„Gene Drive“, das ist alles andere als sanfte Gentechnik. Doch mit ihr könnte man endlich tödliche Malaria zurückdrängen. Die Forscher geben mächtig Gas und müssen dennoch Rückschläge einstecken – trotz einer Wunderwaffe.

Antibiotic use (pills/capsules) is linked to a heightened risk of bowel (colon) cancer, but a lower risk of rectal cancer, and depends, to some extent, on the type and class of drug prescribed, suggests new research.

Publication in Nature Communications

Amyloid fibrils play a crucial role in neurodegenerative illnesses. Scientists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and Forschungszentrum Jülich have now been able to use cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to decode the spatial structure of the fibrils that are formed from PI3K SH3 domains – an important model system for research. Although the fibrils examined are not themselves connected with an illness, the findings made and methods developed could serve to understand diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Simple, fast and flexible: It could become significantly easier to vaccinate plants against viruses in future. Scientists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) and the National Research Council in Italy (CNR) have developed a new method for this purpose. It enables the rapid identification and production of precisely tailored substances that combat different pathogens. The researchers discuss their work in the journal „Nucleic Acids Research“.

Veröffentlichung in Nature Communications

Bei neurodegenerativen Erkrankungen spielen Amyloid-Fibrillen eine gefährliche Rolle. Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (HHU) und des Forschungszentrums Jülich konnten nun mit Hilfe der Kryoelektronenmikroskopie (Kryo-EM) erstmals die räumliche Struktur der Fibrillen entschlüsseln, die sich aus PI3K-SH3-Domänen bilden – ein für die Forschung wichtiges Modellsystem. Die untersuchten Fibrillen stehen zwar selbst nicht mit einer Erkrankung in Verbindung, aber die erzielten Ergebnisse und entwickelten Methoden können zum Verstehen von Krankheiten wie Alzheimer und Parkinson dienen.

Einfach, schnell und flexibel: Künftig könnten Pflanzen deutlich leichter gegen Viren geimpft werden. Ein neues Verfahren dafür haben Forschende der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), des Leibniz-Instituts für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB) und des Nationalen Forschungsrats in Italien (CNR) entwickelt. Damit lassen sich schnell passgenaue Wirkstoffe gegen verschiedene Krankheitserreger identifizieren und produzieren. Über ihre Arbeit berichten die Wissenschaftler in der Fachzeitschrift „Nucleic Acids Research“.

Fünf von sechs Wissenschaftspreisen des Bundesverbandes der selbstständigen Physiotherapeuten gehen an Absolventinnen und Absolventen der Hochschule Osnabrück.

Like many women who develop a particular type of breast cancer, the same gene — HER2 — also appears to be the cause of lung cancer in many dogs. Researchers found that neratinib — a drug that has successfully been used to battle human breast cancer — might also work for many of the nearly 40,000 dogs in the US that annually develop the most common type of canine lung cancer, known as CPAC.

A new study suggests that a combination of three drugs, including a new class of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase inhibitors, could overcome cross-therapy resistance.

Scientists have developed a new gene editing system that could be used for anticancer immunotherapy through the simultaneous suppression of proteins that interfere with the immune system expressed on the surface of lymphoma cells and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte.

Kiel research team deciphers adhesive mechanisms in pollination

Publikation in Cell Host&Microbe: Ein Kieler Forschungsteam konnte zeigen, dass Veränderungen in der Zusammensetzung der Darmbakterien bei Typ-2-Diabetes vor allem mit Übergewicht und Einnahmen von Nahrungsergänzungsmitteln und Medikamenten zusammenhängen und weniger mit der Diabetes-Erkrankung.

Kieler Forschungsteam entschlüsselt Haftmechanismen beim Pollenflug

Publication in Cell Host&Microbe: A Kiel-based research team has been able to show that changes in the composition of intestinal bacteria in those with type 2 diabetes is linked more to being overweight and taking supplements or medication, and less to diabetes itself.

In India, children that belong to disadvantaged castes face a much higher likelihood of not living past their fifth birthday than their counterparts in non-deprived castes. IIASA researchers examined the association between castes and under-five mortality in an effort to help reduce the burden of under-five deaths in the country.

Microscopy suggests that the recently discovered microbe Methanoliparia produces methane from crude oil all by themselves.

The tiny organisms cling to oil droplets and perform a great feat: As a single organism, they may produce methane from oil by a process called alkane disproportionation. Previously this was only known from symbioses between bacteria and archaea. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have now found cells of this microbe called Methanoliparia in oil reservoirs worldwide.

Neue Bilder aus dem Mikroskop deuten darauf hin, dass die kürzlich entdeckten Mikroben Methanoliparia Methan aus Rohöl erzeugen können – und zwar ohne fremde Hilfe.

Die winzigen Organismen klammern sich an Öltröpfchen und vollbringen Großes: Ganz allein scheinen sie Öl in Methan umzuwandeln, in einem Verfahren namens Alkan-Disproportionierung. Bislang war dies nur von Symbiosen zwischen Bakterien und Archäen bekannt. ForscherInnen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Marine Mikrobiologie haben diese Mikrobe namens Methanoliparia nun weltweit in Öllagerstätten gefunden.

The Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena has implemented the Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN), thereby taking up a leading role in the German research landscape. The ELN is mandatory for use for all laboratory documentation at the institute since July 2019.

Resistente Tuberkulose heilbar – neues Medikament zur Behandlung zugelassen

Das Leibniz-Institut für Alternsforschung – Fritz-Lipmann-Institut (FLI) in Jena hat die Einführung eines elektronischen Laborbuchs (Electronic Laboratory Notebook, ELN) umgesetzt und nimmt damit innerhalb der deutschen Forschungslandschaft eine herausragende Rolle ein. Seit Juli 2019 wird das ELN für alle laborexperimentellen Dokumentationen am Institut verbindlich genutzt.

Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind …: Nicht immer ist richtig, was schon die Oma wusste. Oder was Doktor Internet heute behauptet.

It is estimated there will be roughly 228,000 new lung cancer cases this year, and nearly 30% of those patients will have mutations in the KRAS pathway. This type of mutation makes the cancer more aggressive and difficult to treat. Researchers are hoping to change that. They have now discovered a new treatment approach that may help this group of patients.

Study provides new evidence of synergistic effects of drugs that inhibit cell division and support for further clinical trials.

T cell immunotherapy uses the immune system to kill cancer cells. To increase the efficacy of this new treatment, researchers aimed to discover a master regulator of T cell fate. The signaling lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) influences the T cell lineage: high levels of S1P lead to an inhibitory regulatory T cell phenotype, while low levels of S1P lead to a central memory-like phenotype, which exhibit increased anti-cancer functions.

A new study shows that tumor cells depleted of ARID1A — a protein that acts as a cancer suppressor — become highly sensitive to anticancer poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor drugs after radiation treatment. The research could advance efforts to treat many human cancers with loss of ARID1A that are resistant to current standard treatments, the study team suggests.