Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Discovery of Unexpected Proviral Effect of Guanylate-Binding Protein 1 (GBP1)

02-Apr-2024 - A research team from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has gained important insights into the role of the human guanylate-binding protein 1 (GBP1) in hepatitis C virus infection. Their results show that GBP1 performs a previously unknown function, that of a proviral factor, during the HCV life cycle. ...

World's first confocal light microscope to study chiral molecules

This discovery is a major breakthrough that will allow researchers to analyse previously unexplored parts of biology and chemistry

03-Feb-2022 - Scientists from Durham University’s Chemistry Department have developed the world’s first laser scanning confocal microscope that can harness Circularly Polarised Light (CPL) to differentiate left and right-handed molecules, also known as chiral molecules. The microscope, known as CPL Laser ...

Help for stressed-out cells in a crisis

Biologists discover a new function of mitochondria as the "patron saints" of protein folding

31-Jan-2022 - According to a team of researchers at the University of Münster, mitochondria provide unexpected help for cells in a crisis by respiring away harmful substances. A current study produced by the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants (IBBP) shows three things: that this mechanism can be ...

Deadly combination: new direct trigger for cell death discovered

Understanding the basic mechanisms that lead to cell death is essential for the development of therapies for cancer and other diseases

17-Jan-2022 - Scientists led by Professor Ana J. Garcia-Saez at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne have shown that apoptosis, the programmed cell death, involves a direct physical interplay between the two proteins BAX and DRP1. DRP1 can serve as a direct cell death ...

Artificial intelligence, hardware innovations boost confocal microscope’s performance

Enhancing the workhorse

29-Nov-2021 - Since artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky patented the principle of confocal microscopy in 1957, it has become the workhorse standard in life science laboratories worldwide, due to its superior contrast over traditional wide-field microscopy. Yet confocal microscopes aren’t perfect. ...

David Alsteens Receives 2019 Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for Analytical Science

06-Sep-2019 - Merck presented Professor David Alsteens (33), Catholic University of Louvain (UCLovain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium with the 2019 Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for Analytical Science. The award ceremony took place during the analytical conference Euroanalysis at Istanbul University in ...

Confocal.nl receive Dutch Academic Startup award

20-Jun-2019 - Technology innovators in super-resolution microscopy, Amsterdam-based Confocal.nl, have been selected as one of ten winners of the Academic Startup Competition in the Netherlands, an initiative of the Association of Universities (VSNU), the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI) ...

Miltenyi Biotec acquires microscopy specialist

18-Oct-2018 - Miltenyi Biotec GmbH announced that it has acquired the high-end microscopy specialist LaVision BioTec GmbH. Located in Bielefeld, Germany, LaVision BioTec is a leading global specialist for advanced light-sheet and multiphoton microscopy solutions for life science applications. Since its ...

How to switch liver cancer cell growth from 2-D to 3-D structures

17-Nov-2017 - Paving the way for testing experimental drugs in more realistic environments, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered how to make tiny colonies of cells grow in useful new ways inside petri dishes. The research team's discoveries might help ...

The architecture of odor perception

Olfactory glomeruli have a unique structure

22-Sep-2016 - Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now quantified and mapped the functional units of the olfactory center in the brains of vinegar flies responsible for the perception of odors. They found out that the so-called olfactory glomeruli in the antennal ...