The origin of every cell of our body is a single cell, the fertilized egg. On the way to become a specialized cell, whether blood, heart or nerve cells, its descendants follow a genetic program. This program determines the…
Cholesterol-lowering agents, antihypertensives or malaria medications, cancer drugs and antibiotics - many of our current drugs are based on natural products. Bacteria and fungi actually produce these chemical substances in…
In biology, the development of cryo-electron microscopy triggered a revolution. Already in 2015, this technique was selected as the “Research Method of the Year” and last year the Nobel Committee in Stockholm awarded the…
With its hundreds of thousands of nerve cells, the vertebrate brain is the most complex organ in the animal kingdom. During vertebrate evolution not only have the number of neurons and consequently the volume of the brain…
When someone is confronted with ‘foreign’ material, be it viruses, bacteria, fungi, but also donor organs following transplantation, immune cells called T cells come into action to inactivate and destroy the ”foreign”…
The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most common and dangerous pathogens in hospitals causing severe infections in patients, such as wound infections, pneumonia or meningitis. During the first stage of…
The widely used anti-diabetes drug metformin not only reduces blood sugar but also has an anti-cancer effect. However, the metformin dose commonly used in the treatment of diabetes is too low to inhibit cancer growth. The…
Biofilm formation, the production of light in deep-sea fish or the release of virulence factors – all these different kinds of “social” behavior rely on the communication skills of bacteria. The finding that bacteria “talk”…
The brain is our body’s most complex organ and consists of about 100 billion neurons. For the error-free transmission of information and for proper functioning, the different cells must be programmed in a way that they…
The blood vessels form a widely ramified supply system that passes through our body from head to toe. They serve as pathways for blood cells and transport oxygen as well as nutrients into each individual organ. In the…
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