The Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture brings together some of the most authoritative universities, newspapers and businesses in Europe to increase the movement of knowledge: across borders, across sectors and to the public at large.
La plataforma permanente Atomium Culture reúne a las universidades, periódicos y empresas más prestigiosos de Europa para promover el flujo del conocimiento más allá de fronteras, entre sectores y hacia el público en general.
Leading young European researchers have been selected by European research universities and the Scientific and Editorial Committees of AC to write an article about their work and the potential impact of this.
By Jan Ignacak, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
Cancer treatment is among the major challenges of contemporary medicine. New studies raise hopes for an ultimate selection of a substance that — while inhibiting cancer cell metabolism — will not affect the metabolism of normal cells. Possibly, such compound might be chitosan — a product of chitin depolimerisation and deacetylation.
By Antonio José Ribeiro, University of Coimbra
Diabetes is one of the major causes of premature illness and death worldwide. For all people with type 1 diabetes and for some people with type 2 diabetes, insulin is essential to keep blood glucose levels under control. Insulin replacement therapy has been performed for decades by subcutaneous injections. The design of an alternative route for insulin delivery remains one of the most frustrating challenges in drug development. The oral route is potentially the most convenient delivery because it is non-invasive, decreases risk of contamination, and it is physiologically desirable, since the exogenous protein imitates the physiological pathway. However, it is limited by proteolytic degradation and the size of insulin, too large to transport across the intestinal mucosa.
By Anna Bilska, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
Lipoic acid, a compound discovered in the 1950s, is a molecule consisting of eight carbon atoms, two oxygen atoms and two sulfur atoms. During the decade that followed its discovery, researchers focused mostly on its structure and its role in metabolism; only a few of about 300 papers published at that time dealt with its therapeutic potential. The past two decades, however, have witnessed a surge of interest in the pharmacology of lipoic acid, particularly its therapeutic effects in the treatment of many apparently unrelated diseases, of which diabetes, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative changes, joint diseases and AIDS are the ones studied most often. And the interest is already paying off.
By Daniel Wilson, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Current trends indicate that microbes have the
upper hand in our ongoing struggle against bacterial infections. Firstly, there
is an increasing prevalence of “superbugs” within the public health sector that
have resistance to more than one drug; recent outbreaks of the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) were detected in
Germany in
2011, and the New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) strains
appeared in the UK and Europe in 2010. Secondly, our arsenal for retaliation is
limited by the lack of new classes of antibiotics entering into clinical
practice — only three truly new classes of antibiotics have entered into
clinical practice within the past 30 years. Moreover, the problem is compounded
by the exodus of large pharmaceutical companies from the research and
development of novel antimicrobial agents — an exodus at a time when our
need is most dire. This leaves the burden of discovery of new antimicrobials as
well as investigations into the mechanism of action of antibiotics
predominantly in the hands of small biotech companies and academics, such as
the research group headed by Dr. Daniel Wilson at the Gene Center
of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
(LMU), in München.
By Paula Ravasco, University of Lisbon
Researchers of the Unit of Nutrition and Metabolism — Institute of Molecular Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon demonstrate for the first time the pivotal role that nutrition has on the Quality of Life, tolerance to treatments, improved prognosis, and longer survival of cancer patients.
By Szczepan Zapotoczny, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
Corporations and individual consumers focus on the tremendous benefits of making computers and cell phones ever smaller and more efficient. Less public attention has been paid to the advantages of ‘miniaturising’ sophisticated biomedical apparatuses and sensors. Full blood analysis from just a single drop; detection of traces of dangerous explosives or toxic substance in the environment; and non-invasive and controlled delivery of therapeutic substances are just a few examples of such benefits of miniaturisation.
By Malgorzata Iciek, Jagiellonian University in Krakow
Scientific and clinical research over the past 30 years has repeatedly shown garlic to be both preventive and therapeutic for cancer and cardiovascular diseases, the most common maladies of our times.
Garlic (Allium sativum L.), despite being used in medicine for thousands of years, continues to interest researchers and physicians given its wide spectrum of actions: garlic can not only kill bacteria, worms and fungi but also builds immunity and leaves the natural beneficial bacteria that live in our gut intact.
By Moisés Luzia Pinto, University of Lisbon
Cardiovascular problems are among the more important causes of death in many European countries. One therapeutic strategy for a person that has a cardiac disease or has had a brain stroke is the delivery of small amounts of nitric oxide (NO) to the affected area. This causes dilation of arteries and other blood vessels and prevents blood aggregation by aiding in the removal of blood clots or other restrictions from the affected area, thereby normalizing blood supply.
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