Press release - 04/03/2021 Induced pluripotent stem cells reveal causes of disease Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are suitable for discovering the genes that underly complex and also rare genetic diseases. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), together with international partners, have studied genotype-phenotype relationships in iPSCs using data from approximately one thousand donors.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-reveal-causes-disease
Press release - 14/09/2021 Bridging antibodies plus enhancer can destroy breast cancer cells Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have developed antibodies that have two antigen-binding sites and can couple cancer cells with effector cells of the immune system. In laboratory tests, these bridging antibodies, together with an enhancer antibody, were able to specifically mobilize the body's own immune defenses and destroy breast cancer cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/Bridging-antibodies-plus-enhancer-can-destroy-breast-cancer-cells
Dossier - 01/07/2013 Electrophysiology from cardiac pacemakers to drug discovery Electrochemical reactions are involved in many processes in the human organism. Electrophysiology is the study of the central processes of electrical and chemical interaction and communication between neurons and muscle cells, including the transmission and processing of signals in the nerves and the subsequent contraction of the muscles. For example, electrophysiology studies examine the rhythm which which our heart pumps blood through the body.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/electrophysiology-from-cardiac-pacemakers-to-drug-discovery
Press release - 24/11/2022 SARS-CoV-2 detection in 30 minutes using gene scissors Researchers of the University of Freiburg introduce biosensor for the nucleic acid amplification-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/sars-cov-2-nachweis-30-minuten-mit-der-genschere
CeGat GmbH - 06/08/2020 CeGaT: Specific coronavirus antibody test for all Have I perhaps already had COVID-19 in the past? This is a question many of us have been asking. Reliable tests that would provide the answer have simply not been available until now. However, the Tübingen-based biotech company CeGaT is now offering a coronavirus antibody test to anyone who wants one, thus answering this question with the highest probability currently possible. Response to the offer has been huge in the few weeks since the test…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/cegat-specific-coronavirus-antibody-test-all
Press release - 07/06/2024 German Research Foundation honors researchers for animal testing alternatives Prof. Dr. Peter Loskill and Dr. Silke Riegger from the 3R Center Tübingen for in-vitro models and animal testing alternatives have been awarded the Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize 2024. The prize, endowed with 80,000 euros, was awarded to them in Würzburg for the development of organ-on-chip (OoC) systems as an alternative to animal testing.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/german-research-foundation-honors-researchers-animal-testing-alternatives
Press release - 23/06/2022 Cancer patients receiving immunotherapy: no evidence of increased risk for severe immune complication after COVID-19 vaccination Does COVID-19 vaccination increase the risk of cancer patients undergoing therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to suffer a dangerous immune complication known as a "cytokine release syndrome"? A team of Heidelberg physicians and scientists has now shown in a clinical study: Increased serum levels of the characteristic cytokines occur frequently in cancer patients, but clinically relevant cases of the dreaded syndrome were not…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cancer-patients-receiving-immunotherapy-no-evidence-increased-risk-severe-immune-complication-after-covid-19-vaccination
Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB - 24/04/2020 A rapid pyrogen test: the human immune system as model Every year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/A-rapid-pyrogen-test-the-human-immune-system-as-model
Multiple sclerosis - 12/03/2020 Direct application of biopharmaceuticals through the nose into the brain There is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis, the most common neurological autoimmune disease in humans. Biopharmaceuticals that can delay the course of the disease or diminish its effects are often prevented from being fully effective by the blood-brain barrier. A European consortium led by the Fraunhofer IGB, Stuttgart is developing a new technology that can transport an innovative active ingredient directly to the central nervous system.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Direct-application-of-biopharmaceuticals-through-the-nose-into-the-brain
Dossier - 16/12/2021 Advanced therapy medicinal products: gene and cell therapies Novel gene and cell therapies for treating incurable and hereditary diseases have raised high expectations. However, success has so far been limited to the long-established bone marrow transplants involving the administration of haematopoietic stem cells used to treat blood cancer. CAR T-cell therapies have recently emerged as a major new hope in cancer treatment.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/advanced-therapy-medicinal-products-gene-and-cell-therapies
Press release - 26/10/2023 Innovative research aims to improve wound healing and cancer therapy Jun.-Prof. Dr. Priscilla Briquez, junior professor at the Department of General and Visceral Surgery at the Freiburg University Medical Center and member of the Medical Faculty at the University of Freiburg, has received a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant from the European Commission. Her DRESSCODE project will receive a total of 1.5 million euros funding for five years.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/innovative-forschung-soll-wundheilung-und-krebstherapie-verbessern
Assay to support the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases - 22/06/2022 Tracking down pathogenic immune complexes Soluble complexes of antibodies and their target structures circulating in the blood can trigger serious systemic inflammations. Dr. Philipp Kolb and Haizhang Chen from the Institute of Virology at the Freiburg University Medical Centre have developed a sensitive, cell-based test system for detecting these immune complexes. The system can be used to diagnose systemic autoimmune diseases, and also severe cases of COVID-19.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/tracking-down-pathogenic-immune-complexes
Press release - 03/05/2024 Newly discovered mechanism of T-cell control can interfere with cancer immunotherapies Activated T cells that carry a certain marker protein on their surface are controlled by natural killer cells. In this way, the body presumably curbs destructive immune reactions. Researchers now discovered that NK cells can impair the effect of cancer therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors in this way. They could also be responsible for the rapid decline of therapeutic CAR-T cells. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/newly-discovered-mechanism-t-cell-control-can-interfere-cancer-immunotherapies
