https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf Transport proteins are responsible for the ongoing movement of substrates into and out of a biological cell. However, it is difficult to determine which substrates a specific protein can transport. Bioinformaticians at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have developed a model—called SPOT—that can predict this with a high degree of accuracy using artificial intelligence (AI). https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ai-substrate-movement-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:46:10 EDT news646580759 How can computer models help design microbial communities? A research team comprising members from Aachen, Düsseldorf and East Lansing/U.S. examined the development perspectives of so-called synthetic biology. In an article published in the journal Synthetic Biology, they explain why computer-aided biology has an important role to play. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-highlights-role-biology-microbial-community.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:07:04 EDT news645372421 How can molecular structures be analyzed when the resolution of the techniques available is not sufficient? Researchers from the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have combined and further developed various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques in order to examine a protein arrangement in the cell membrane that is important for "programmed cell death." https://phys.org/news/2024-09-protein-cell-membrane-triggers-death.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 09 Sep 2024 10:49:16 EDT news645097744 How can creativity be implemented in the scientific research process from the outset? By equipping students with creativity tools during their training. This is the message of a prominent group of researchers, which they have now published as a Letter in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-fostering-creativity-scientific.html Education Mon, 26 Aug 2024 13:39:07 EDT news643898344 Why does the universe contain matter and (virtually) no antimatter? The BASE international research collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, headed by Professor Dr. Stefan Ulmer from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), has achieved an experimental breakthrough in this context. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-cold-antimatter-quantum-state-precision.html Quantum Physics Fri, 02 Aug 2024 09:56:23 EDT news641811378 Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have together succeeded in identifying and synthesizing a group of molecules that can act against the cause of tuberculosis in a new way. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-principle-tuberculosis.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 31 Jul 2024 09:12:05 EDT news641635921 The sudden, unexpected and medically unexplained death of an infant during sleep, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), is not yet fully understood. A European research group has now presented a new explanatory model in an article published in the current issue of the scientific journal Human Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-infants-sudden-infant-death-syndrome.html Health Pediatrics Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:11:32 EDT news641463083 Ferroptosis is a cell death mechanism that has only become known comparatively recently, being named in 2012. This so-called non-apoptotic cell death occurs when too many oxygen radicals and free iron are present in a cell. Certain molecules in the cell membrane, namely phospholipids, are then oxidized and thereby damaged. Without a corresponding counter-reaction, the cell membrane is eventually destroyed, leading to the death of the cell as a whole. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ferroptosis-comprehensive-important-cell-death.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 25 Jun 2024 07:27:30 EDT news638519246 Fatty liver disease (SLD) is increasingly causing failure of the liver as a vital organ. A team led by researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Physiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) in collaboration with the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) and other partners has now discovered that a saturated fatty acid in blood vessels leads to the production of the signaling molecule SEMA3A, which closes the "windows" in the blood vessels. This hinders the transport of fat from the liver to the adipose tissue. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-approach-fatty-liver-molecular-pathway.html Cardiology Endocrinology & Metabolism Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:42:27 EDT news637584144 The opportunistic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is dangerous due to its resistance to multiple antibiotics. A research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and Jülich Research Center (Forschungszentrum Jülich—FZJ) has now found a mechanism that makes it possible to weaken the virulence of the pathogen. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-approach-antibiotic.html Biochemistry Mon, 13 May 2024 16:17:04 EDT news634835821 Photosynthesis is the central process by which plants build up biomass using light, water, and carbon dioxide from the air. Gaining a detailed understanding of this process makes it possible to modify and thus optimize it—for example, with a view to increasing food production or stress tolerance. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-adjust-photosynthesis.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Mon, 08 Apr 2024 10:57:04 EDT news631792622 Physicists are also interested in fish—above all when they are researching the formation of structures. A research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of Bristol (United Kingdom) has examined the schooling behavior of zebra danio (Danio rerio, also known as "zebrafish") using methods from the field of multi-particle physics. They explain that groups of just three fish already move in a similar way to large schools while, by contrast, two fish display completely different behavior. