HZB Newsroom
Search results for: Keyword: life sciences
X-ray microscopy at BESSY II reveals how antimalaria-drugs might work
An international team has now been able to investigate malaria pathogens in red blood cells under natural conditions using X-ray microscopy at BESSY II, ALBA and ESRF. They show which mechanisms are used by active substances to attack the pathogens.
Oldest completely preserved lily discovered
Already 115 million years ago, tropical flowering plants were apparently very diverse and showed all typical characteristics. This is the conclusion of an international team of researchers led by Clément Coiffard, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The team ...
Neutron tomography: Insights into the interior of teeth, root balls, batteries,...
A team of researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and European Spallation Source (ESS) has now published a comprehensive overview of neutron-based imaging processes in the renowned journal Materials Today (impact factor 21.6). The authors report on the ...
Novel soft X-ray spectrometer enables individual steps of photosynthetic water...
HZB scientists have developed a novel spectrometer at BESSY II that enables researchers to obtain detailed insights about catalytic processes in metalloenzymes. Their international collaboration was successful in delineating individual steps in the catalytic ...
User research at BER II: Lupin roots observed in the act of catching water from...
Lupins not only produce colourful blossoms but also nutritious beans rich in proteins. Just how these plants draw water approaching their roots in soil has now for the first time been observed in three dimensions by a University of Potsdam team at the HZB-BER ...
HZB and Freie Universität Berlin establish the joint research group “X-Ray...
In May this year, the joint research group "X-Ray Microscopy” was launched, combining the expertise of teams led by Prof. Dr. Gerd Schneider (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin) and Prof. Dr. Helge Ewers (Freie Universität Berlin). While Ewers’ group ...
HZB and Freie Universität Berlin are establishing the joint research group...
For eight years, HZB’s "Macromolecular Crystallography” workgroup has been successfully cooperating with the "Structural Biochemistry” research group headed by Prof. Markus Wahl at the Freie Universität Berlin. They are about to intensify ...
Advancing methodology at BESSY II: Automated evaluation speeds up the search...
The macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamlines at the BESSY II X-ray source are specially designed to highly automated structural analyses of protein crystals. With up to now more than 2000 solved structures of protein molecules, these beamlines are by far ...
User research at BESSY II: How water moves glass
In the realm of plants, capillary forces are a widely observed impetus for actuation. They are the physical basis for the expansion of porous materials during uptake of fluid. Such materials include the cones of conifers with their readily observable movement ...
User research at BESSY II: nanostructures in human teeth
Dentin is one of the most durable biological materials in the human body. Researchers from Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to show that the reason for this can be traced to its nanostructures and specifically to the interactions between the ...
Common platform for macromolecular crystallography at European synchrotrons
Researchers use high-intensity X-ray light from synchrotron radiation sources to decipher the structures of biological molecules and thus the blueprints of life. A cooperation agreement has been effective since 2012 to establish common software standards at ...
Gemeinsames Treffen der Strukturbiologen in Berlin: der 6. Joint-MX-Day am 23....
Die Hauptstadt hat sich in den letzten Jahren zu einem Hotspot der Strukturbiologie in Deutschland entwickelt. Entscheidend dazu beigetragen hat das hohe Maß an Kooperation zwischen außeruniversitären Forschungseinrichtungen und Universitäten. Aber auch ...
Gerd Schneider receives a professorship for "X-ray microscopy" at...
On 29 April 2015, Gerd Schneider (HZB) accepted the call to a W2-S "X-ray microscopy” professorship at the Department of Physics of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The professorship is associated with heading the workgroup "X-ray microscopy” at ...
Strong teeth: Nanostructures under stress make teeth crack resistant
Human teeth have to serve for a lifetime, despite being subjected to huge forces. But the high failure resistance of dentin in teeth is not fully understood. An interdisciplinary team led by scientists of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has now ...
Neutrons and X-rays show how to prepare durable tooth cement
There are many ways to mix cements for tooth fillings, but it can be difficult to tell which way works best. Now, a team of scientists from Copenhagen, Denmark, has come up with an answer: They used neutron imaging and x-ray-microtomography at HZB to analyze ...
2500 Augentumor-Patienten von der Charité mit Protonen am Helmholtz-Zentrum...
Am Freitag, dem 21. November 2014, wurde um 16:10 Uhr die Bestrahlungsserie der 2500. Protonentherapiepatientin, am Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Seit 1998 behandelt die Augenklinik der Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus ...
GDCh zeichnet Sebastian Seiffert aus
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Seiffert erhält eine weitere Auszeichnung für seine Forschungsarbeit. Die Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) hat mitgeteilt, dass Seiffert den Preis für Nachwuchswissenschaftler auf dem Gebiet der Makromolekularen Chemie erhalten wird. ...
Kristalle in Wissenschaft und Technik: Ergebnisse auf der 22. Jahrestagung der...
