News 2024 from the Faculty of Science

• 22.11.2024

  From Molecule to Health: Unraveling the Mysteries of Fat

  Lipids are fat molecules, and our body is home for thousands of different lipids. Some are essential for the body to work while others are harmful. Nils J. Færgeman aims to understand how lipids function at the molecular and cellular level, so that we can hopefully one day become better at treating cardiometabolic diseases like diabetes.

• 21.11.2024

  Owl Pellets and Bite Marks on Nuts: Take a Walk in the Forest and Help Researchers Track Dormice

  The hazel dormouse is rare in Denmark. It is found ion Funen and Zealand, and it was recently spotted in Jutland. Now, a biologist from SDU and Naturama is asking for help to determine where it lives by looking for signs such as owl pellets and bite marks on nuts.

• 12.11.2024

  Exploring Earth-abundant manganese’s potential to replace rare and expensive metals

  With a DKK 16.5 million grant, chemist Christina Wegeberg sets out to explore the potential of the Earth-abundant metal manganese to harvest sunlight. If she succeeds, manganese may serve as an alternative to the rare and expensive noble metals used today.

• 08.11.2024

  Hunting for high-value substances in biowaste

  Every year, the EU countries dispose of 118-138 million tons of biowaste such as garden waste, food waste and waste from food production. Along with this waste, valuable substances are thrown away, which could be extracted and repurposed by pharmaceutical and food companies for new products.

• 05.11.2024

  73 Million DKK to Improve Understanding of the Ocean's Nitrogen Cycle and Its Impact on Climate

  Professor Bo Thamdrup from the Department of Biology is part of a new international research collaboration that has received approximately 73 million DKK from the EU. This project aims to investigate how large quantities of nitrogen are lost from certain low-oxygen regions in the oceans.

• 23.10.2024

  Microbes Feed on Iron: New Study Reveals How They Do It

  Corroding microbes are a costly menace for industries relying on hidden and underground iron structures like sprinklers and oil pipelines. A recent study by researchers from the University of Southern Denmark sheds light on the mechanisms behind microbial-induced corrosion (MIC), offering insights that could help prevent damage.

• 21.10.2024

  Making Data Digestible: A Journey into Data Science

  David Nhan Thien Nguyen has always been intrigued by the challenge of turning raw information into something meaningful. Today, with a master’s degree in Data Science, he’s found a role that fits perfectly.

• 10.10.2024

  What Happens When We Develop Type 2 Diabetes?

  In her PhD project, Isabell Victoria Strandby Ernst focused on beta cells, which are responsible for producing insulin.

• 07.10.2024

  Can Plants Remove Micro- and Nanoplastics from the Environment?

  The ability of plants to absorb micro- and nanoplastics from the environment has long been a concern. But researchers are now asking: Why not turn this concern into an advantage? Why not cultivate plants specifically to remove plastic particles from the environment?

• 10.09.2024

  Aggressive dolphins attack porpoises in Danish waters

  Broken bones and punctured organs: It is a violent affair when dolphins attack and kill porpoises in Denmark. SDU's biologists are monitoring whether porpoises risk being displaced by aggressive dolphins.

• 21.08.2024

  Denmark’s new quantum-secure network starts in a forest

  Researchers and technicians are laying a cornerstone to secure Denmark’s leadership in quantum communication while also protecting against the threat posed by quantum computers in the wrong hands.

• 25.07.2024

  Chemical Analyses Find Hidden Elements from Renaissance Astronomer Tycho Brahe’s Alchemy Laboratory

  Tycho Brahe was most famous for his contributions to astronomy. However, he also had a well-equipped alchemical laboratory where he produced secret medicines for Europe’s elite.

• 01.07.2024

  Researchers thwart resistant bacteria’s strategy

  Bacteria are experts at evolving resistance to antibiotics. One resistance strategy is to cover their cell walls in sticky and gooey biofilm that antibiotics cannot penetrate. A new discovery could put a stop to this strategy.

• 20.06.2024

  Sapere Aude grant to Konstantin Wernli

  Konstantin Wernli from Centre for Quantum Mathematics, IMADA, has received DKK 6,2 million from Independent Research Fund Denmark to start his own research group.

• 13.06.2024

  Primitive Oceans and Atmosphere Pulsed in Sync for 200 Million Years

  Researchers have mapped out when Earth's oceans transitioned from being oxygen-free to oxygen-rich. This transition occurred over many millions of years, during which the oxygen levels in the oceans rose or fell - always in close sync with the oxygen levels in the atmosphere.

• 06.06.2024

  Scientists Discover Oxygen in Ocean areas where no Oxygen has Previously been Found

  Oxygen is vital for most life forms. So, it draws attention when a new technique, developed at SDU, finds tiny concentrations of oxygen in the Southeast Pacific, where oxygen has never been detected before.

• 23.05.2024

  10 million DKK for research on zombie cells

  Panos Galanos has received support to establish his own research group at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The group will work on the bizarre zombie like senescent cells: On one hand, they can inhibit the division of cancer cells and, on the other hand, promote it.

• 02.05.2024

  Launch of the Translational Cancer Hub

  The Translational Cancer Hub (TCH) in Odense, is a unique initiative that aims to significantly advance and bridge clinical and basic cancer research.

