News from the Göttingen Campus

Eine Simulation belegt die Wirkung der ersten Maßnahmen gegen Covid-19 und ermöglicht eine Prognose für die Ausbreitung von Sars-CoV 2
Die Anstrengungen gegen die Corona-Epidemie in Deutschland zeigen erste Wirkung. Zumindest die Maßnahmen, die bis zum 16. März ergriffen wurden, haben die Ausbreitung des Virus Sars-CoV 2 verlangsamt. Das belegt die Modellrechnung eines Teams vom Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation und von der Universität Göttingen. Die Simulation zeigt allerdings auch, dass die Maßnahmen bis zum 16. März das exponentielle Wachstum noch nicht…
In der Corona-Krise schließen sich die Partner des Göttingen Campus in einem „Diagnostischen Netzwerk“ für umfangreiche Testungen zusammen. Institut für Mikrobiologie der UMG koordiniert.
Die Covid-19-Pandemie lässt auch in Göttingen und Südniedersachsen die Zahl der Infizierten täglich steigen, es ist damit zu rechnen, dass die Zahl in den kommenden Wochen noch weiter wachsen wird. Dadurch erhöht sich der Bedarf an diagnostischen Tests. Um die täglichen Testkapazitäten deutlich auszuweiten, wurde unter Federführung des Instituts für Medizinische Mikrobiologie der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (UMG) von Prof. Dr. Uwe Groß und…
An essay by Ayelet Shachar, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the significance of borders. While much attention has been paid to debates surrounding Donald Trump’s campaign promise to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall,”1 the current crisis reveals that governments seeking to restrict mobility rely only partly (and increasingly rarely) on brick and mortar. Instead, one of the most remarkable developments of recent years…
Every year, top researchers apply for funds from the European Research Council (ERC), and the highly endowed ERC Advanced Grants are sought after in particular. Göttingen Max Planck Director Patrick Cramer has now been successful for the third time – an exceptional achievement. The biochemist investigates how cells use the information stored in their genome. His work on the regulation of this fundamental process is now funded with about two million euros.
How does a fertilized egg cell become a living being? How are nerve, muscle, or skin cells formed? “Our genes show different states of activity in different cells,” states Cramer, who heads the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry. Depending on their needs, cells selectively activate genes to retrieve the stored information. Only the DNA of active genes is copied in the form of long RNA…
Died on March 21, 2020 at the age of 77
Professor Dr. Reinhard Grunwald, former Commercial Director of the German Primate Center, died in Göttingen on March 21, 2020 at the age of 77 after a long and serious illness. Born in Göttingen, Grunwald was one of the first at the dual leadership of the DPZ. On September 1, 1978, he took over as Administrative Director of the German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, which was founded just in 1977, and held…
DLR upgrades 3D printer for medical protective equipment (more information in German)
International research team with participation from University of Göttingen find it wasn’t just Homo sapiens who sourced food from the sea – impact on cognitive abilities suspected
Over 80,000 years ago, Neanderthals were already feeding themselves regularly on mussels, fish and other marine life. The first robust evidence of this has been found by an international research team with the participation of the University of Göttingen during an excavation in the cave of Figueira Brava in Portugal. Dr Dirk Hoffmann at the Göttingen Isotope Geology Department dated flowstone layers - calcite deposits that form like stalagmites…
Göttingen infection researchers identify potential drug
Viruses must enter cells of the human body to cause disease. For this, they attach to suitable cells and inject their genetic information into these cells. Infection biologists from the German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, together with colleagues at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, have investigated how the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 penetrates cells. They have identified a cellular enzyme that is…
Göttingen researchers warn of shortage of intensive care beds for coronavirus patients
In light of the rapidly increasing number of known coronavirus infections in Germany and Europe, scientists across the Göttingen Campus have expressed serious concerns. This is due to the latest estimate of the number of cases expected in the coming weeks and the number of intensive care beds available in Germany. Although the measures taken by the Federal Government and the individual states to limit the increase are restrictive, the researchers…
Göttingen research team produces new nanosheets for near infrared imaging
Egyptian blue is one of the oldest manmade colour pigments. It adorns, for instance, the crown of the world famous bust of Nefertiti. But the pigment can do even more. An international research team led by Dr Sebastian Kruss from the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Göttingen has produced a new nanomaterial based on the Egyptian blue pigment, which is ideally suited for applications in imaging using near infrared spectroscopy…