In the genetic makeup of cells, it is similar to factories: genes control and regulate protein production. In industry, a modular principle is often useful, where production lines can be exchanged when a different product is to be manufactured. Researchers are also working on combining gene building…

Proteins are important building blocks of cells and their components, such as mitochondria, the power plants of the cells. Researchers from Kaiserslautern led by Professor Dr. Johannes Herrmann have now shown for the first time that proteins do not, as previously assumed, travel directly from their…

Plants carry out photosynthesis and thus form the basis for most life on Earth. Researchers from Kaiserslautern and Potsdam have now investigated whether the production of photosynthesis proteins differs between land plants and algae. To do this, they examined translation; the process by which genet…

Wear, corrosion, material fatigue – these signs of wear are common to most materials. It is all the more important to detect damage early, preferably at the micro level. To do this, magnetic testing methods are often used. With non-magnetic steel, this has so far been impossible. Researchers from Ka…

Physicists from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK) led by Professor Dr. Herwig Ott have succeeded for the first time in altering the interaction between two atoms in ultracold matter using so-called Rydberg molecules. These recently discovered large molecules consist of only two atoms…

To separate chemical mixtures into their individual components, energy-intensive distillation is commonly used in industry, such as in crude oil refining. Researchers at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK) are developing a camera system that monitors this process. It measures whether th…

Water droplets bead up on the lotus leaf, whereas they wet a concrete wall. The reason is the respective surface properties. Tiny structures cause, for example, that a droplet does not adhere. Researchers at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK) investigate these effects using a 3D high-s…

In 2016, each German drank an average of 104 liters of beer. Brewing this malted barley beverage produces many residues, totaling approximately 400,000 tons annually across Europe. Only a portion of this is recycled as animal feed. Researchers from three disciplines at the Technical University of Ka…

The market for 3D printers is growing: they allow products to be produced quickly and easily. But they are not only used in the visible world for us, but also in the nano- and microcosm. This is made possible by special micro-3D printers. Physicists at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK…

Smartphone, calculator or dialysis machine – no electronic device is complete without a chip and its electronic circuits. The individual switching elements are often wired through three-dimensional so-called bridge structures. Physicists at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK) are curren…