When bones fail to heal – for example after an accident or cancer treatment – bone defects remain, placing a burden on patients as well as society and the economy. “Worldwide, more than four million operations per year require bone grafts or substitutes. At the same time, current treatment options are limited.
Olives are healthy: They protect the heart, fight inflammation, and preserve cells. Rich in iron, vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids, they are one of the main components of the Mediterranean diet, which is essentially based on cereals, fruit and vegetables.
About 40 percent of people in Germany have one or more chronic diseases. Many require permanent specialist care and must regularly introduce themselves personally to the practice. Blood tests are often the only reason for the appointment. This is particularly problematic in rural areas, where clinics are often far from home and require a long journey.
Is cooperative communication unique to humans? This view is challenged by Prof. Dr. Simone Pika, a cognitive biologist, in her ERC Consolidator Grant project “Taking turns – The ‘missing’ link in language evolution?”. Here, Pika and her team of six are looking at the system of “turn-taking”, the communicative interplay.
Natural killer cells (NK cells) are part of the first line of defense of our immune system. They eliminate virus-infested cells and tumor cells. This makes NK cells interesting helpers in cancer therapy. Professor Dr. Dr. Axel Schambach, head of the Institute of Experimental Haematology at the Hannover Medical School (MHH), wants to genetically modify the immune cells in such a way that they detect and destroy the tumor cells even more reliably.
Medicines that are injected must be continuously tested for impurities as part of their production and release, as these can cause fever or even blood poisoning. Until now, this has mostly been done using animal tests, animal products or the so-called monocyte activation test (MAT).