#bioss

New Receptor Found on Scavenger Cells

Adenoviral infections have a mild disease progression in healthy people, but it can be dangerous for immunocompromised people. If a patient is infected with the virus and gets a bacterial infection on top of it, it can lead to an excessive inflammatory response known as a cytokine storm, an overreaction by the immune system leading to high concentrations of proteins that promote inflammation.…

A Map of the Cell’s Power Station

Mitochondria are the cell’s power stations; they transform the energy stored in nutrients so that cells can use it. If this function is disturbed, many different diseases can develop that often affect organs with a high metabolism, like the brain or the heart. The research labs at the University of Freiburg led by Prof. Dr. Chris Meisinger and Dr. Nora Vögtle from the Institute of Biochemistryand…

The Origin of Stem Cells

Freiburg plant biologist Prof. Dr. Thomas Laux and his research group have published an article in the journal Developmental Cell presenting initial findings on how shoot stem cells in plants form during embryogenesis, the process of embryonic development. Pluripotent stem cellscan develop into any type of cell in an organism. In contrast to animals, plants can form completely new organs from…

Sensory Stimuli Control Dopamine in the Brain

Regardless of whether we are sitting in a loud aeroplane or walking through a quiet forest clearing, how humans perceive their environment depends on the stimuli. This, in turn, affects our behaviour – sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously. In their study of fish larvae, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drieverand his team of neurobiologists at the University of Freiburg have discovered that a group…

Survival Artists in the Antarctic

In order to improve our understanding of the impact climate change has on plant life in the Antarctic, the Rector of the University of Freiburg/Germany, Prof. Dr.Hans-Jochen Schiewer, and the President of the Korea Polar Research Institute KOPRI, Dr. Ho-Il Yoon, have just signed a co-operation agreement on moss research. Biologists Prof. Dr. Ralf Reskifrom the University of Freiburg/Germany and…

How Complex Cells Developed

Mitochondria are the powerhouse of complex cells. In order to provide cells with energy, they need proteins, which they import from the outside. A team of German and Swiss researchers headed by Prof. Dr. Bettina Warscheid from the University of Freiburg and Prof. Dr.André Schneider from the University of Bern discovered that the machinery needed for importing proteinshas developed differently…

Biologists Discover Origin of Stomata

An international team has discovered a genetic mechanism that is responsible for the development of stomata – microscopic valves on the surface of plants that facilitate the uptake of carbon dioxide and the release of oxygen and water vapor. The researchers discovered this mechanism, which was previously known in flowering plants like Arabidopsis thaliana, in the mossPhyscomitrella patensand…

A team of researchers from the University of Freiburg has developed a system inspired by biology that can detect several different antibiotics in human blood or other fluids at the same time. This biosensor system could be used for medical diagnostics in the future, especially for point-of-care testing in doctors’ practices, on house calls and in pharmacies, as well as in environmentaland food…