David Weiner, Ph.D.

Scientists at The Wistar Institute and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have devised a novel DNA vaccine approach through molecular design to improve the immune responses elicited against one of the most important cancer antigen targets. Study results were published in the journal Molecular Therapy.

Cancer immunotherapy approaches, designed to harness the body’s natural immune defenses to target and kill cancer cells, are showing great promise for cancer treatment and prevention. DNA vaccines can induce immunity through the delivery by an intramuscular injection of a sequence of synthetically designed DNA that contains the instructions for the immune cells in the body to become activated and target a specific antigen against which an immune response is sought. This approach has proven effective in generating strong immunity against some infectious diseases as well as clearing neoplasia in patients with tumors caused by viral infection. The recent identification of tumor-associated antigens, or proteins that are specifically expressed by tumor cells and not by normal cells, has sparked the development of DNA vaccine approaches against some of these promising targets.

La Commissione europea denuncia l'Italia alla Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea per mancata attuazione di disposizioni sulla sperimentazione animale nella normativa nazionale. La materia, che riscuote notevole interesse tra i cittadini, è disciplinata dalla direttiva 2010/63/UE sulla protezione degli animali utilizzati a fini scientifici, per cui il termine ultimo di recepimento nella normativa nazionale era il 10 novembre 2012. Su raccomandazione del Commissario per l'Ambiente Janez Potočnik, la Commissione chiede alla Corte d'imporre all'Italia una penale di 150 787 EUR al giorno.

Xylella fastidiosa in olive tree

Expert ecologists at the UK-based Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) have devised a scientific model which could help predict the spread of the deadly Xylella fastidiosa which is threatening to destroy Europe’s olive trees. The CEH scientists have created a model which is able to qualitatively and quantitatively predict how the deadly bacterial pathogen may spread as well as offer guidance on how buffer zones should be arranged to protect uninfected olive trees. The research, published in the journal Biological Invasions, highlights how Xylella fastidiosa is influenced by a range of insects – including spittlebugs – and the rate to which these vectors contribute to the potential spread of the disease across Europe and beyond.

From left: Professor Gerhard Wenz, Saarland University, Bernd Reinhard, INM, Günter Weber, Business Director, INM, Erold Naomab, University of Namibia, Professor Kenneth Matengu, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Namibia, Professor Aránzazu del Campo, Scientific Director, INM, Roland Rolles, Vice President, Saarland University, Carsten Becker-Willinger, Head of Project NaMiComp, INM.

The INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials officially began its collaborative effort with the University of Namibia (UNAM) by holding a kick-off workshop. The aim of the joint project, NaMiComp, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, is to analyze Namibia’s locally available natural resources and then use them as a basis for new materials for industrial applications. INM and UNAM are working together on the NaMiComp project in order to establish and strengthen research competence in materials science at UNAM. In the long term, the aim is to build an on-site materials science institute at the University of Namibia. The two-day long workshop, which was held at the INM, was the inaugural event for building this cooperation. Further multi-day workshops, reciprocal visits by experts, field surveys and learning cafés are set to follow.

Mosaic pneumococcal population structure caused by horizontal gene transfer is shown on the left for a subset of genes. Matrix on the right shows a genome-wide summary of the relationships between the bacteria, ranging from blue (distant) to yellow (closely related). Photo: Pekka Marttinen

Gene transfers are particularly common in the antibiotic-resistance genes of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.

When mammals breed, the genome of the offspring is a combination of the parents' genomes. Bacteria, by contrast, reproduce through cell division. In theory, this means that the genomes of the offspring are copies of the parent genome. However, the process is not quite as straightforward as this due to horizontal gene transfer through which bacteria can transfer fragments of their genome to each other. As a result of this phenomenon, the genome of an individual bacterium can be a combination of genes from several different donors. Some of the genome fragments may even originate from completely different species.

fotograf Jana Weiss

A study from Stockholm University have now established what was previously suspected, that the high levels of brominated flame retardants measured in cats are from the dust in our homes. The study has been published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The study shows that cats are exposed to chemicals found in electronics and furniture, chemicals that become dust and can adversely affect health. It is the first time that this connection has been verified. In a previous study, the researchers demonstrated that brominated flame retardants were found in higher concentrations in the blood of cats that had developed Feline hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism in cats) compared to healthy cats. Now, new measurements of healthy cats establish their dust exposure. Paired samples were taken from the same household, i.e. they took both dust samples and blood samples at the same time.

L’ENEA ha brevettato “Sesto Senso”, un sistema multisensoriale in grado di monitorare e ottimizzare i consumi energetici di abitazioni e uffici assicurando temperatura e illuminazione ideali sia in estate che in inverno. Ma c’è di più. Grazie ad un sistema innovativo di rilevamento delle presenze, questo vero e proprio ‘maggiordomo virtuale’ può attivare o disattivare autonomamente luci, elettrodomestici, tapparelle e schermature solari nella casa; inoltre, attraverso un’analisi qualitativa della CO2, avvisa anche se occorre aprire le finestre per arieggiare i locali. Questo sistema intelligente è composto di un’unità centrale e di un insieme di sensori ambientali che funzionano come una rete neuronale artificiale: i sensori di monitoraggio acquisiscono i dati su temperatura, umidità, luminosità, valori della CO2 ma anche informazioni su movimenti, rumore e transito di persone nell’abitazione.

Pitching & co-pro event - feature films

08 – 10 Mar 17

Bordeaux (France)

Cartoon Movie is neither a fair nor a festival, but rather a pitching & co-pro forum for animated feature films.

For two days, producers have the opportunity to pitch their film project in order to speed up financing, find co-producers and interest international distributors.

Since its creation in 1999, 274 films found financing, representing a total budget of 1.9 billion EUR.

Read more on http://www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-movie-event/cartoon-movie-2017.htm

Generation of recombinant rotavirus from cloned cDNA

Osaka University scientists generate a new plasmid-based reverse genetics system for rotaviruses. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea and kill hundreds of thousands of infants a year. Although current vaccines are effective in preventing aggravation of rotaviruses, the development of more effective vaccines at lower cost is expected. Technology cannot study well how rotaviruses invade and replicate in a cell. To identify which genes are crucial for the infection of rotaviruses, scientists at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases at Osaka University report a new plasmid-based reverse genetics system. The study can be read in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Activation of the brain's fear network, visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (picture: Dr. Tina Lonsdorf, Systems Neuroscience UKE Hamburg)

Several newly discovered variants of a gene increase the risk of developing anxiety disorders. A research team aims to derive new therapies from this finding which are better tailored to the individual patients. Mental, social and inherited factors all play a role in anxiety disorders. In the journal "Molecular Psychiatry", a research team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany, describes a hitherto unknown genetic pathway for developing such diseases: They pinpointed at least four variants of the GLRB gene (glycine receptor B) as risk factors for anxiety and panic disorders. More than 5000 voluntary participants and 500 patients afflicted by panic disorder took part in the study that delivered these results.