If gut bacteria are too similar to the protective layer of nerves, they can misdirect the immune system and cause it to attack its own nervous system. This mechanism can accelerate the progression of multiple sclerosis, as researchers at the University of Basel, together with colleagues in Bonn, have shown in trials with mice. However, their results also open up opportunities for treatments that make use of the microbiome. The results have now been published in the journal Gut Microbes.

People’s conceptions of health are strongly influenced by their cultural values and norms, such as their religious beliefs. In an increasingly diverse society, different understandings of health are combining and melding through interaction and dialogue. This phenomenon has been investigated by Kevin Becker and Adjunct Professor Carsten Butsch from the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn, who is also a member of the Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area. Their findings have now been published in the journal “Science & Medicine.” 

Germany will only be able to achieve net zero by 2045 with a concerted approach to cutting emissions and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere according to the conclusion drawn from the first phase of the CDRterra research program. This has seen over 100 researchers from 39 institutions investigate some of the risks and areas of potential for land-based CO2 removal in Germany across 10 collaborative projects with strategies ranging from capturing the CO2 directly out of the air through to agriculture-based processes. Professor Eike Lüdeling from the University of Bonn, a horticultural researcher at the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation and member of the Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area, led a subproject on agroforestry. We asked him a few questions about it: 

The finalists presented innovative solutions for a better future at the University of Bonn's 5th ideas competition. A total of seven teams of students and researchers from the university made it through the preliminary selection and pitched their ideas to a packed hall and an expert jury at DIGITALHUB. Four of them ultimately received prizes from the jury and—for the first time—from the audience, which were donated by the University Foundation Bonn, Comma Soft AG, DIGITALHUB.DE, and Sparkasse KölnBonn.

Why do certain immune cells remain permanently active in allergic asthma – even in an environment that should actually damage them? A team from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn has discovered that these cells only survive because they activate a special antioxidant protection mechanism. When this mechanism is blocked, allergic inflammation in mouse models decreases significantly. The results have now been published in the scientific journal Immunity.

What is happening in the brain during an epileptic seizure? How do nerve cells function after a stroke-induced paralysis? What happens in the heads of those suffering from Parkinson’s disease? Investigating these types of questions has been difficult up to now because patients had to keep still. However, Optical Pumped Magnetoencephalography (OPMEG) is making it possible to also scan the brain while the patient is moving. Prof. Dr. Dominik Bach, Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at the University of Bonn, is currently setting up this type of research infrastructure on the campus of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and will receive funding of almost four million euros over the next three years from the EFRE/JTF program run by the European Union and the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Catharina Stroppel, professor at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn and member of the cluster of excellence Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, has been appointed as a director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) in Bonn. She will take up her full-time position at the MPIM in March 2026. 

When we are hungry, our mood often drops – a phenomenon colloquially known as “hangry.” A new study by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the University Hospital Center Tübingen now shows that this connection is not caused by unconscious metabolic processes. Rather, the decisive factor is that the lack of energy is consciously perceived as hunger – it is this conscious feeling of hunger that leads to a worse mood. The results have now been published in the journal eBioMedicine.