• 30.04.2024

  Data shortage makes it difficult to identify hormone-disrupting substances

  A lack of data from the chemical industry in the EU makes it impossible to determine whether substances, used in consumer products, are hormone-disrupting. Researchers from DTU Food Institute and SDU recommend that the information requirements in EU legislation be updated and simultaneously suggest methods for assessing chemical substances so that available information is utilized to the fullest.

• 29.04.2024

  Can Brown Fat Help in the Fight Against Obesity?

  Unlike the body’s white fat, brown fat is considered healthy because it helps us burn calories. As a consequence, research interest in brown fat is significant, and now a Danish-German research team reports a new discovery.

• 03.04.2024

  Sex is Evolution's Greatest Success

  The ability to reproduce is considered as evolution's greatest success. But why does it have to be so complicated, exhausting, and sometimes even life-threatening to reproduce? And do virgin births actually exist?

• 22.03.2024

  Global warming: Animals mate more in warmer weather

  Do climate changes make it easier or harder for animals and plants to reproduce? There is no simple answer, but several studies suggest that animals mate more frequently in warmer weather. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they have more offspring, or that the offspring's chances of survival are good. How does that add up?

• 11.03.2024

  New study: How Proteins Control Genes to Prevent our Cells from Maldeveloping

  If our cells would replicate 100% accurately when they need replacing, we would be without a wide range of diseases. However, they don’t; errors occur during replication, leading to illness. A new study takes us deep into the cell's machinery, where the genes in our DNA are regulated.

• 07.03.2024

  New insights into the growth and spread of cancer cells

  In most cancer patients, there is an overactivity of the protein MYC in cancer cells. Now, a Danish research team has discovered an unnoticed function of MYC that could potentially be inhibited to weaken cancer cells

• 05.03.2024

  A Larger Area of Arctic Seafloor is Exposed to Sunlight

  Most of the sunlight reaching the Arctic Ocean is reflected by sea ice, shielding ocean ecosystems from light. As Arctic sea ice continues to melt, larger areas of the ocean and seafloor become exposed to sunlight, potentially allowing more photosynthesis to occur and making the Arctic Ocean more productive. However, this does not seem to be occurring uniformly across the Arctic Ocean.

• 26.02.2024

  True and false about obesity

  Professor Jan-Wilhelm Kornfeld is an expert on the molecular biology of obesity. Here are his answers to five common obesity statements

• 26.02.2024

  Researchers move obesity up into the brain

  As the world becomes more and more obese, research increasingly suggests that obesity can be a result of activity in the brain's reward centers, leading to satisfaction through eating palatable foods. These are the same reward centers activated by substances of abuse like cocaine and amphetamines.

• 26.02.2024

  Elite Research Award for SDU researcher with a penchant for microbes

  Amelia-Elena Rotaru, professor at the Department of Biology, SDU, is one of five young researchers of outstanding international repute to receive the prestigious Elite Research Award from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

• 21.02.2024

  Baleen whales evolved a unique larynx to communicate but cannot escape human noise

  The iconic baleen whales, such as the blue, gray and humpback whale, depend on sound for communication in the vast marine environment where they live. Now researchers have for the first time found that baleen whales evolved novel structures in their larynx to make their vast array of underwater songs.

• 09.02.2024

  Surprising behaviour in one of the least studied mammals in the world

  Beaked whales are among the least studied mammals in the world. Now, a new study reveals surprising information about the Baird's beaked whale species.

• 06.02.2024

  Collaboration on Odense Fjord and Funen to inspire other EU countries

  Several researchers from SDU are involved in a new EU project seeking effective solutions for improving water quality and climate adaptation across Europe.

• 18.01.2024

  A new image of a black hole captivates astrophysicists

  In 2019, the world saw the first-ever image of a black hole. Now, researchers present a new image of the same black hole, and they are thrilled to observe the similarities between the images.

• 16.01.2024

  Despite intensive scientific analyses, this head remains a mystery

  For almost 200 years, archaeologists have been puzzled by a mysterious brown stain on the ancient Greek Parthenon temple in Greece. Now, researchers from SDU have conducted new scientific analyses, and their verdict is clear: The mystery remains.

• 09.01.2024

  The search for a good match

  New drugs, like good partnerships, are built on a good match. Finding a good match between chemical substances and their targets is a typical starting point in the development of new drugs. Stefan Vogel aims to accelerate this development with a NERD grant of DKK 14 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

• 02.01.2024

  Intermittent fasting itself will not make your extra kilos disappear

  Intermittent fasting is popular. However, you should not expect to lose weight unless you also restrict your caloric intake. But there are still many important health benefits to intermittent fasting.

• 01.01.0001

  Jeg ville bare ikke være gymnasielærer

  Hvad gør man, når man gerne vil læse matematik, men virkelig ikke har lyst til at blive gymnasielærer bagefter? Ninas gymnasielærer pegede hende i retning af Anvendt Matematik, og i dag arbejder Nina som data engineer på TV 2.

• 01.01.0001

  We are losing the battle against resistant bacteria

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released an updated list of the world's most dangerous bacteria. Unsurprisingly, the list is again topped by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As a microbiologist and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at SDU, I am concerned that we are on the verge of losing control over resistant bacteria, posing a potential threat to all population groups.