Big Data in genetics: reaching diagnosis through heaps of data

Image: Elderly female patient, nurse with a stethoscope listening to the heartbeat during a health consultation.; Copyright: YuriArcursPeopleimages

YuriArcursPeopleimages

Shining light on aging hearts

30/03/2023

Light therapy has demonstrated its usefulness in treating a variety of diseases. But can it delay the occurrence of age-related disease? The answer may be yes, according to a study in mice published in February in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
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Image: Close-up of a sample tray and analyzer in the laboratory; Copyright: Fraunhofer IPK / Larissa Klassen

Fraunhofer IPK / Larissa Klassen

New technologies for producing mRNA-based pharmaceuticals

24/03/2023

Together with partners from science and industry, Fraunhofer IPK is researching how mRNA therapeutics and other medication can be better produced and more effectively applied.
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Image: A man in a blue shirt, Professor Dr Alexander Schönhuth, standing next to a wall and smiles at the camera; Copyright: Bielefeld University/Sarah Jonek

Bielefeld University/Sarah Jonek

Predicting outbreak of ALS disease with AI methods

08/03/2023

Using artificial intelligence (AI) methods, researchers led by Professor Dr Alexander Schönhuth from Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Technology have succeeded in recording and deciphering the genotype profiles of 3,000 ALS patients and thus learning more about the development of the disease.
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Image: A man in fine striped shirt with glasses, Prof. Dr. med. Tobias Moser, smiles at the camera; Copyright: MBExC/spförtner

MBExC/spförtner

Optical cochlea implant: ERC Proof of Concept Grant for Tobias Moser

02/03/2023

In the ImageTox project, the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security are pooling their expertise in the fields of drug discovery and artificial intelligence (AI).
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Image: The photo shows the scanning of a blood sample in a laboratory at CiiM.; Copyright: Karin Kaiser / MHH

Karin Kaiser / MHH

What leads to severe COVID-19 diseases?

01/03/2023

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to severe disease in some people, while others do not get ill or only experience mild disease. But why is this the case? Unfortunately, we do not know exactly. We do know that an overactive innate immune system is causing severe COVID-19 disease, but it is unclear how this is regulated.
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Image: Close up x-ray film of a broken finger; Copyright: Rawpixel

Rawpixel

Packaged DNA: new method to promote bone growth

17/02/2023

DNA can help to stimulate bone healing in a localised and targeted manner, for example after a complicated fracture or after severe tissue loss following surgery.
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Image: Woman with ruptured blood vessel in eye, closeup; Copyright: amenic181

amenic181

AI finds twisting of eye vessels could cause high blood pressure and heart disease

16/02/2023

Research led by scientists at St George’s, University of London has discovered 119 areas in the genome that help to determine the size and shape of blood vessels at the back of the eye, and that an increase in ‘twisting’ of the arteries could cause high blood pressure and heart disease.
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Image: Fluorescence staining of Arlo cells. The image shows the overlay of a staining of cell nuclei (gray) and the tight junction protein 1 (blue); Copyright: HIPS/Boese

HIPS/Boese

New cell model for the human lung

16/02/2023

A team led by Prof Claus-Michael Lehr of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has developed a novel human lung cell line that should enable much more accurate predictions of the behavior of active substances or dosage forms in humans than previous systems.
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Image: Illustration of the nanomaterial graphene with gold nano disks array; Copyright: NTNU

NTNU

Super quick COVID test uses new technology

13/02/2023

The ability of gold particles to reflect light in different colours is used in applications from stained glass to pregnancy tests. Now researchers are set to exploit the same properties in an ultra-fast sensor for the coronavirus.
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Bild: DNA strand assembly from different elements. 3D illustration; Copyright: iLexx

iLexx

The architecture of shattered genomes

27/01/2023

Hunting for disease clues in the dark matter of our DNA. Scientists have reconstructed the chromosomes of patients with an extremely high number of aberrations in their genome that could alter the expression of nearby genes and potentially cause disease. Their results were published in Nature Communications in October 2022.
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Image: Dr Anke Katharina Bergmann in a white coat, holding a tablet, is standing in front of a virtual map of Europe; Copyright: Karin Kaiser / MHH, Freepik.com

Karin Kaiser / MHH, Freepik.com

MHH leads EU large-scale project for personalized cancer care

26/01/2023

CAN.HEAL aims to expand the available innovations in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment in the Member States in order to improve care for all patients in the EU. The project focuses on measures of personalized medicine. Genomics is an important cornerstone for this.
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Image: Researcher examines cell culture plates under the microscope; Copyright: manjurulhaque

manjurulhaque

Analyzing disease progression and cell processes with TIGER: in vivo and non-invasively

18/01/2023

Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) in Würzburg have developed a technology they call TIGER. It allows complex processes in individual cells to be deciphered in vivo by recording past RNA transcripts.
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Image: Two doctors in scrubs look at a screen during an AI-assisted colonoscopy; Copyright: Universitätsklinikum Bonn (UKB)

Universitätsklinikum Bonn (UKB)

