Scientists in Cologne are developing a method to track damage at the level of individual cells. The study opens up new avenues for research into age-related degenerative diseases / publication in ‘Cell Genomics’ Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Kölner Wissenschaftler*innen entwickeln eine Methode, um Schäden auf der Ebene einzelner Zellen nachzuverfolgen. Die Studie eröffnet neue Wege, um altersbedingte degenerative Erkrankungen zu erforschen / Veröffentlichung in „Cell Genomics“ Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Renowned Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London honors Uwe Wolfrum for his scientific research on Usher syndrome Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Tuebingen, August 14, 2026. The foundation DKMS Stiftung Leben Spenden has opened the new application round for the DKMS John Hansen Research Grant. Up to four outstanding projects by early-career researchers worldwide will be funded, with each receiving up to €240,000 over a three-year period. The focus is on research projects related to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cell therapy for hematological diseases. Applications for the DKMS John Hansen Research Grant 2027 can be submitted through November 16, 2026. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

An EU-funded research project coordinated by the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) has uncovered how the pancreas develops, adapts, and changes in disease. The study has now been published in Cell Metabolism. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Ein EU-gefördertes Forschungsprojekt unter Koordination des Berlin Institute of Health in der Charité (BIH) entschlüsselt die Entwicklung, Anpassungsfähigkeit und krankheitsbedingte Veränderungen des Pankreas. Die Studienergebnisse sind jetzt in „Cell Metabolism“ erschienen. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Which neurons in the brain control movements, and how? This question was addressed by a team of researchers from the fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence in a study conducted on an animal model at the interdisciplinary research centre BrainLinks-BrainTools at the University of Freiburg. The findings, now published in the journal Cell Reports, could help to improve the precision of mind-controlled prostheses. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Welche Neuronen im Gehirn steuern wie Bewegungen? Das haben Forschende aus Neurowissenschaften und KI im interdisziplinären Forschungszentrum BrainLinks-BrainTools der Universität Freiburg untersucht. Die Ergebnisse wurden nun in der Fachzeitschrift Cell Reports veröffentlicht. Die Studie kann dazu beitragen, die Präzision von per Gedanken steuerbaren Prothesen zu verbessern. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

The cerebral cortex is densely packed with different nerve cells that enable us to perceive, think and act. Yet how these cell types arise while the brain develops is still not fully understood. Irene Varela-Martínez, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), traces their origins like a family-tree detective of nerve cells. Her new study, now published in Science Advances, shows that precursor cells of neurons, contrary to previous assumptions, split early into two independent lineages and thereby give rise to types of neurons. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Deep learning approaches have transformed how scientists predict activity and function of DNA sequences in the genome. An new AI tool called Corgi (Context-aware Regulatory Genomics Inference), developed by Martin Vingron’s bioinformatics groupat the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (Berlin, Germany) allows researchers to predict how the genome behaves across different cell types. The findings could help improve efforts to mimic the activity of cells virtually, with potential applications in basic research and medicine. The study was published in Nature Communications. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

In der Fachzeitschrift „Cell Reports Medicine“ berichten Forschende aus Würzburg über NLRP3 als vielversprechendes Zielmolekül: Dessen Blockade konnte im Experiment das Fortschreiten von Schlaganfällen bereits während des Gefäßverschlusses verlangsamen. Bei Patientinnen und Patienten mit akutem ischämischem Schlaganfall fanden sich korrespondierend in speziellen „pialen“ Blutproben aus dem betroffenen Hirngebiet erhöhte Anzahlen NLRP3-positiver Immunzellen mit prognostischer Bedeutung. Perspektivisch könnte eine frühzeitige Hemmung von NLRP3 wertvolle Zeit bis zur Wiedereröffnung eines verschlossenen Hirngefäßes überbrücken und so das Behandlungsergebnis verbessern. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

With the aid of physical forces – in this case, sound – it is possible to actively steer the formation of engineered tissue. For example, sound waves can be used to create functional vascular networks with blood vessel-like structures in vitro. Scientists at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University have demonstrated this through their methodology for acoustic manipulation. The team headed by Junior Professor Dr Daniela Duarte Campos also defines quality requirements for generating complex multi-cell-type vascularized 3D tissue that is, for example, relevant for biomedical studies. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Plants do not wait hours to respond to intense sunlight—they react within minutes. Researchers at Bielefeld University and the Australian National University have discovered a new signaling pathway that enables plants to directly adjust their protein production before genes in the cell nucleus change their activity. The findings open new perspectives for climate-resilient crops. Key facts at a glance: Under high light, plants specifically regulate their protein production within ten minutes. Short sequence elements in the messenger RNA act as molecular switches. The mechanism could help make crops more resilient to climate stress. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Inside the cell nucleus, genes must be turned on and off with precision to regulate biological processes. The first models of gene regulation were developed in the 1960s, yet modern science continues to uncover new layers of control. A new study involving researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Institut Pasteur, and Princeton University, published in PNAS, now suggests that genes obey an optimal switching principle—random at any given moment, yet precise on average. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

