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Stimulating the vagus nerve in the ear can help relieving chronic pain. TU Wien and MedUni Vienna have developed novel, sophisticated methods for electric stimulation of the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve plays an important role in our body. It consists of various fibres, some of which connect to the internal organs, but the vagus nerve can also be found in the ear.

By Susanne Eigner Researchers at TU Graz in Austria have for the first time ever succeeded in visualizing at the single-molecule level the processes involved in a biological nanomachine, known as the cellulosome, as it degrades crystalline cellulose. The fundamental insights thus obtained could support sustainable concepts of cellulose utilization to make a breakthrough in industrial biotechnology.

By Christoph Pelzl TU Graz researcher Francesco Greco has developed ultra-light tattoo electrodes that are hardly noticeable on the skin and make long-term measurements of brain activity cheaper and easier. Additional at the end of the text In 2015 Francesco Greco, head of the Laboratory of Applied Materials for Printed and Soft electronics (LAMPSe) at the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology, developed so-called "tattoo electrodes" together with Italian scientists.

Using microscopically fine 3D printing technologies from TU Wien (Vienna) and sound waves used as tweezers at Stanford University (California), tiny networks of neurons have been created. Microscopically small cages can be produced at TU Wien (Vienna). Their grid openings are only a few micrometers in size, making them ideal for holding cells and allowing living tissue to grow in a very specific shape.

Michael Traugott and the spin-off company Sinsoma GmbH, together with the Departments of Zoology and Microbiology at the University of Innsbruck, are developing a new PCR system for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This new PCR method works with different analytical materials that are easier to obtain and allow high-throughput testing.

By Christoph Pelzl In the FET Open project ARTIBLED, TU Graz protein-designer Gustav Oberdorfer is working together with researchers from Spain and Italy on environmentally friendly and inexpensive light-emitting diodes. Additional at the end of the text The basis for this vision is being laid at the Institute of Biochemistry at Graz University of Technology , where Gustav Oberdorfer and his team are designing proteins with the help of simulation software.

Researchers reconstruct migration movements through ancient DNA A Team around Anthropologist Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna - together with researchers from the University of Florence and Harvard University - found out that prehistoric migration from Africa, Asia and Europe to the Mediterranean islands took place long before the era of the Mediterranean seafaring civilizations.

A new analysis suggests that an asymmetry pattern shared with great apes was adapted for lateralized, uniquely human cognitive abilities The left and right side of the brain are involved in different tasks. This functional lateralization and associated brain asymmetry are well documented in humans, but little is known about brain asymmetry in our closest living relatives, the great apes.

Researchers discover a novel checkpoint in immune cells with the potential to treat the cancer cell microenvironment The recognition of bacterial infections or foreign substances is mediated and controlled by the human immune system. This innate and adaptive immune system comprises the most important metabolic and cellulare processes to fight against infections and other diseases.

Physicists show unique polymer behavior using computer simulations Employing a computer simulation, physicists Maximilian Liebetreu and Christos Likos have shown a unique dynamic behavior of cyclic polymers. Their motion can be distinguished into phases, and the scientists were able to observe the so-called "inflation phase" for the first time.

Over the last two decades researchers have been working on a contrast-agent free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method called Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) for detecting blood flow changes within the brain and other organs. Recent improvements in imaging hardware, new strategies for efficient data sampling and sophisticated reconstruction algorithms have now brought the application out of research into clinical practice.

Scholars have been all over Rome for hundreds of years, but it still holds some secrets - for instance, relatively little is known about where the city's denizens actually came from. Now, an international team led by Researchers from the University of Vienna, Stanford University and Sapienza University of Rome, is filling in the gaps with a genetic history that shows just how much the Eternal City's populace mirrored its sometimes tumultuous history.

By Barbara Gigler Research team from Graz develops biological methods to improve the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. Additional at the end of the text The crops have been harvested. Now it is important to store the various crops well and to preserve them as long and as carefully as possible. Post-harvest losses due to spoilage, however, represent a significant problem along the supply chain and lead to profit losses in the millions.

Conotoxins are bioactive peptides found in the venom that marine cone snails produce for prey capture and defense. They are used as pharmacological tools to study pain signalling and have the potential to become a new class of analgesics. To date, more than 10,000 conotoxin sequences have been discovered.

By Christoph Pelzl The new method developed at TU Graz and the University of Vienna is leading to a better understanding of natural protein modifications and improved protein therapeutics. Additional at the end of the text Some of the body's proteins are not just made up of amino acids, they are also 'decorated' with lipid chains, which significantly influence the biological functions of the protein.

Researchers show path of zearalenone through the womb using new technology The human foetus is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental contaminants. A team led by Benedikt Warth from the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna and Tina Bürki from the Swiss Materials Science and Technology Institute, Empa, has now been able to demonstrate for the first time how the widespread food estrogen zearalenone behaves in the womb.

"An experiment of nature" after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction An international research team led by Giuseppe Marramà from the Institute of Paleontology of the University of Vienna discovered a new and well-preserved fossil stingray with an exceptional anatomy, which greatly differs from living species.

Researchers from European countries discuss life in the Universe at the University of Vienna Astrobiology is a young, rapidly developing branch of science that seeks to address the question of whether life exists, or has existed, elsewhere in the Universe. It is by nature an interdisciplinary science that explores the origins of life, the conditions, and processes that support or challenge life, the influence of different environmental conditions on preservation and detection of biosignatures of past and present life.

Scientists study individuals who lived during the Migration Period Led by Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, Austria and Mario Novak from the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb, Croatia the study combines bioarchaeological isotopic and ancient DNA methods to analyze the dietary patterns, sex, and genetic affinities of three Migration Period (5th century CE) individuals who were recovered from a pit in the city of Osijek in eastern Croatia.

One of the most exciting discoveries in genome research was that the last common ancestor of all multicellular animals - which lived about 600 million years ago - already possessed an extremely complex genome. Many of the ancestral genes can still be found in modern day species (e.g., human). However, it has long been unclear whether the arrangement of these genes in the genome also had a certain function.