Astonishing research finding by biologists at Bielefeld University published in the online journal Nature Communications

Flowers need water and light to grow. Even children learn that plants use sunlight to gather energy from earth and water. Members of Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse’s biological research team at Bielefeld University have made a groundbreaking discovery that one plant has another way of doing this. They have confirmed for the first time that a plant, the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, not only engages in photosynthesis, but also has an alternative source of energy: it can draw it from other plants. This finding could also have a major impact on the future of bioenergy. The research findings have been released on Tuesday 20 November in the online journal Nature Communications published by the renowned journal Nature.[Weiterlesen]

German Research Foundation (DFG) approves international Research Training Group of universities in Bielefeld and Vancouver, Canada

In many natural sciences, technological progress enables experimental data to be gathered more quickly than it can be interpreted - in the deciphering of genomes, for example. Computer-aided analyses are essential for this. Appropriate methods and software can only be developed with the involvement of numerous disciplines from statistics through molecular biology to (bio-)informatics. For an initial period of four years, the German Research Foundation (DFG) is therefore funding a new international Research Training Group with an interdisciplinary approach set up by the universities in Bielefeld and Vancouver, Canada.  Vancouver’s official acceptance of the funding is expected in January.[Weiterlesen]

Grasshoppers are having to change their song – one of the iconic sounds of summer – to make themselves heard above the din of road traffic, ecologists have discovered. The study, published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, is the first to show that man-made noise affects natural insect populations.[Weiterlesen]

New application from scientists at Bielefeld University and international partners monitors mood changes in patients

“On top of the world, or in the depths of despair” describes what doctors denote as Bipolar Disorder. Patients’ moods change between episodes of depression and mania. The Cluster of Excellence “Cognitive Interaction Technology” (CITEC) at Bielefeld University presents an application at the world’s largest medical fair “Medica” in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 14 to 17 November: Smartphone-embedded sensors monitor mood changes in Bipolar Disorder patients and send data to the consulting doctors. The presentation is part of the common booth of the State Government of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany (Hall 3, booth D81).[Weiterlesen]

Bielefeld students on a par with teams from international elite universities

Months of painstaking work in the laboratory at Bielefeld University‘s Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) have paid off: the 15 students participating in this year’s ‘international Genetically Engineered Machine competition’ (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have good reason to celebrate. The goal of their project was to develop a biological filter that removes estrogen from drinking water. It was a success: they managed to produce enzymes that break down the hormone. On Monday 5 November, the competition finals came to a close in Boston. From 190 teams throughout the world, Bielefeld’s students made it through to the ‘Sweet Sixteen’, the selection of the 16 best teams in the company of teams from such prestigious universities as Stanford University (USA), the Canadian University of Calgary, and Jiaotong University in Shanghai, China.[Weiterlesen]