DZNE researchers have uncovered a mechanism that determines why a neuron usually forms a single, long extension called “axon” – a phenomenon that is fundamental to how our brain functions. Contrary to the common view that external cues drive axon formation, the team of scientists comes to the conclusion that its growth originates primarily inside the cell. Their work, based on cell cultures and published in the journal “Nature” with collaborators from other institutions in Germany, Austria, and Japan, reveals how a neuron’s structure is remodeled to generate the axon. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

TiHo researchers induce cell death in 3D mini-tumors and discover that forcing cancer cells to die can also alert the immune system and enhance anti-tumor attack. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Wie Pflanzen die winzigen Öffnungen, die auf ihren Blättern für Gasaustausch und Wasserregulation zuständig sind, entwickeln und damit ihren Wasserhaushalt steuern, hat ein Team der Ruhr-Universität unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. Christopher Grefen herausgefunden. Das Team identifizierte die beiden Lipid-modifizierenden Enzyme GELP80 und GELP100 als entscheidende Faktoren für die Ausbildung funktionsfähiger Spaltöffnungen (Stomata). Die Ergebnisse wurden in der Fachzeitschrift The Plant Cell am 26. Mai 2026 veröffentlicht. Sie liefern neue Einblicke in die Mechanik der Pflanzenentwicklung und könnten langfristig dazu beitragen, Nutzpflanzen widerstandsfähiger gegen Trockenheit zu machen. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

A research team from the University of Cologne has identified a new approach for treating particularly aggressive pancreatic cancer. It makes use of a genetic mutation that allows the immune system to attack the cancer cells again / publication in ‘Nature Communications’ Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin (ATLG) for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) reduces complications and infection-related mortality compared to post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors [1]. Although PTCy was associated with fewer cases of acute (Grade II–IV) and chronic GvHD, this did not result in a survival benefit for patients with blood cancer [1]. These initial results from the GRAPPA study were presented by DKMS as a late-breaking abstract at the European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress in Stockholm. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Our parents’ genes, even the ones we didn’t inherit, leave a measurable lasting imprint on our lives. An international team led by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health developed a new approach to analyze genetic data from tens of thousands of families. The study, published this Tuesday in Cell Genomics, found that for height, body weight, and school test performance, the environment shaped by our parents’ genes can be nearly as important as the genes we actually inherited from them. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Die Gene unserer Eltern – auch jene, die wir nicht geerbt haben – hinterlassen einen messbaren, dauerhaften Abdruck in unserem Leben. Ein internationales Team unter der Leitung von Forschenden des Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) und des norwegischen Folkehelseinstituttet (Volksgesundheitsinstitut, FHI) hat einen neuen Ansatz entwickelt, um genetische Daten von Zehntausenden Familien zu analysieren. Die Studie, die diesen Dienstag in Cell Genomics veröffentlicht wurde, zeigt: Bei Körpergröße, Körpergewicht und schulischer Leistung kann das von den elterlichen Genen geprägte Umfeld nahezu genauso wichtig sein wie die Gene, die wir tatsächlich von ihnen geerbt haben. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

The chemical compound methyleugenol naturally occurs in culinary herbs such as basil and is ingested by humans through food. In the liver, the substance can be activated by enzymes and cause genetic damage. A research team at the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, led by toxicologist Jörg Fahrer, has now elucidated key mechanisms by which cells recognize and repair such damage. The results were published in the renowned scientific journal Cell Death & Disease. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Die chemische Verbindung Methyleugenol kommt natürlicherweise in Gewürzpflanzen wie Basilikum vor und wird über die Nahrung in den menschlichen Körper aufgenommen. In der Leber kann der Stoff durch Enzyme aktiviert werden und Erbgutschäden verursachen. Ein Forschungsteam der Rheinland-Pfälzischen Technischen Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) um den Toxikologen Jörg Fahrer hat nun entscheidende Mechanismen aufgeklärt, mit denen Zellen solche Schäden erkennen und reparieren. Die Ergebnisse wurden in der renommierten Fachzeitschrift Cell Death & Disease veröffentlicht. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

The loss of an enzyme can reprogram cellular metabolism in a way that protects cells from a specific form of cell death. Paradoxically, the presumed blockade of this enzyme has the opposite effect, as demonstrated by a study from the University of Würzburg. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Muhammad A Shah, Emily L Denton, Cheryl H Arrowsmith, Mathieu Lupien and Matthieu Schapira Abstract Background The notion that epigenetic mechanisms may be central to cancer initiation and progression is supported by recent next-generation sequencing efforts revealing that genes involved in chromatin-mediated signaling are recurrently mutated in cancer patients. Results Here, we analyze mutational and transcriptional profiles from TCGA and the ICGC across a collection 441 chromatin factors and histones. Chromatin factors essential for rapid replication are frequently overexpressed, and those that maintain genome stability frequently mutated. We identify novel mutation hotspots such as K36M in histone H3.1, and uncover…