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Life Sciences - Health - 09:05

B cells of the immune system discovered in the meninges
A comprehensive analysis of white blood cells in the tissue surrounding the brain / Study published in the journal "Nature Neuroscience" The brain holds numerous unsolved medical mysteries. Only a few years ago it was discovered that the outer layer of the meninges is interlaced with lymphatic vessels.

Health - Life Sciences - 14.09.2021

Molecular Achilles heel of cancer cells discovered
Changes in fat metabolism of colorectal cancer cells demonstrated for the first time Where does a malignant tumor obtain the energy to keep growing? That is a key question in cancer research. If the energy source were known, the tumor could be "starved". Researchers have now laid the foundation for this approach: For the first time, they have demonstrated a fundamental difference in the fat metabolism of healthy cells in the inner lining of the intestinal tract and colorectal cancer cells.

Life Sciences - Health - 06.09.2021

Messengers from gut to brain
Seen for the first time: T cells traveling from the gut and skin to the central nervous system Scientists have long been aware of a link between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system (CNS). Until now, however, the immune cells that move from the gut into the CNS and thus the brain had not been identified.

Life Sciences - Environment - 02.09.2021

Photosynthesis even at high temperatures: helper protein ensures the formation of chlorophyll
New study reveals the protective function of the chaperone cpSRP43 against heat shock Plants make use of complex metabolic processes to produce chlorophyll - the pigment that gives them their green colour and enables photosynthesis. The fact that so-called chlorophyll biosynthesis works smoothly even in the presence of heat is due to a certain helper protein: the chaperone cpSRP43.

Agronomy / Food Science - Life Sciences - 01.09.2021

Which potatoes thrive despite insufficient phosphorus?
Göttingen University research team analyses different cultivars of tuber Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient that is becoming increasingly scarce around the world. This means the fertiliser has to be used as efficiently as possible and any loss of nutrients due to leaching and erosion must be minimised.

Life Sciences - 31.08.2021

Neural Network Models May Serve as the Basis for Breakthroughs in Cognitive Science
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Plymouth (UK) are developing biologically plausible neural network models to study human cognition A team made up of researchers from Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Plymouth are investigating whether neural networks and algorithms based on artificial intelligence can help us to understand the foundations of human cognition.

Life Sciences - 17.08.2021

History of the spread of pepper is an early example of global trade
International research team conducted a genomic scan of thousands of pepper samples from around the world Pepper has flexible features like easily preserved and transportable in dried form, needed in moderate quantity to enrich dishes, easy to produce and wide scale. Genetic data stored in genebanks confirm that pepper has been spread along with the very earliest intercontinental traders, being among the first examples of a globally traded, mass-market, consumer-discretionary good.

Life Sciences - Physics - 16.08.2021

Bacterial toxin blinds algae
Jena research team discovers natural product from soil bacteria that kills algae University of Jena researchers have discovered a bacterial toxin that destroys the colour pigments in the eyespot of the single-cell green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Together with another toxic substance, the bacteria of the species Pseudomonas protegens not only disorientate and immobilise the green algae, but condemn them to a certain death.

Health - Life Sciences - 12.08.2021

Understanding Lung Damage in Patients with Covid-19
Model to serve as basis for new therapeutic strategies / Joint press release by Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the MDC, and Freie Universität Berlin Covid-19 disease severity is determined by the individual patient's immune response. The precise mechanisms taking place inside the lungs and blood during the early phase of the disease, however, remain unclear.

Life Sciences - Health - 10.08.2021

Taking aim at skin bacteria
Enzyme treatment of skin samples improves microbiome analysis Healthy skin has a bacterial shield to protect against germs: the microbiome. This complex assembly of microorganisms was previously believed to be difficult to decipher. A team of researchers has now succeeded in using the enzyme benzonase to identify the living bacteria in skin swabs through sequencing.

Health - Life Sciences - 10.08.2021

Intranasal Droplets and Sprays Could Help Tackle SARS-CoV-2
Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Bern have published the results of a groundbreaking study No 155/2021 from Aug 10, 2021 Scientists at Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Bern (Switzerland) have developed highly effective SARS-CoV-2 preclinical vaccine candidates that can be administered in the form of nasal drops or sprays.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 03.08.2021

Nanocontainers made of biological materials to enter cells
Nanocontainers made of biological materials use natural processes to enter cells and release their cargo / Study published in the journal "Advanced Science" Nanocontainers can transport substances into cells where they can then take effect. This is the method used in, for example, the mRNA vaccines currently being employed against Covid-19 as well as certain cancer drugs.

Life Sciences - Paleontology - 02.08.2021

Evolution of walking leaves
Göttingen research team creates phylogenetic tree of leaf insects An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has studied the evolution of the walking leaves. Walking leaves belong to the stick insects and ghost insects that, unlike their approximately 3,000 branch-like relatives, do not imitate twigs.

Environment - Life Sciences - 30.07.2021

Solar-powered microbes to feed the world?
International research team shows that protein from microbes uses a fraction of the resources of conventional farming Microbes have played a key role in our food and drinks - from cheese to beer - for millennia but their impact on our nutrition may soon become even more important. The world is facing growing food challenges as the human population continues to increase alongside its demand for resource intensive animal products.

Health - Life Sciences - 30.07.2021

New strategy against sepsis
Some cases of bloodstream infections are mild, but many have a fatal outcome - the reasons for these differences have remained in the dark despite decades of research. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence "Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections" (CMFI), the Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine Tübingen (IMIT) at the University of Tübingen and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have now discovered a possible cause and on this basis developed a new experimental strategy to combat bacterial sepsis.

Life Sciences - Health - 29.07.2021

Energy for undisturbed rest
07/29/2021 In the fruit fly Drosophila, a hormone helps to balance rest and activity. This is shown by a new study of a research team led by the University of Würzburg. Might humans have a hormone with comparable function? Searching for food, eating, resting: in rough terms, this is the rhythm of life that many animals follow.

Life Sciences - Health - 28.07.2021

New regulators of the aging process
The attachment of the small protein ubiquitin to other proteins (ubiquitination) regulates numerous biological processes, including signal transduction and metabolism / Scientists at the University of Cologne discover the link to aging and longevity / Publication in 'Nature'. Scientists have discovered that the protein ubiquitin plays an important role in the regulation of the aging process.

Health - Life Sciences - 27.07.2021

Model developed to predict the effect of antibody treatment in HIV infection
The dosage of broadly neutralizing antibodies determines the ability for virus replication / findings can contribute to design HIV therapy that can durably suppress the virus A Cologne-based research collaboration has found a way to predict the effect of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) on the growth rate of HIV-1.

Life Sciences - 23.07.2021

Animals are better sprinters
An interdisciplinary group of scientists from the universities of Cologne, Koblenz, Tübingen, and Stuttgart has studied the characteristics determining the maximum running speed in animals. The model they developed explains why humans cannot keep up with the fastest sprinters in the animal kingdom. Based on these calculations, the giant spider Shelob from 'The Lord of the Rings' would have reached a maximum speed of 60 km/h.

Health - Life Sciences - 19.07.2021

Cancer development is influenced by tissue type
Why identical mutations cause different types of cancer Why do alterations of certain genes cause cancer only in specific organs of the human body? Scientists have now demonstrated that cells originating from different organs are differentially susceptible to activating mutations in cancer drivers: The same mutation in precursor cells of the pancreas or the bile duct leads to fundamental different outcomes.