The young investigators' science blog
Warm weather, the leaves bursting from tree branches, calming sun set and silver Rhine – those are my first memories of Bonn. But there is something more. A beautiful animal. And whenever I see it I go back in time to the moment I arrived to Bonn right before starting my PhD in March 2014. My husband and I were taking a pleasant walk on … Continue reading Tropics in Bonn
The “Three R principles” are quite old but represent a “must-have” (or rather a “must-be”) in our daily lab routine. In 1954, the Universities Federation of Animal Welfare (UFAW) approached two scientists who were instructed to inaugurate a systematic study of laboratory techniques in their ethical aspects. Based on their reports, a book named “The 3Rs” was published in 1959, which describes guidelines for a … Continue reading The good, the bad, and the ugly – Cell culture as substitute for animal-based research
Have you ever wondered what the term iMATEs stands for? In this cool little presentation here Ru-Lin Cheng from the group of Percy Knolle explains the role of iMATEs in the liver and how they can be used to influence immune reactions in the liver. Check it out!
“It´s revolutionary, prohibitively expensive, and in frustratingly short supply, but for a Lucky Few, an immunotherapy drug is their miracle CURE “ – This is how the August 20, 2016 GoodWeekend journal´s (1) cover looked like in Melbourne, Australia, exactly the week when the International Conference of Immunology (ICI) took place in the same city and gathered more than 4000 clinicians, scientist, students to discuss … Continue reading Immunotherapy: Highly priced cure for a Lucky Few…
The blog goes multimedia: with their film “What is NLRP3 and why do we care?” four PhD students from the Institute of Innate Immunity (Bonn) feature what their research is about. The research group around Prof. Eicke Latz wants to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind diseases like atherosclerosis, gout or Alzheimer´s disease. In all of these diseases the protein NLRP3 (NACHT, LRR and … Continue reading Now on stage: NLRP3 and the molecular mechanisms behind atherosclerosis
For a scientist, one of the most exciting things to happen is when basic principles established in laboratory models lead to new therapeutic approaches for humans. Most recently, the understanding of several checkpoints in T cell self-tolerance, infection and transplantation led to the development of immune checkpoint blockade to treat cancer. The use of drugs blocking specific checkpoints, such as Programmed Death 1 (PD-1) and … Continue reading Immune Checkpoint Blockade: A milestone on the way to cure cancer
People with dementia start to forget and often show changes in their abilities and personality. Over time the failure of short-term memory gradually turns into confusion about time and place, which may turn to depression or even aggressive behavior in later stages. In principle, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an advanced stage of dementia that gets progressively worse over time. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for around 50-70% … Continue reading Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease
For a very long period of time scientists focused on the adaptive immune system when looking for evidence of cells reacting towards a certain molecule or another specific stimulus. Today it is common knowledge that the adaptive immune system generates long-lived memory T cells that protect us from viral infection, the spread of mutated cells and invading pathogens. In contrast, Natural Killer (NK) cells were … Continue reading A “Natural Killer’s“ Memory – Lifting the veil on memory cells developed by the innate immune system
This week, Dr. Daniel Unterweger invites you to temporarily escape the usual world of immunology. Daniel completed his PhD in Bacteriology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and continues his research on microbes as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oxford, UK. Sharing his passion for the microbial world, he sends us a blog post just in time for Carnival. … Continue reading It’s Carnival! Memories of a party with eukaryotes, prokaryotes and viruses
Around three billion people – almost 40% of the world’s population – suffer from so-called “neglected diseases” such as tuberculosis and Dengue fever. Too little is being done in the fight against neglected diseases, which primarily occur in poor countries. Diagnostics, medication and vaccines either do not exist or are outdated and unsuitable for use in areas with poor infrastructure. Research funding for improving treatment … Continue reading Fighting Neglected Diseases: Killing the worm’s best friend