news 2024

Targeted therapies are a powerful weapon against skin cancer, but their side effects can severely impact a patient's quality of life. A new study shows that some targeted therapies manipulate signaling events in cells that line blood vessels and result in a weaker vascular barrier. This knowledge sheds some light on possible mechanisms leading to side effects and it can contribute to the development of better therapies for skin cancer.

In a study recently published in the renowned journal "Allergy", a MedUni Vienna research team shows that COVID-19 leads to considerable long-term changes in the immune system, even in mild cases. The findings could help to better understand the long-term consequences of an infection with SARS-CoV-2.

New research from the Medical University of Vienna in collaboration with Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, gives unprecedented insights into the dynamic remodeling of immune cells in the metastatic niche starting from early tumor development up to late-stage metastasis.

The artificial intelligence (AI) model GPT-4, known from its application in ChatGPT, shows impressive capabilities in biomedical research and can be used in many ways for simulations. A simulator developed at MedUni Vienna and based on GPT-4 shows increased accuracy in classifying the importance of genes in cancer cells, as well as in the prognosis of cancer patients.

An international study in which MedUni Vienna played a key role has shown that women are more likely to experience bypass graft failure after coronary bypass surgery than men, which increases their risk of heart attack. The research recently published in the prestigious "Journal of the American College of Cardiology" is the most comprehensive scientific evaluation of bypass graft failure in women to date and emphasises the need for sex-specific treatment measures.

From the bus window to the DNA laboratory: Postbuses make the diversity of flying insects in Austria visible. The University of Innsbruck is launching an innovative project to record insect biodiversity. Wipe and know which insects fly in Austria: In the new biodiversity project of the Institute of Zoology at the University of Innsbruck, public transport in Tyrol, Carinthia, Lower Austria and Upper Austria is helping to study the diversity of microorganisms.

Despite the significant increase in sexually transmitted diseases in recent years, there is currently no vaccine available against common bacterial pathogens such as chlamydia. In the search for ways to prevent infection, a research team from MedUni Vienna and the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine has identified the active substance pentamidine as a promising candidate for the prophylaxis of chlamydial infections and possibly other bacterial sexually transmitted diseases.

Researchers from TU Wien (Vienna, Austria) and Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) have created an extremely exotic state of matter. Its atoms have a diameter a hundred times larger than usual. A crystal is an arrangement of atoms that repeats itself in space, in regular intervals: At every point, the crystal looks exactly the same.

Despite enormous progress over the past two decades, patients have not yet been able to feel a bionic prosthesis in a natural, intuitive way. Now a research team led by Oskar Aszmann from MedUni Vienna has made significant progress in sensitising the artificial extremities: By developing a new type of interface between man and machine, the feeling of the lost limb has been restored for the first time.

Is nature really as strange as quantum theory says - or are there simpler explanations? Neutron measurements at TU Wien prove: It doesn't work without the strange properties of quantum theory. Can a particle be in two different places at the same time? In quantum physics, it can: Quantum theory allows objects to be in different states at the same time - or more precisely: in a superposition state, combining different observable states.

Newly discovered symbiosis between Rhizobia and diatoms could also open new avenues for agriculture In a new study, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, the Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Vienna shed light on an unexpected partnership: A marine diatom and a bacterium that can account for a large share of nitrogen fixation in vast regions of the ocean.

In a study recently published in the "British Journal of Cancer", a research team led by Mario Mikula from MedUni Vienna has shown that human skin organoids can be used to study the growth of malignant melanoma. The investigations using this instrument, which is extremely valuable for basic research, revealed that the loss of the neuronal protein NLGN4X in melanoma is associated with the progression of the disease, and that the loss of the neuronal protein NLGN4X is associated with the progression of the disease.

Advanced liver disease is the second most common cause of lost working years, as it disproportionately affects young patients. A scientific team from MedUni Vienna has been able to determine a threshold value for a simple blood test that can be used to identify people with an increased risk of complications, even without special testing.

The use of the active ingredient 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as "ecstasy", to support psychotherapy for mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder is being discussed worldwide. While the therapeutic potential of the substance has already been investigated in clinical trials, only Australia and New Zealand have so far decided to approve and restrict its controlled use by experts due to possible risks and side effects.

Since the summer of 2016, archaeologists from Innsbruck have been carrying out excavations in a late antique hilltop settlement in the municipality of Irschen in southern Austria. Two years ago, they made a sensational discovery: a Christian reliquary was still hidden in a previously unknown church.

Looking under the microscope, a group of cells slowly moves forward in a line, like a train on the tracks. The cells navigate through complex environments. A new approach by researchers involving the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how they do this and how they interact with each other.

Patients with gestational diabetes show different disease progressions and therefore require personalised treatment measures. An international research team led by MedUni Vienna has now identified three subgroups of the disease with different treatment needs. The results of the study, recently published in the prestigious journal "Diabetologia", could improve our understanding of gestational diabetes and significantly advance the development of personalised treatment concepts.

New findings about the sound production mechanism of ultra-high-pitched operatic singing Opera singers have to use the extreme limits of their voice range. Many pedagogical and scientific sources suggest that the highest pitches reached in classical singing can only be produced with a so-called "whistle" voice register, in analogy to ultrasonic vocalizations of mice and rats.

A research team from TU Graz and the Czech Academy of Sciences has used two enzymes to eliminate the need for highly toxic cyanide in the production of nitriles. If the household cleaner emits a lemon-like odour, this may be due to a nitrile called citronellyl nitrile. These versatile chemical nitrile groups are also used in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients, superglue and chemical-resistant gloves.

A team of researchers led by Philip Walther at the University of Vienna carried out a pioneering experiment where they measured the effect of the rotation of Earth on quantum entangled photons. The work, just published in Science Advances , represents a significant achievement that pushes the boundaries of rotation sensitivity in entanglement-based sensors, potentially setting the stage for further exploration at the intersection between quantum mechanics and general relativity.