AI improves colorectal cancer screening in Lynch syndrome

10/01/2023

Researchers at the National Center for Hereditary Tumor Diseases (NZET) at Bonn University Hospital (UKB) have now found that artificial intelligence (AI) can improve the effectiveness of colonoscopy in the presence of Lynch syndrome.
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Image: Doctor and medical assistant at the bedside of a patient who has breathing problems and is wearing an oxygen mask; Copyright: DC_Studio

DC_Studio

Why some people get a more severe COVID-19 progression than others

22/08/2022

A team of scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) together with colleagues from the United Kingdom and Canada have found genes and proteins that contribute to a higher risk of severe COVID-19.
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Image: Two male researchers analyzing data sets on a computer screen; Copyright: Felix Petermann | MDC

Felix Petermann | MDC

Project "ikarus" provides new insights for cancer research

01/08/2022

Artificial intelligence (AI) is about to become a game changer, especially in diagnostics. However, there are still limits to the use of AI. Dr. Altuna Akalin had to recognize this as well. The head of the Max Delbrück Center's (MDC) technology platform for "Bioinformatics and Omics Data Science" developed "ikarus" with his team.
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Image: Two men are sitting in front of a laptop computer and are talking about an image on the screen - Josch Konstantin Pauling, Nikolai Köhler; Copytight: LipiTUM

LipiTUM

MoSBi: Algorithm identifies disease subtypes

01/08/2022

Doctors have always used symptoms, imaging, and laboratory data to define and diagnose diseases, but at times it is simply not enough: while patients may have the same illness, it may exhibit different changes at the molecular level. A team from the Technical University of Munich has developed the so-called MoSBi algorithm and makes it available to researchers to identify molecular differences.
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ktsimage

Big Data in genetics: reaching diagnosis through heaps of data

01/08/2022

Most laboratory tests only produce small amounts of data that are already sufficient for successful diagnosis. It becomes more difficult with genetic questions: whether it is about a genetic disease or the properties of tumors, there are large amounts of data that must be considered. Both research and medicine need help to identify the connections and patterns in the data to find a diagnosis.
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Image: Gloved hand holds a cell culturing vessel in front of a screen with the depiction of a genetic analysis; Copyright: westend61

westend61

Big Data: Helper and game changer in laboratory medicine and genetics

01/08/2022

Big data, the use of large volumes of data in diagnostics and research, is giving medical science a powerful boost. Especially in laboratory medicine, big data can provide unprecedented support as doctors must consider a multitude of data and parameters to facilitate accurate medical decision-making.
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Image: Portable genomics device; Copyright: Philippine Genome Center Mindanao

Philippine Genome Center Mindanao

SARS-CoV-2: portable sequencing platform for developing countries

02/09/2021

Philippine Genome Center Mindanao (PGC Mindanao) has partnered with Accessible Genomics, a group of volunteering scientists from all around the world to implement a low start-up cost genomic sequencing platform for laboratories in developing countries.
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Image: Scientist with pipette in laboratory ; Copyright: PantherMedia/alexraths

PantherMedia/lucadp

Genetic test better than blood test for cardiovascular diseases

31/08/2021

Determining an individual’s blood group based on genetic tests instead of merely traditional blood tests can provide a better picture of the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
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Image: Two men in white shirs - Kazuki Takahashi, Manabu Tokeshi; Copyright: Manabu Tokeshi

Manabu Tokeshi

SARS-CoV-2: rapid method to quantify antibodies

29/07/2021

Scientists have developed a rapid, highly accurate test to detect antibodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in human serum, opening a new avenue for understanding the full extent of the pandemic and evaluating the effectiveness of vaccines.
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Image: A man with a smartwatch on his wrist; Copyright: PantherMedia/Wavebreakmedia Ltd

PantherMedia/Wavebreakmedia Ltd

Controlling insulin production with a smartwatch

15/06/2021

Many modern fitness trackers and smartwatches feature integrated LEDs. The green light emitted, whether continuous or pulsed, penetrates the skin and can be used to measure the wearer's heart rate during physical activity or while at rest.
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Image: A half-transparent red piece of tissue in a glass filled with a yellow fluid; Copyright: United Therapeutics

rhCollagen: genetically engineered building block for regenerative medicine

03/02/2020

Collagen is the stuff that holds our bodies together and that houses our cells. In regenerative medicine, it is also the stuff that can be applied to wounds to support healing. However, collagen from animal or human sources has some drawbacks for today’s medicine. This is where rhCollagen from the Israeli company CollPlant comes into play.
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Image: A lab technician is using a pipette to fill a solution into a petri dish; Copyright: panthermedia.net/Arne Trautmann

Last-resort antibiotics: "We can identify carbapenemases within half an hour"

01/08/2019

Antibiotic resistance is modern medicine's greatest challenge. Some bacteria only respond to a handful of antibiotics, prompting hospitals to spend a lot of time finding an effective drug. That’s why it is critical for physicians to rapidly identify antibiotic resistance to avoid ineffective treatments.
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Multi-organ chips: Drug research without animal testing at vasQlab

15/05/2019

New active substances that are suitable for drugs are initially tested in animal experiments. However, the results cannot always be transferred to the human organism. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Prof. Ute Schepers from vasQlab explains how active substances can be tested in human tissue without endangering human health.
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