A stronghold in the fight against viruses - new bacterial immune system decoded

International research team describes for the first time the structure and function of the Zorya system

16-Dec-2024 - Bacteria are constantly infected by viruses, so-called phages, which use the bacteria as host cells. However, in the course of evolution, bacteria have developed various strategies to protect themselves from these attacks. Many of these bacterial immunity systems have been known for a long time. ...

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 ...

What triggers the programmed cell death mechanism?

Development and combination of various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques

13-Sep-2024 - How can molecular structures be analysed 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 ...

Testing how well biomarkers work

Researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

02-May-2024 - Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings of cells in astonishing detail. “We can now observe the arrangement and interaction of individual proteins under the microscope,” says Professor Ralf Jungmann, Chair of Molecular Physics of Life at LMU and Max Planck ...

Microscopy: Overcoming the traditional resolution limit for the fast co-tracking of molecules

Researchers have developed an innovative method to simultaneously track rapid dynamic processes of multiple molecules at the molecular scale

16-Feb-2024 - Processes within our bodies are characterized by the interplay of various biomolecules such as proteins and DNA. These processes occur on a scale often within a range of just a few nanometers. Consequently, they cannot be observed with fluorescence microscopy, which has a resolution limit of ...

Tracking Molecules at Turbo Speed

Researchers devise method to speed up observations of high-throughput microbiological process

17-Jan-2024 - Being able to observe micro-organisms and their cellular components is key to understanding fundamental processes that go on inside cells—and thus potentially developing new medical treatments. Microbiologists and biophysicists from the University of Bonn have now developed a method that makes ...

PicoRuler: Molecular Rulers for High-Resolution Microscopy

Opening the Door to Investigate Complex Processes in Cells

04-Dec-2023 - Good news for researchers working with high-resolution fluorescence microscopy: Biocompatible molecular rulers are available for the first time to calibrate the latest super-resolution microscopy methods. Latest super-resolution microscopy methods now achieve an optical resolution in the range of ...

Global guidelines to improve the quality of microscopy images in scientific publications

21-Sep-2023 - As part of a global initiative, researchers have drawn up guidelines for the publication of microscopy images in scientific outlets. The criteria, summarized in the form of checklists, form the basis for ensuring that published images in the field of life sciences and medicine are intelligible ...

WildDISCO: Visualizing Whole Bodies in Unprecedented Detail

AI Integration: Predicting Disease Progression Without the Use of Animal Models in Research

12-Jul-2023 - Researchers developed a new method called wildDISCO that uses standard antibodies to map the entire body of an animal using fluorescent markers. This revolutionary technique provides detailed 3D maps of structures, shedding new light on complex biological systems and diseases. WildDISCO has the ...

Demonstrating the significance of individual molecules during mechanical stress in cells

A new method for examining mechanical processes in cells

29-Jun-2023 - The cells in our body are continuously exposed to mechanical forces that are either externally applied or generated by the cells themselves. Being able to respond to such mechanical stimuli is an indispensable prerequisite for a large number of biological processes. However, how cells manage to ...