the transition of plants from aquatic life to terrestrial life. A long-standing theory assumes that terrestrial plants could only have developed by entering into a symbiosis with fungi, whereby the two organisms exchange resources in a mutually beneficial way.

Physics - Life Sciences - 21.05.2021

Making the gray cells happy
Neutrons show a connection between lithium concentration and depression Depressive disorders are among the most frequent illnesses worldwide. The causes are complex and to date only partially understood. The trace element lithium appears to play a role. Using neutrons of the research neutron source at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), a research team has now proved that the distribution of lithium in the brains of depressive people is different from the distribution found in healthy humans.

Health - Life Sciences - 18.05.2021

New treatment against brain inflammation
MHH: Successful healing trial with immune cells against JC virus The John Cunningham (JC) virus infects about 70 to 90 percent of all people worldwide without most of them even noticing it. But once it has entered the body, the genetic material of the pathogen remains dormant. If the immune system is weakened or shut down by a serious illness or by immunosuppressive drugs, the virus is reactivated and multiplies.

Life Sciences - Environment - 18.05.2021

Expanding deserts drove mammals out of Eurasia into Africa
The formation of deserts on the Arabian Peninsula had a decisive impact on the migration and evolution of large mammals and our human ancestors over millions of years. That is the conclusion of a new study by an international research team led by Professor Madelaine Böhme of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen.

Life Sciences - Health - 18.05.2021

Living as a social parasite leads to genetic impoverishment in ants
Some species of ants make life easier for themselves: they live in the colonies of other ant species, exploiting their hosts' resources. This form of social parasitism has evolved several times independently in ants. An international team of researchers headed by biologist Dr. Lukas Schrader at the University of Münster has now shown that these social parasites have lost some parts of their genomes.

Environment - Life Sciences - 17.05.2021

Reduced plant species richness means insects at risk
Joint project including Göttingen University observes reduced plant species richness and declining diversity of associated insects Where plant species diversity decreases, insect diversity decreases too and with it biodiversity as a whole. From the intensively managed meadows and pastures to dense and dark beech forests, insects that specialise in just a few plant species are disappearing: the plants that provide their food no longer grow there.

Life Sciences - Health - 12.05.2021

Research Team Investigates Causes of Tuberous Sclerosis
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) affects between one and two of every 10,000 new-born babies. This genetic disease leads to the formation of benign tumours which can massively impair the proper functioning of vital organs such as the kidneys, the liver and the brain. The disease affects different patients to varying degrees and is triggered by mutations in one of two genes, the TSC1 or TSC2 gene.

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 12.05.2021

Enzyme system for the hydrogen industry
Platinum-free biocatalyst for fuel cells and water electrolysis An enzyme could make a dream come true for the energy industry: It can efficiently produce hydrogen using electricity and can also generate electricity from hydrogen. The enzyme is protected by embedding it in a polymer. An international research team with significant participation of scientists from Technical University of Munich (TUM) has presented the system in the renowned science journal Nature Catalysis.

Life Sciences - 11.05.2021

What does your voice say about you?
International research team led by Göttingen University investigates links between personality and vocal characteristics Everyone has at some point been charmed by the sound of a person's voice: but can we believe our ears? What can a voice really reveal about our character? Now an international research team led by the University of Göttingen has shown that people seem to express at least some aspects of their personality with their voice.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 11.05.2021

Advances in knowledge of the molecular structures of the coronavirus
Fighting the coronavirus has changed the way the international scientific community works together and intensified collaboration. Dr. Andrea Thorn leads an international research group at Universität Hamburg that is improving molecular models from across the world to enable the development of pharmaceuticals.

Mathematics - Life Sciences - 10.05.2021

Universal equation for explosive phenomena
Mathematicians find core mechanism to calculate tipping points Climate change, a pandemic or the coordinated activity of neurons in the brain: In all of these examples, a transition takes place at a certain point from the base state to a new state. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered a universal mathematical structure at these so-called tipping points.

Life Sciences - Health - 05.05.2021

Fundamental regulation mechanism of proteins discovered
A research team led by Göttingen University find novel switch in proteins with wide-ranging implications for medical treatments Proteins perform a vast array of functions in the cell of every living organism with critical roles in almost every biological process. Not only do they run our metabolism, manage cellular signaling and are in charge of energy production, as antibodies they are also the frontline workers of our immune system fighting human pathogens like the coronavirus.

Life Sciences - Health - 29.04.2021

’Pokemonas’: bacteria closely related to lung parasites discovered and named after Pokémon
'Pokemonas' live in round amoebae, similar to Pokémon, which are caught inside balls in the popular video game A research team at the University of Cologne has discovered previously undescribed bacteria in amoebae that are related to Legionella and may even cause disease. The researchers from Professor Dr Michael Bonkowski's working group at the Institute of Zoology have named one of the newly discovered bacteria 'Pokemonas' because they live in spherical amoebae, comparable to Pokémon in the video game, which are caught in balls.

Life Sciences - 29.04.2021

Corals That ’Spit’ Algae
Microalgae of the dinoflagellate group are known for their ability to survive in other animal cells. These tiny single-cell organisms have engaged in mutually beneficial relationships with corals since primeval times. By passing on critical nutrients to their hosts, dinoflagellates allow corals to thrive even in barren areas.

Life Sciences - Health - 26.04.2021

Branching worm with dividing internal organs growing in sea sponge
International research team including Göttingen University first to describe tree-like internal anatomy of symbiotic worm and sponge   The marine worm Ramisyllis multicaudata , which lives within the internal canals of a sponge, is one of only two such species possessing a branching body, with one head and multiple posterior ends.

Life Sciences - 23.04.2021

Biomass production by reverse citric acid cycle
Central metabolic pathway runs "backwards" at high carbon dioxide concentrations A research team from the University of Münster and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has gained new insights into the citric acid cycle: At very high carbon dioxide concentrations, bacteria can also use this central metabolic pathway "backwards" to build useful compounds from carbon dioxide using the enzyme citrate synthase.