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-zebrafish-constitute-school-physicists.html General Physics Mon, 25 Mar 2024 14:01:38 EDT news630594096 Animals and plants form complex symbiotic communities with microorganisms, the so-called microbiome. A research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne has now investigated the three-dimensional microbiota structure around plant roots. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-dimensional-symbiotic-communities-roots.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Tue, 19 Mar 2024 10:58:03 EDT news630064681 Hydrogen gas is a clean fuel. It burns with oxygen in the air to provide energy with no CO2. Hydrogen is a key to sustainable energy for the future. Though humans are just now coming to realize the benefits of hydrogen gas (H2 in chemical shorthand), microbes have known that H2 is a good fuel for as long as there has been life on Earth. Hydrogen is ancient energy. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-uncovers-hydrogen-energy-life.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:00:01 EDT news629984571 The simplest possible molecule H2+ was one of the very first molecules to form in the cosmos. This makes it significant for astrophysics, but also an important object of research for fundamental physics. However, it is difficult to study in experiments. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-simplest-molecule-precise-theoretical.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:58:03 EST news628250281 To ensure that plants flower at the right time of year, they possess an internal clock that enables them to measure the amount of daylight during a day. In a study published in the journal Plant Physiology, biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) describe that the mutation of a specific gene makes the flowering time of barley almost entirely independent of day length. This mutation can be useful for breeding varieties adapted to altered climatic conditions with relatively mild winters and hot, dry summers. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-circadian-clock-barley-short-seasons.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:26:03 EST news627913561 Iron is a micronutrient for plants. Biologists from the Institute of Botany at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) describe in a study, which has now been published in the Journal of Cell Biology, that regulatory proteins for iron uptake behave particularly dynamically in the cell nucleus when the cells are exposed to blue light—an important signal for plant growth. They found that the initially homogeneously distributed proteins relocated together into "biomolecular condensates" in the cell nucleus shortly after this exposure. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-biomolecular-condensates-regulatory-hubs-iron.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:23:08 EST news627913386 A healthy liver is capable of completely regenerating itself. Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) and the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) have now identified the growth factor MYDGF (Myeloid-Derived Growth Factor), which is important for this regenerative capacity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-growth-factor-liver.html Gastroenterology Endocrinology & Metabolism Tue, 06 Feb 2024 10:06:03 EST news626436361 Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) is responsible for high crop losses in Africa, particularly among small-scale farmers. A research team has now produced rice lines that are resistant to the disease by means of genome editing. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-rice-lines-africa-virus.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 11 Jan 2024 14:59:04 EST news624207542 Vaccine development aims at protecting as many people as possible from infections. Short protein fragments of pathogens, so-called epitopes, are seen as a promising new approach for vaccine development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-exploiting-epitope-overlaps-approach-vaccine.html Vaccination Biomedical technology Wed, 20 Dec 2023 11:51:03 EST news622295461 The microbiome (the symbiotic community of microbial organisms of a host) is of existential importance for the functioning of every plant and animal, including human beings. A research team from Düsseldorf and Kiel headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now used the example of the sea anemone Nematostella vectenis to investigate how the microbiome develops together with the host. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-microbiome-bacteria-lay-foundations-descendants.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:38:51 EST news619699128 Photosynthesis is one of the most important metabolic processes in nature: It is critical for plant growth and thus for the production of plant-based foods. In close cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), a German-American research team headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now investigated whether a specific metabolic pathway in photosynthesis that competes with carbon fixation has a protective function for plants. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-photorespiration-fluctuating-conditions.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:29:08 EST news618571744 Fungal infections pose a threat to humans, animals and plants, and can have serious consequences. Together with colleagues from Frankfurt/Main and Aachen, a research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has now clarified an important mechanism in how such infections are regulated at molecular level. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they describe how this discovery may lead to the development of new antifungal agents. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-team-molecular-mechanisms-fungal-infections.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 09 Oct 2023 12:13:55 EDT news616072432 To date it has been unclear exactly how the sex of a bee is determined. A research team from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) including biologists and chemists has now identified a key gene and the molecular mechanism linked with it. In the current issue of the journal Science Advances, they describe how this process is similar to a game involving two dice. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-proteins-dice-bee-sex.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 04 Oct 2023 16:15:48 EDT news615654946