Effects of chemical mixtures: Neurotoxic effects add up

Study demonstrates for the first time the toxicological relevance of chemical mixtures as they occur in humans

22-Oct-2024 - Chemicals are omnipresent today: they enter our bodies through food, air or the skin. But how do these complex mixtures of chemicals affect our health? In a study published in the journal Science, a research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has shown that chemicals ...

Simplified screening of individual bacterial species in biosamples

Method saves time and costs when analysing complex microbiological samples

30-Mar-2023 - In medical research and diagnostics, the microbiome, i.e. the microbial colonisation of the intestine, is increasingly gaining attention. A stool sample can be used to precisely analyse the complex microbial ecosystem of the gut. There are basically two methods for this: traditional cultivation ...

Voice-activated system for hands-free, safer DNA handling

Technology protects researchers from dangerous samples

03-Feb-2023 - Smart voice assistants are a popular way for people to get quick answers or play their favorite music. That same technology could make the laboratory safer for scientists and technicians who handle potentially infectious samples. Researchers in ACS Sensors now report a small, voice-activated ...

Discovery of world’s oldest DNA breaks record by one million years

Two-million-year-old DNA has been identified for the first time - opening a ‘game-changing’ new chapter in the history of evolution

16-Dec-2022 - Microscopic fragments of environmental DNA were found in Ice Age sediment in northern Greenland. Using cutting-edge technology, researchers discovered the fragments are one million years older than the previous record for DNA sampled from a Siberian mammoth bone. The ancient DNA has been used to ...

Listening in on laundry germs as they grow

First metatranscriptome study for washed laundry

08-Sep-2021 - Germans wash more than 5 kg of laundry per week. What many people don‘t realize is that even freshly washed laundry still contains significant amounts of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. A group of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Markus Egert at Furtwangen University (HFU) has been ...

A Small Piece Of Jurassic Park

DNA extracted from insects embedded in resin

01-Oct-2020 - For the first time, Senckenberg scientist Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer, together with lead authors David Peris and Kathrin Janssen of the University of Bonn and additional colleagues from Spain and Norway, successfully extracted genetic material from insects that were embedded in six- and ...

Analytik Jena Science Award Honors Outstanding Scientific Articles

28-Jun-2019 - The first two Analytik Jena Science Awards are given to Dr. Carlos Abad of the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, and Natalie Rangno of the Institute of Wood Technology Dresden. With this award, Analytik Jena is honoring scientific articles in which Analytik Jena ...

Contaminated lab kits

Scientific sleuthing for reproducible results

14-Jun-2018 - Researchers found traces of foreign, non-human genetic material in human blood samples. It turned out that it was not a groundbreaking scientific discovery, but mostly the result of contaminated laboratory materials. Scientists led by Associate Prof. Paul Wilmes of the Luxembourg Centre for ...

Nanostraws sample a cell's contents without damage

27-Feb-2017 - Cells within our bodies divide and change over time, with thousands of chemical reactions occurring within each cell daily. This makes it difficult for scientists to understand what's happening inside. Now, tiny nanostraws developed by Stanford researchers offer a method of sampling cell contents ...

A new way to discover structures of membrane proteins

08-Feb-2017 - University of Toronto scientists have discovered a better way to extract proteins from the membranes that encase them, making it easier to study how cells communicate with each other to create human health and disease. Scientists are very interested in understanding how membrane proteins work and ...