Over half of our genomes consists of thousands of remnants of ancient viral DNA, known as transposable elements, which are widespread across the tree of life. Once dismissed as the "dark side" of the genome, researchers at Helmholtz Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) have now revealed their crucial role in early embryo development. Unanswered Questions About the Role of Ancient Viral DNA Transposable ...
Extreme Rainfall Poses Health Risks An international study led by Helmholtz Munich investigates the health consequences of heavy rainfall events. Researchers analyzed the relationship between precipitation patterns and mortality rates at 645 locations across 34 countries from 1980 to 2020. The key finding: Extremely heavy rainfall, which occurs approximately every five years, significantly increases the risk of death, ...
Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) together with international collaborators have conducted the largest genetic investigation of the restless legs syndrome to date. Their findings, ...
Asthma in Children: Researchers Envision Novel Drug to Reduce the Risk of the Disease Scientists have reached a milestone in the research of childhood asthma. For the first time, they have clarified how a certain genetic defect in children initially leads to frequent infections and later to asthma. The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and ...
The increasing amount of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes benefit greatly from the recently developed GIPR:GLP-1R co-agonists. These novel compounds lead to substantial weight loss, offering a revolutionary approach to patients worldwide. Although the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) was already shown by Helmholtz Munich scientists to decrease body weight via the brain GIP receptor, the ...
The increasing amount of data recorded in medical research can only lead to scientific breakthroughs and essential therapies for patients if interpreted and analyzed correctly. Computer scientists at Helmholtz Munich developed a generative model named scPoli (single-cell population level integration), that performs ...
How do our muscles respond at the molecular level to exercise? Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) have unraveled the cellular basis and signaling pathways responsible for the p ositive impact of physical activity ...
Premature infants often struggle with breathing and require ventilatory support and oxygen therapy. Unfortunately, this might lead to lung damage resulting in lifelong consequences and chronic disease. Dr. Anne Hilgendorff’s team from Helmholtz Munich and the LMU University Hospital developed a non-invasive ...
The increase in heat periods as a result of climate change can be more critical for people with diabetes than for metabolically healthy people. This is especially true at older ages. The article "Heat and diabetes" from diabinfo.de deals with helpful tips for people with diabetes ...
Can a human organ be mapped on a single-cell level to learn about the functionality of each individual cell? And can we learn how different these cells are from person to person? Helmholtz Munich researchers and their collaborators have taken up this challenge and developed the Human Lung Cell Atlas using artificial intelligence (AI)-based techniques. This atlas elucidates the diversity of single lung cell types and ...
Tirzepatide is a recently approved treatment for type-2 diabetes. Treatment with tirzepatide decreases body weight while improving glucose metabolism in patients with obesity and type-2 diabetes. Although the drug is designed to activate receptors for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), the contribution of activating the GIP receptor in the overall efficacy of ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in the chronic autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes was observed in children, also in Germany. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and TU Dresden, in cooperation with the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Bayern (KVB), have now investigated whether there is a temporal association between infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the ...
