What we really breathe in

Filtered car emissions turn toxic after sunlight exposure

02-Jun-2025 - A new international study led by Helmholtz Munich and the University of Rostock reveals that emissions from modern gasoline cars – despite meeting the currently strictest European emission standards EURO 6d – can become significantly more harmful after being released into the atmosphere. The ...

Live View: Stress-Induced Changes in Generations of Cancer Cells

26-May-2025 - Cancer cells respond to stress with greater diversity. Drugs that affect DNA replication, or radiation that causes direct DNA damage, lead to increasingly diverse offspring over multiple cell generations. This increases the tumor’s genetic complexity and facilitates the development of resistance ...

How human cells repair damaged DNA

Potential new targets for cancer therapy identified

14-Apr-2025 - Researchers at ETH Zurich have unravelled the complex network that cells use to repair their genetic material. By examining thousands upon thousands of genetic interactions, the team has discovered new vulnerabilities in cancer cells that could be exploited therapeutically in the future. The DNA ...

Textbooks need to be rewritten: RNA, not DNA, is the main cause of acute sunburn

“This new knowledge turns things upside down": The result of the study changes our understanding of sunburn and the skin’s defence mechanisms

22-Jan-2025 - We have all been told to avoid direct sunlight between 12 noon and 3 p.m., seek out shade and put on sunscreen and a hat. Nevertheless, most of us have been experienced sunburn at least once. The skin turns bright red, feels irritated and needs cooling. You may also have been told that sunburn ...

Cancer research: Small change with a big impact

How p53 works

10-Dec-2024 - A research team at the University of Konstanz, led by toxicologist Ivano Amelio, has demonstrated how differently individual mutations of the tumour suppressor p53 affect pancreatic carcinomas. When cell growth gets out of control and malignant cells begin to proliferate, cancer can develop in a ...

Chocolate’s tasty flavors might pose a risk in other desserts

Genotoxic substances in baked sweets?

03-Jun-2024 - What makes chocolate taste and smell so delicious? Chemistry, of course! A variety of molecules work together to create that unmistakable aroma, but those same molecules might carry some unwanted health effects if there are too many around. According to research published in ACS’ Journal of ...

Cancer Research: DNA Repair Mechanism Further Elucidated

“The findings from our work provide the basis for new approaches to treating various types of cancer”

30-May-2024 - Researchers at the University of Würzburg, led by Caroline Kisker in cooperation with Claudia Höbartner, discovered how the protein XPD detects a severe DNA damage and controls its repair. The XPD protein is a central component of our body's own 'DNA repair team', known as nucleotide excision ...

Sophisticated mechanism revealed: Cells inherit protection from sunburn

Stress granules protect cells from the effects of UV radiation

22-Mar-2024 - UV radiation in the sunlight causes sunburn and increases the risk of skin cancer by damaging our DNA but also our RNA. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, have now unveiled a cellular shield that protect cells from the harmful effects of ...

New mechanism for regulating cell division in the bacterial pathogen Klebsiella uncovered

Small ribonucleic acid with a big impact

23-Feb-2024 - Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common and most dangerous bacterial pathogens impacting humans, causing infections of the gastrointestinal tract, pneumonia, wound infections and even blood poisoning. With the aim of discovering therapeutically exploitable weaknesses in Klebsiella, a ...

Making Ends Meet: Researchers Find That a Protein Superglue is Crucial for DNA Damage Repair

New Understanding for Cancer Treatments

08-Feb-2024 - Our DNA undergoes constant damage and repair. The most severe damage happens when the DNA breaks into two pieces, known as a double-strand DNA break. It creates two loose DNA ends that, if left unfixed, can lead to cell death. Researchers from the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) of the Dresden ...