When influenza viruses enter our body, the immune system recognises them as being foreign by means of various receptors and starts a defence programme.Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg recently studied the detailed role of a certain receptor in this first line of defence. They discovered that the receptor activates natural killer cells, which use messenger substances to activate other immune cells and then eliminate body cells that are infected by viruses.

Dr. Thomas Schinecker talks about demographic change, health policy and how increasing complexity can be managed for the benefit of patients, physicians, laboratories and the health care system. The interview was conducted by Dr. Ilka Ottleben from the LP editorial team.

Much better treatment options now exist for many illnesses compared to what was available ten years ago. Their effectiveness depends, however, on early detection. Laboratory diagnostics create a highly dynamic bond between scientific progress and medical applications.

Researchers at Aalto University, Finland, have developed anticancer nanomaterials by simulating the volcano-induced dynamic chemistry of the deep ocean.

In order to expand its capacities and modernise its packaging line, those responsible for the location of a large biotechnology firm in the Netherlands were looking for a new system to pack vials and pens in different configurations. Automating this small-component packaging task would open up the possibility of increasing efficiency and saving production costs. At the same time, the chosen packaging solution needed to offer a high level of flexibility and precise handling.

Researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) report on the synthesis of a library of more than 330,000 reference peptides representing essentially all canonical proteins of the human proteome. This research is a major milestone in the ProteomeTools project which aims at translating human proteome information into new molecular and digital tools with the potential for use in drug discovery, personalized medicine and life science research.

Agilent Technologies expanded its portfolio of instruments for molecular diagnostics with the introduction of the AriaDx Real-Time PCR System.

Japanese scientists successfully used a new cell culture platform to observe never-before-seen behaviors of live cancer cells under the microscope, leading to explanations of long-known cancer characteristics.

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Symphogen, a clinical-stage antibody oncology-focused company, have entered into a two-year collaborative partnership to deliver validated, platform workflows for simplified characterization and quality monitoring of complex therapeutic proteins.

The first order of a 18 Tesla ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging system, a new FTIR series and a special IR solution for the dairy industry: These are just some of the few products and informations, Bruker announced at tihs year's Pittcon.