Press release - 06/11/2023 Improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy with modified CAR-T cells CAR-T cell therapy is a last hope for many patients with blood, bone marrow or lymph gland cancer when other treatments are unsuccessful. A limiting factor of this very effective and safe therapy is that the cells used in the process quickly reach a state of exhaustion. Researchers at the University of Freiburg have now been able to prevent this exhaustion and thus significantly improve the effect of the therapy in a preclinical animal model.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/improving-efficacy-cancer-immunotherapy-modified-car-t-cells
Article - 22/10/2019 Using CAR T cells for treating cancer After successes in the treatment of advanced blood cancers, CAR T-cell immunotherapy has become a major beacon of hope in oncology. The first therapies have received regulatory approval. Despite their success, these immunotherapies can have serious side effects. The company AVA Lifescience develops antibodies with high tumour specificity to use as the basis for effective precision-guided CAR T-cell therapies that are better tolerated by patients.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/using-car-t-cells-for-treating-cancer
microRNA as a prognostic biomarker - 13/01/2022 Heart attack diagnosis: fast and unambiguous thanks to artificial intelligence People that arrive in emergency rooms with chest pain require swift action in order to rule out a heart attack or to initiate vital life-saving therapy. However, despite many advances, current tests are not yet optimal: they either take hours or produce false-positive results. Researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital are now using AI in an approach that takes microRNAs from a blood sample to specifically diagnose ‘acute coronary syndrome’.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/heart-attack-diagnosis-fast-and-unambiguous-thanks-artificial-intelligence
Press release - 01/03/2024 Using Data to Improve Understanding of Relationships between Proteins and Diseases Working with a new Emmy Noether Group, Dr. Pascal Schlosser is investigating how machine learning can aid in understanding the complex relationships between genes, proteins, and diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/using-data-improve-understanding-relationships-between-proteins-and-diseases
Press release - 13/06/2024 Position of the cell nucleus affects epigenetics and therefore gene activity and cell function Depending on whether the cell nucleus of an epithelial cell is located on the outer or inner side of the tissue, the genome is more or less acetylated - genes can therefore be translated easier or harder. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have demonstrated this for the first time in the development of the Drosophila wing. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/position-cell-nucleus-affects-epigenetics-and-therefore-gene-activity-and-cell-function
Stem cell therapy for regenerating intervertebral discs - 16/07/2020 Ulm’s simulator has Europe’s back Back pain is often caused by intervertebral disc disorders. Much has already been tried and is available to help patients. Despite extensive progress, there is still no surefire recipe for success. iPSpine, an EU-funded project to which researchers from Ulm are contributing interdisciplinary engineering and biomedical expertise, aims to design a novel therapy for back pain based on intervertebral disc regeneration.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Ulms-simulator-has-europes-back
Press release - 16/06/2023 What determines whether breast cancer cells can form metastases? In most cancers, it is not the growth of the primary tumor that determines the prognosis for the patient, but whether it will spread and form metastases. This process is very complex. There are often years between the development of the cancer and the aggressive growth of the metastases. Scientists from the DKFZ, the HI-STEM, the Ruhr University Bochum, Helmholtz Munich and ETH Zurich have studied and identified metastasis growth in breast cancerhttps://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/what-determines-whether-breast-cancer-cells-can-form-metastases
Press release - 11/04/2024 How the body switches out of “fight” mode Study in Nature unlocks how cortisone inhibits inflammation Cortisone and other related glucocorticoids are extremely effective at curbing excessive immune reactions. But previously, astonishingly little was known about how they exactly do that. A team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Uniklinikum Erlangen and Ulm University have now explored the molecular mechanism of action in greater detail. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/wie-der-kampfmodus-im-koerper-beendet-wird-studie-nature-entschluesselt-wie-kortison-entzuendungen-daempft
Article - 11/06/2019 New pathogens in beef and cow's milk contributing to the risk of cancer A team of researchers led by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Harald zur Hausen has discovered a new type of infectious agent in dairy and meat products produced from European cattle that increases the risk for colon and breast cancer. These so-called Bovine Meat and Milk Factors (BMMFs) are small DNA molecules that are similar in sequence to both bacterial plasmids and certain viruses.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-pathogens-in-beef-and-cows-milk-contributing-to-the-risk-of-cancer
Dossier - 18/11/2013 Innovative textiles made possible by biotechnology Biotechnology plays a part in many high-tech fabrics that have become an integral part of our everyday life. Whether it is products for the treatment of wounds, fabrics for marquees or for clothing, many materials have been developed or are produced using biotechnological techniques and processes. Many products marketed as “micro” or “nano” are inspired by nature.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/innovative-textiles-made-possible-by-biotechnology
Press release - 21/09/2022 ERC funding: How to deliver gene therapies to a specific target site? With its "Proof of Concept" grants, the European Research Council ERC supports scientists in further developing the commercial potential of their research results. Nina Papavasiliou from the DKFZ is now receiving the prestigious grant for the second time: she wants to advance the development of a "molecular delivery service" that ensures that therapeutic genes reach the right address in the body in a targeted manner.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/erc-funding-how-deliver-gene-therapies-specific-target-site
Press release - 24/06/2024 Trustworthy AI Made in Mannheim How can we use artificial intelligence (AI) to make comprehensible medical decisions? A new project at the University of Mannheim, which has received funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will analyze this question.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/trustworthy-ai-made-mannheim