Climate change promotes the settlement of non-native mosquitoes and pathogens in Bavaria. Scientists at the University of Bayreuth are working on an interdisciplinary project to develop a warning system that will provide different behavioural recommendations and protective measures for the population depending on the risk. The focus is on the West Nile virus, which can be transmitted by domestic mosquito species, and the Chikungunya virus, which can be transmitted by the Asian tiger mosquito.
Diet drinks often contain a mix of non-nutritive sweeteners that also enter the bloodstream after consumption. As a new pilot study shows, even dietary intake levels of saccharin, acesulfame-K and cyclamate are enough to modulate the copy rate of various genes in white blood cells. "Our data suggest that this modulation sensitizes immune cells to certain immune stimuli," says Dietmar Krautwurst of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich. He adds: “Likewise, they also suggest that taste receptors may act as sweetener sensors of the cellular immune system.”
The number of infections with the fungus Candida auris is also increasing in Germany. This is shown in a new study by research teams from Würzburg, Jena and Berlin. Despite low numbers, scientists advise precautionary measures.
Immunoglobulin G antibodies (IgB) play an important role as drivers of inflammation in infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. However, if the same immunoglobulin antibodies from the blood plasma of healthy donors are cleansed and injected into a patient’s bloodstream, they exhibit anti-inflammatory effects and have a positive effect on the immune system. The cause of this was unknown to a large extent up to now.
Which energy type promotes the biodiversity of beetles living in dead wood in the forest? That depends entirely on where the beetles are in the food chain.
Increasing heat and drought are changing forests faster than expected. Researchers at the University of Würzburg want to keep a better eye on these dynamics. The Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is funding their project with 1.2 million euros.
Materials made of spider silk can be specifically modified or processed in such a way that living cells of a certain type adhere to them, grow and proliferate. This has been discovered by researchers at the University of Bayreuth under the direction of Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel. Cell-specific effects of the materials can be generated by biochemical modifications of the silk proteins, but also by surface structuring of spider silk coatings. The research findings, published in "Advanced Healthcare Materials" and "Advanced Materials Interfaces", are pioneering for regenerative medicine and the production of artificial tissue.
A global study published in Ecological Letters shows with hitherto unmatched differentiation the extent to which non-native plants have spread to oceanic and coastal islands over the last 5,000 years. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth and at universities and research institutes in Great Britain, Norway, Austria, Spain, Australia and New Zealand have compiled a dataset covering the vegetation of 29 islands. This was based on analyses of fossil pollen and the current state of research on the classification of plants as native or non-native.
What role do forests play as a feeding habitat for honeybees? A team led by Würzburg biologist Dr. Benjamin Rutschmann investigated this question. For this purpose, the researchers used observation hives inside the Steigerwald.
How do the nerve cells in our brain communicate with each other? What processes take place when T cells render cancer cells harmless? Details of the mechanisms at the cellular level remain hidden from view. Now, special reporter proteins developed by a research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) may help unveil these mechanisms.
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