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Featuring world-record optical resolution, super-resolution MINFLUX fluorescence microscopy, developed by Nobel Laureate Stefan Hell and his team, is able to discern fluorescent molecules that are only a few nanometers (millionths of a millimeter) apart. In other words, MINFLUX can resolve structural details that are more than one hundred times smaller than those that are visible with conventional fluorescence light microscopes.

In an initial application of this powerful technique to cell biology, researchers led by Stefan Hell and Stefan Jakobs have now optically dissected the distribution of individual proteins in a ~ 20-nanometer-sized protein cluster within a cellular organelle in 3D using multiple colors. MINFLUX nanoscopy thus proves to be an extremely powerful tool to find out if and how proteins group inside the cell, at the length scale of the proteins…

Data from the last months of NASA’s Dawn mission paint a unique picture of the dwarf planet Ceres.

Until a million years ago, dwarf planet Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt, was the scene of cryovolcanic eruptions: below the Occator Crater, subsurface brine pushed upward; the water evaporated, leaving behind bright, salty deposits. This process is probably still ongoing. A team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany comes to these conclusions after evaluating high-resolution camera…

How municipalities organized the acceptance of asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016

When several hundred thousand refugees came to Germany within a short period of time five years ago, the responsible local administrations were put to the test. That meant a challenge for the state with its social systems and the administration, but by no means excessive demands. Rather, the local administration basically demonstrated its efficiency in 2015/16. However, in the course of admission by the municipalities, those seeking protection…

To be successful strict local containment and low number of cross-regional infections are crucial

A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen has simulated possible courses of the corona pandemic. The calculations show that regional measures can keep the epidemic under control with substantially fewer restrictions than nationally imposed lockdowns if the number of cross-regional infections is low enough. However, regional thresholds for local restrictions should be lower than those…

Research team led by the University of Göttingen analyses design and communication strategies for mass acceptance

Coronavirus tracing applications for the detection of infection chains are currently being developed and made available across the world. Such contact-tracing apps are a central component of national strategies for relaxing restrictions. However, for these apps to be successful, they must be widely accepted and actively used by a large proportion of the population. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated…

Neural networks in both biological settings and artificial intelligence distribute computation across their neurons to solve complex tasks. New research now shows how so-called “critical states” can be used to optimize artificial neural networks running on brain-inspired neuromorphic hardware. The study was carried out by scientists from Heidelberg University working within the Human Brain Project, and the Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS). The results have been published in Nature Communications.

Many computational properties are maximized when the dynamics of a network are at a “critical point”, a state where systems can quickly change their overall characteristics in fundamental ways, transitioning e.g. between order and chaos or stability and instability. Therefore, the critical state is widely assumed to be optimal for any computation in recurrent neural networks, which are used in many AI applications. Researchers from the HBP…

It looks like a giant thermos flask and weighs eight tons. But that is not the only reason the new 1.2 GHz spectrometer is a worldwide research heavyweight. With its magnetic field strength, the technology sets new standards in high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: 28.2 Tesla – almost 600,000 times stronger than the earth´s magnetic field. Presently, there are only three of these high-tech instruments; besides the University of Florence (Italy) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland), there is now one set up in Göttingen at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry. The costs for the instrument are 12.5 million euros.

A 60-ton crane and two trucks were necessary to put the new NMR spectrometer safely into the recently built hall at the institute. In the future, this innovative technology, now in Göttingen through the efforts of Christian Griesinger and Markus Zweckstetter will allow their teams to further expand their research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. The Göttingen NMR experts also hope for new findings in cancer and infection research. …

Study shows that chloroquine does not block SARS-CoV-2 infection of lung cells

More than 600,000 people worldwide have fallen victim to the lung disease COVID-19 so far, which is caused by the SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In order to obtain an effective therapy for COVID-19 as quickly as possible, drugs that are being used to treat other diseases are currently being repurposed for COVID-19 treatment. The Infection Biology Unit of the German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen,…

Over 360 scientists from 42 countries - led by the University of Göttingen and Westlake University China - call for transition of food production systems to agroecological principles.

Humans depend on farming for their very survival but this activity takes up more than one third of the world’s landmass and endangers 62% of all threatened species globally. However, agricultural landscapes can support, rather than damage, biodiversity, but only through a global transition to agroecological production. An international team of over 360 scientists from 42 countries, led by the University of Göttingen and Westlake University in…

Research team from Göttingen and Halle develops new inhibitors for enzymes

With over 1.2 million people affected in Germany alone and over 50 million people worldwide, Alzheimer's disease, also referred to simply as Alzheimer's, is one of the greatest medical and social challenges of our time. Due to pathological changes in the brain, patients become increasingly forgetful and disoriented as the disease progresses. In the worst cases, even close relatives are no longer recognized and simple household tasks can no longer…

News from the Göttingen Campus

Dissecting protein assemblies

Dwarf Planet Ceres: Evidence of Active Cryovolcanism

The challenge used as an opportunity

Corona pandemic: Regional lockdowns could shorten the total duration of restrictions

How will the population accept COVID-19 tracing apps?

Optimizing neural networks on a brain-inspired computer

One of the world´s three most powerful high-resolution 1.2 GHz NMR spectrometers comes to Göttingen

Malaria drug chloroquine does not inhibit SARS-CoV-2

Changes in farming urgent to rescue biodiversity

A chemical tailor-made suit for Alzheimer’s drugs

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