Category: Biology and Medicine

Projects

Fine-tuning cochlear implants greatly boosts quality of hearing

Cochlear implants enable people with hearing impairments to communicate with others using spoken language. Noisy environments and diverse sources of interference are still making conversation difficult, however. The Innsbruck biologist Anneliese Schrott-Fischer and her interdisciplinary team have now succeeded in laying the foundations for individually perfecting the implants. Continue reading “Fine-tuning cochlear implants greatly boosts quality of hearing”

Projects

How spruce meets bark beetle

How efficient is the defence mechanism of spruce trees when they are suffering from drought, what attracts bark beetles to stressed trees, and what role do their fungal symbionts play in the infestation? In a basic research project, entomologist Sigrid Netherer and her team succeeded in furnishing the first empirical evidence that drought-stressed spruce trees […] Continue reading “How spruce meets bark beetle”

Portrait

Here’s a tobacco plant that saves lives

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

Molecular biologist Herta Steinkellner and her team have succeeded in producing highly effective antibodies against Covid-19. What is amazing about her method is that these medical wonder weapons are produced by – humanised – plants. This feat could be performed because at the genetic level the boundaries between living beings are blurred. Continue reading “Here’s a tobacco plant that saves lives”

Projects

The impact of epilepsy on emotions and social skills

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. It often occurs in childhood and adolescence and has psychosocial consequences. A research team in Salzburg led by neurologist Eugen Trinka was the first to prove a connection between deficits in emotion recognition and social cognition. The results will lead to new therapeutic approaches. Continue reading “The impact of epilepsy on emotions and social skills”