Category: Biology and Medicine

On the road

Early morning in the reeds

By Katharina Mahr

The Hortobágyi National Park in Hungary was the recent venue of Katharina Mahr’s field research into the big questions of evolution. A behavioural scientist, Mahr wants to find out how the growth and reproduction of living creatures have developed over time and what the underlying mechanisms are. She expects her research object, the bearded reedling, […] Continue reading “Early morning in the reeds”

Projects

Implant to improve therapy of brain tumours

Despite surgery and subsequent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, the majority of patients experience recurrence of malignant brain tumours. Research groups from Sweden and Austria have shown in cells in culture that an ion pump can deliver drugs more accurately, which gives less severe adverse effects in chemotherapy. The results have been published in Advanced […] Continue reading “Implant to improve therapy of brain tumours”

Projects

Why corona will not disappear and new vaccines will be needed

In a new research project, virologist Andreas Bergthaler is investigating how coronavirus mutations emerge in human hosts. He is seeking an explanation, among other things, for the sudden appearance of greatly mutated variants such as the ones dubbed British and South African. While the expert does not consider it certain that the virus could become […] Continue reading “Why corona will not disappear and new vaccines will be needed”

Projects

How does the beta blocker get into the garden cress?

The effluents from sewage treatment plants are testimony to the most common ailments of the Austrian population, and transport residues of painkillers, antibiotics or anti-hypertensives into the rivers. Fortunately, they only contain small traces. But if water becomes scarce – which might well happen even in Austria in the face of climate change – farmers […] Continue reading “How does the beta blocker get into the garden cress?”

Projects

Important jigsaw piece for the therapy of rare genetic diseases discovered

Many human cell types have a precise calcium uptake mechanism. One gene in which part of the blueprint for these so-called calcium channels is encoded is also partly to blame for a rare human developmental disorder that triggers epilepsy and autism. A research group from Innsbruck is exploring these links and working on a potential […] Continue reading “Important jigsaw piece for the therapy of rare genetic diseases discovered”

On the road

Social interaction at MIT

By Livia Tomova

The corona pandemic confronts society with the impact of social isolation. Schrödinger Fellow Livia Tomova explored this topic even before the crisis began. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she studied how the brain reacts to loneliness and the craving for social contact. As Tomova reports in this guest contribution to scilog, the results of […] Continue reading “Social interaction at MIT”
Two female students with face masks are chatting on a stone bench at university campus

Projects

How the eyes assist with hearing

Hearing-impaired people learn to make up for their auditory deficits – for instance by lip-reading. A research group from Salzburg is exploring the manner in which the brain’s processing of visual signals is used to compensate for the hearing dysfunction. The study has been invested with particular topicality, given that the face masks worn because […] Continue reading “How the eyes assist with hearing”