A global analysis of fish biodiversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) reveals how human activity and climate influence biodiversity patterns in river ecosystems. An international research team led by the University of Zurich, Eawag and Yunnan University has found that in warmer climates biodiversity accumulation is more pronounced as river catchment size increases, while human activities weaken this relationship. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

A new study from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam–Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin shows for the first time that targeted control of human breathing rhythm can influence decision behavior by modulating heart and brain function. The research team led by Prof. Soyoung Q Park was able to demonstrate that prolonged exhalation increases heartrate variability and brain’s reward sensitivity, thus enabling us to make bolder decisions. The study was published in the journal Neuron. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

How did people live centuries ago? How did they see themselves? How were they perceived by others? Today, archaeology uses modern methods to examine skeletons, personal belongings, burial practices, material culture and social and spatial relationships. The book “Human Identities in the Archaeological Record: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Late Antiquity to the Modern Period” shows how past identities can be reconstructed from this evidence. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Hamburg and New York, 12 June 2026 – Following infection, Ebola virus can survive unnoticed in the human body for months or even years, hiding in areas with little immune surveillance like the central nervous system. The danger is that those affected may have an Ebola virus disease relapse or even trigger a new outbreak. Using a cerebral organoid model, researchers at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), together with other collaborators, gained valuable insights into the mechanisms of such Ebola virus persistence. The findings were recently published…

Wie lebten Menschen vor Jahrhunderten? Wie sahen sie sich selbst? Wie wurden sie von anderen wahrgenommen? Die Archäologie untersucht heute mit modernen Methoden Skelette, Besitz, Bestattungsbräuche sowie soziale und räumliche Beziehungen. Wie sich daraus die Identität von Menschen aus der Vergangenheit rekonstruieren lässt, zeigt das Buch „Human Identities in the Archaeological Record: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Late Antiquity to the Modern Period“. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

A review article published in “Nature Reviews Genetics” brings together evolutionary theory, comparative genomics and large-scale human genetics to explain why we age and why ageing rates differ among individuals and species. The two authors—from the Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) in Jena and University College London in London—describe how, because modern humans now routinely survive into old age, we live with the late-life consequences of biological pathways that natural selection optimized for youth, and of harmful mutations that act too late in life for selection to clear them efficiently. It points to shared genetic causes and conserved therapeutic targets….

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

Researchers at Helmholtz Munich, the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU) and collaborating institutions have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) framework that maps disease-related changes throughout the entire mouse body at cellular resolution. Using the new platform, called MouseMapper, the researchers uncovered widespread inflammation and previously unrecognized damage to facial sensory nerves caused by obesity. Importantly, they also identified corresponding molecular signatures in human tissue, suggesting that key features of obesity-associated nerve damage are conserved across species. The findings are published today in the journal Nature. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy at Leipzig University, working together with international research institutions, have identified a previously unknown group of immune cells in the brain tissue of people with Alzheimer’s disease. This discovery was made possible by a newly developed microscopy technique that has, for the first time, been specifically optimised for the human brain. The findings have been published in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

A newly developed microscopy technique allows for the first tim, visualising more than 30 protein markers simultaneously in the human brain and to use bioinformatics to analyse their spatial relationships. In the process, the researchers have discovered a previously unknown population of immune cells in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, which is found almost exclusively in the vicinity of a specific type of pathological protein deposit. The newly developed method could, in future, bring about lasting changes not only in Alzheimer’s research but also in the investigation of tumours and other diseases. The research findings have just been published in…

Every human cell is surrounded by a sugar coating known as the glycocalyx. It not only interacts with its environment but also reveals a great deal about cells’ internal states. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have mapped sugar structures on cell surfaces using high-resolution microscopy. In initial studies, they were able to correlate the spatial arrangement of the sugar structures with specific physiological cell states. The results, recently published in Nature Nanotechnology, could pave the way for new diagnostic approaches, such as tumor detection. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche…

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology discover that a group of beneficial gut bacteria and their marine relatives use the same feeding strategies. This sheds new light on the potential of these bacteria for gut health research, as well as their role in marine carbon cycling. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Bitter-tasting herbal extracts have traditionally been used to support digestion, yet the molecular basis of their effects has remained largely unclear. The Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has now gained new insights into this mechanism. Using a cellular model, its researchers demonstrated that herbal extracts can stimulate proton secretion in human gastric cells as key mechanism of gastric acid production, with combinations of extracts showing particularly strong effects. Extracts rich in polyphenols proved especially potent. The study further identified three human bitter taste receptor subtypes as key mediators of this response. Quelle: IDW…

Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and other partner institutions of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) have now identified a previously unknown function of the PICALM protein in skeletal muscle: The protein responds sensitively to physical activity and intermittent fasting. It also plays a decisive role in the formation of new muscle fibers. The team’s report has been published in the journal Molecular Metabolism. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

A new primate model provides significant opportunities for future gene therapies Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft Hier jetzt das aktuell Außergewöhnliche auswählen …

Human health risks associated with the natural environment and the human activities therein are interconnected, comprise a wide range of spatial scales and are temporally dynamic and changing. It has been recognized that the health of our natural environment and human health are inextricably linked. Our planet is changing in an unprecedented rate and new challenges emerge from climate and environmental change, globalization, urbanization, and lifestyle changes. Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

It is only recently that scientists have been able to observe tiny viruses and their behavior. Bacteria are a thousand times larger than viruses, and our human cells are a thousand times larger than bacteria. We still don’t know what viruses are and how they can have such a complex lifestyle while consisting of just […] Quelle: John Lieff, M.D

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…

Daniel Smeets, Yolanda Markaki, Volker J Schmid, Felix Kraus, Anna Tattermusch, Andrea Cerase, Michael Sterr, Susanne Fiedler, Justin Demmerle, Jens Popken, Heinrich Leonhardt, Neil Brockdorff, Thomas Cremer1, Lothar Schermelleh and Marion Cremer Abstract Background A Xist RNA decorated Barr body is the structural hallmark of the compacted inactive X territory in female mammals. Using super-resolution three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) and quantitative image analysis, we compared its ultrastructure with active chromosome territories (CTs) in human and mouse somatic cells, and explored the spatio-temporal process of Barr body formation at onset of inactivation in early differentiating mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs)….

Susanne Rittinghausen, Anja Hackbarth, Otto Creutzenberg, Heinrich Ernst, Uwe Heinrich, Albrecht Leonhardt and Dirk Schaudien Abstract Background Biological effects of tailor-made multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) without functionalization were investigated in vivo in a two-year carcinogenicity study. In the past, intraperitoneal carcinogenicity studies in rats using biopersistent granular dusts had always been negative, whereas a number of such studies with different asbestos fibers had shown tumor induction. The aim of this study was to identify possible carcinogenic effects of MWCNTs. We compared induced tumors with asbestos-induced mesotheliomas and evaluated their relevance for humans by immunohistochemical methods. Methods A total of 500…