Press releases

Up to two-thirds of all cancers are caused by errors that occur during DNA replication. This is the focus of the laboratory of Hana Polášek-Sedláčková from the Institute of Biophysics of the CAS, who has been awarded a prestigious EMBO Installation Grant (€50,000) to research new molecular pathways.

2031 will see the launch of the ESA-led EnVision mission to Venus, its aim to map the surface and atmosphere of the second planet in the Solar System using optical, spectrometric, and radar instruments. Czech researchers from the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS, the Institute of Geophysics of the CAS, and the Czech Geological Survey are now involved in the preparation of this probe. The goal is to manufacture and to test the “heart” of the instrument: the central processor, the mechanical control unit, and the data processing system. EnVision will answer the question of how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently. The Czech scientists will also focus on the processes occurring in Venus’ atmosphere, volcanic activity, and surface morphology.

Mud on Mars, it turns out, behaves very differently to mud on Earth. An international team of researchers led by Petr Brož from the Institute of Geophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences investigated the effect of different environmental conditions when mud is emplaced on the surface of the Red Planet. The low atmospheric pressure (~6 mbar) causes water to become unstable, and mud evolves in a way that resembles sourdough bread during baking. Brož and his collaborators performed experiments in the Mars Chamber at The Open University, UK, exposing mud samples to simulated Martian surface conditions, the results of which have now been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. These findings will help scientists re-interpret geomorphological features on Mars, and could shed light on understanding what is happening on other bodies in the Solar System.

Scientists gathered around the international software project MZmine, led by Dr. Robin Schmid and Dr. Tomáš Pluskal from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, have come up with a new piece of software that significantly speeds up and simplifies the identification of chemicals in tissues. It enables researchers to confidently recognize chemicals and visualize their distribution in organs. Compared to established workflows, the new pipeline requires less work in the laboratory to gain similar insights into the chemistry happening within, for example, tumours and inflammatory lesions. The paper presenting this software to the global scientific community has just been published in the influential scientific journal Nature Communications.

The human body has an effective system of preventing and fighting infections, which is managed by white blood cells. Research by scientists from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the CAS has shown that in addition to these cells, hematopoietic stem cells also respond to acute threats. Experts have so far confirmed this in animal models. In the future, the findings could help us understand how to optimise immune responses and prevent sepsis.

In a groundbreaking study published in Nature, an international team of researchers has discovered a crucial link between autoimmune disorders and defects in tooth enamel development. This study sheds light on the poorly understood conditions of Amelogenesis Imperfecta in patients with Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type-1 (APS-1) and Celiac Disease.

The scientific community already knows the answer to the question of the relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer. Experts from the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IMG) have confirmed that inflammation acts as a driving force in the development of the disease. They also want to identify the molecular mechanism behind the negative impact of chronic inflammation.

Multiscale materials are assembled from different types of nanomaterials, which themselves have unusual properties. By combining and integrating them into higher-order hierarchies, smart matter with unique functionalities and surprising applications in many different fields can be obtained. A consortium of eight partners from academia and research, led by the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, has received financial support from the Programme Johannes Amos Comenius of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Specifically, it was the Excellent Research Call aimed at supporting research with the potential for excellent results applicable in practice.

Professor Pavel Jungwirth and his colleagues from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences and from the cochlear implant company MED-EL, based in Austria, have come up with a complete computer model of the ear. It can be used to simulate hearing of mammals including humans from the outer ear all the way to the auditory nerve. The results of their research have been published in the journal Hearing Research recently. This model will not only facilitate the further research of the human ear but may also help to improve and better adjust compensation devices for people with hearing impairment including cochlear implants.

The team of Professor Michal Hocek at IOCB Prague explores the limits of the structure and function of DNA and successfully pushes forward known boundaries. An article presenting the results of their latest research has just been published in the major scientific journal Nucleic Acid Research. They prove that even heavily modified double helices of DNA are stable enough to be used for special applications. This discovery might expand the possibilities of utilizing modified DNA, for example, in medicine.