Heart attack

Unlike humans, zebrafish can completely regenerate their hearts after injury. They owe this ability to the interaction between their nervous and immune systems, as researchers led by Suphansa Sawamiphak from the Max Delbrück Center now report in the journal “Developmental Cell.”

Science has something exploratory about it, says Norbert Hübner. You never know exactly where you are heading. Despite this, cartographic works are the focus of his interest: the researcher creates atlases of the human heart. And amongst other things, he uses them to understand heart conditions better.

A CRISPR-based rapid test called CrisprZyme could help general practitioners to diagnose heart attacks and distinguish between different types of prostate cancer. They do not even need a lab, as an international team of scientists – including Michael Kaminski – reports in "Nature Nanotechnology".

Zebrafish have played an important role in basic biomedical research for over 50 years, including research into the causes of congenital heart defects and the consequences of heart attacks. For researchers working with these fish, it's important to respect animal welfare and find ways of improving it.

Gut bacteria and their metabolites protect organs from the effects of hypertension – this was discovered by Hendrik Bartolomaeus in collaboration with four labs at the ECRC. For this achievement, the early career scientist is now being awarded the Walter Siegenthaler Medal in silver.

Our body’s cells are constantly changing. But which of these changes are healthy developments and which lead to serious diseases? This is what LifeTime, a new transnational and interdisciplinary initiative of leading European researchers, aims to discover. The consortium is jointly coordinated by the MDC and the Institut Curie in Paris. It has now cleared an important hurdle.

Acute ischemia (lack of blood flow) and sustained high blood pressure have grave consequences for...

One of the causes of heart failure is the formation of excess connective tissue. An international team of researchers has discovered a specific treatment approach involving the signaling molecule interleukin 11. Their findings have now been published in the journal Nature.