News Archive - 2020

Colored smoke is increasingly employed as an element of spectacle in a broad spectrum of public events. However, the chemicals used for this purpose give rise to toxic by-products. LMU chemists have now developed a safe alternative.

Last Monday, Bavarian Minister of Science Bernd Sibler visited the gene center and the chair for organic chemistry to find out about the current status of research on the novel virus SARS-CoV-2.

The Library of Chemistry and Pharmacy will open its doors again on Monday, May 4th, 2020, of course in compliance with the currently applicable strict safety and hygiene rules.

Study in the corona crisis!

Lectures and internships for students are stopped!

An initial trial in patients indicates that a new genetic treatment for complete color blindness, developed by research groups based in Tübingen and Munich is safe. Preliminary evidence for its efficacy has also been obtained.

mRNAs program the synthesis of proteins in cells, and their functional lifetimes are dynamically regulated. LMU researchers have now shown why blueprints that are more difficult to decipher have shorter lifetimes than others.

LMU scientists have developed nanoparticles that release an overdose of iron ions in the cell depending on the pH. This could open up new therapeutic options for combating tumors, for example.

The European Research Council has awarded four of its coveted Advanced Grants to researchers at LMU. One price was awarded to Prof. Roland Beckmann of the Faculty of Chemistry.

The faculty mourns the loss of Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Rolf Huisgen, who died on March 26, 2020, three months before his 100th birthday.

Mitochondria cannot autonomously cope with stress and must instead call on the cell for help. Molecular geneticists at LMU have identified the long-sought signaling pathway which enables the organelles to do so.

In the battery of the future, solids will replace the currently used electrolyte solutions. A team of scientists at LMU has now developed a series of new sodium ion conductors. The secret of the best material in the series lies in the exact mixing of the ingredients.

Design competition for the glass partitions of the new StuBistroMensa!

The LMUchemlab school laboratory of the Department of Chemistry under direction of Prof. Stefan Schwarzer, Department of Chemistry, Didactics, was awarded the LeLa Prize 2020 by the Federal Association of School Labs. The prize is donated by the BMBF.

Student information day is cancelled!

Bulky globular proteins require specialized transport systems for insertion into membranes. LMU researchers have determined the structure of such a system for the first time, and propose that it exploits the principle of the airlock.

A team of chemists at LMU has successfully coupled the directed motion of a light-activated molecular motor to a different chemical unit – thus taking an important step toward the realization of synthetic nanomachines.

Ivan Huc’s specialty might best be termed molecular mimicry. He designs and builds synthetic analogs of biomolecules that retain the essential features of their models, while exhibiting properties beyond those seen in nature.