Cost-effective modular system for optical imaging from the 3D printer

Like building with Lego bricks

14-Oct-2024 - Making modern microscopy and spectroscopy methods accessible to as many users as possible - Prof. Thorben Cordes and his doctoral student Gabriel G. Moya Muñoz have dedicated themselves to this goal. Cordes joined the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) at TU Dortmund University as ...

Risk of serious COVID-19 infection can now be predicted

Researchers develop rapid test for severe infections

30-Nov-2023 - Researchers have developed a method for assessing the number and structure of aggregated blood platelets (or thrombocytes) that can potentially help quantify the risk of a severe COVID-19 infection. As a result, they have identified a predictive biomarker for the seriousness of a COVID-19 ...

PFAS reduce the activity of immune cells

A study demonstrates immune-modifying effect using a new method

21-Jul-2023 - Because they are persistant, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are also known as "chemicals for eternety". They can lead to liver damage, thyroid disorders, obesity, hormonal disorders, and cancer. A team of researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has now ...

Change with age: As bats mature their immune cells differ

Study unveils complexity of leukocytes in Egyptian fruit bat and its imprinting by age

08-Sep-2022 - A team of researchers led by Anca Dorhoi at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) and Emmanuel Saliba at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), has elucidated age-dependent variations in cellular immunity in Rousettus aegyptiacus, known as the Egyptian fruit bat, a ...

A novel painless and reliable allergy test

In vitro mast cells provide unprecedented reliability

23-Mar-2022 - Although allergies are widespread, their diagnosis is complex and, depending on the type of allergy, the prospects of success with therapy are not always clear. Skin tests so far have been unpleasant, time-consuming and associated with a certain risk of triggering an allergic overreaction. ...

Merck sells its Flow Cytometry unit for €62.5 million

19-Oct-2018 - Merck announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell its Flow Cytometry unit to Luminex Corporation for €62.5 million. The closing of the transaction, expected by the end of 2018, is subject to customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, Luminex will own the flow ...

New device for low-cost single-cell analysis identifies fibroblast subtypes in RA patients

26-Feb-2018 - Single-cell analysis holds enormous potential to study how individual cells influence disease and respond to treatment, but the lack of cost-effective and user-friendly instrumentation remains challenging. As described in a study researchers at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and New York ...

New tool for tracking 'kiss-and-run' communication between cells

01-Feb-2018 - A new method for monitoring interactions between cells, dubbed LIPSTIC by its creators, is much more than a cosmetic improvement over existing techniques. The breakthrough, led by The Rockefeller University assistant professor Gabriel Victora , offers scientists in a wide range of disciplines a ...

Screening the most useful nanoparticles for medicine

07-Feb-2017 - The use of nanoparticles -- small, virus-sized elements developed under laboratory conditions -- is increasingly widespread in the world of biomedicine. This rapidly-evolving technology offers hope for many medical applications, whether for diagnosis or therapies. In oncology, for example, the ...

Guards of the human immune system unraveled

20-Dec-2016 - Dendritic cells represent an important component of the immune system: they recognize and engulf invaders, which subsequently triggers a pathogen-specific immune response. Scientists of the University Hospital Erlangen of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the LIMES ...