Die Kristallographie hat enorm zum Fortschritt des 20. und 21. Jahrhundert beigetragen und ein grundlegendes Verständnis von Prozessen in vielen Lebensbereichen ermöglicht. Die Vielfalt der interdisziplinären Wissenschaft zu Struktur und Eigenschaften von ...
Humboldt Research Award brings Stephen P. Cramer to Berlin
The renowned synchrotron spectroscopy expert Professor Stephen P. Cramer has received a Humboldt Research Award and may now spend up to one year cooperating closely with a team at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Freie Universität Berlin. Cramer was ...
Göttingen scientists use BESSY II to decode basic mechanism underlying...
Enzymes are life’s molecular catalysts and figure prominently in cellular metabolism. It has been speculated that in the course of a biochemical reaction enzymes physically bend their substrates to split them. Now for the first time ever, scientists at ...
Better insight into molecular interactions
How exactly atoms and molecules in biochemical solutions or at solid-liquid interfaces do interact, is a question of great importance. Answers will provide insights at processes in catalysts, smart functional materials and even physiological processes in the ...
International Conference in Neutron Scattering: HZB-contributions awarded
More than 800 participants had gathered for the International Conference in Neutron Scattering, held during 8-12 July 2013 in Edinburgh, to discuss advances in neutron research and the advancement of the neutron scattering instruments and techniques. A ...
1000th protein structure decoded at BESSY II
In July of this year, the 1000th protein structure based on measurements obtained at BESSY II was published. The molecule in question belongs to a class of proteins called sirtuins, which are involved in aging, stress, and metabolic processes within the human ...
Discovery of how a key enzyme of the spliceosome exerts its controlling function
To sustain life, processes in biological cells have to be strictly controlled both in time and in space. By using the MX-Beamline of synchrotron radiation source BESSY II research workers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and ...
Water fluctuations mediate lock-and-key fit
Without water, life as we know, it would not exist. Nearly every biological binding process that takes place within a cell requires the presence of an aqueous environment. Here, tiny molecules called ligands fit like "keys" into their matching "locks" - ...
Festkolloquium anlässlich des 2000. Patienten bei der Augentumortherapie
Die Protonentherapie von Augentumoren wird in Deutschland nur vom Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin gemeinsam mit der Charité Berlin angeboten, vor kurzem wurde der 2.000. Patient behandelt. Bei ihrem Grußwort auf dem Festkolloquium am 11. Oktober 2012 würdigte ...
Neues Helmholtz Virtuelles Institut feierlich eröffnet
Mit einem Festakt an der Freien Universität Berlin wurde am Montag, dem 19. Dezember, ein neues Helmholtz Virtuelles Institut (HVI) eröffnet, an dem neben dem federführenden Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht in Teltow (HZG) und der Freien Universität Berlin auch ...
Shedding Light on Luminescence - Scientists at HZB reveal the structure of a...
Fluorescent proteins are important investigative tools in the biosciences: Coupled to other proteins, they help us to study the processes of life inside cells and organisms at the molecular level. Fluorescent proteins are made to light up at specific target ...
Kampf gegen Antibiotika-Resistenzen - Wissenschaftler enttarnen Resistenzprotein
Wissenschaftler des Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin haben mit der Synchrotronstrahlungsquelle BESSY II an der Strukturaufklärung eines Proteins mitgewirkt, das für Antibiotikaresistenzen verantwortlich ist: Mit ihrer Unterstützung ist es Forschern der Universität ...
Von 1 auf 500… - 500ste Protein-Struktur an BESSY II entschlüsselt
Haare, Haut, Blutkreislauf und Nervensystem – alles wird von winzigen biologischen Bausteinen gesteuert. Wer nach diesen kleinsten Bausteinen des Lebens forscht, landet automatisch bei ihnen: den Proteinen. Um diese Grundbausteine des Lebens und die ...
LiXEdrom: Innovative measuring chamber for X-ray study of liquid jets
Until now, the only way to study liquids by soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) has been through a membrane window. Now, researchers of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have carried out an XES study of a free micro-liquid jet on the synchrotron.
Muster im Lebendigen lesen: Erwin Schrödinger Preis 2003 für Dr. Martin Falcke
Einer deutsch-amerikanischen Wissenschaftlergruppe ist es gelungen, durch Analyse von Mustern, die von der Kalziumkonzentration in lebenden Zellen gebildet werden, die Funktionsweise von Zellorganellen zu verstehen. Für diese grundlegenden Erkenntnisse ...
Verkehrsstau in der Nervenzelle vorausgesagt
Die Nervenzellen unseres Körpers sind von einem dichten Netz von Wegen durchzogen, auf denen winzige biologische Transporter kleine mit lebenswichtigen Molekülen gefüllte Pakete transportieren. In der Abteilung Theorie des Berliner Hahn-Meitner-Instituts ...