Press Releases from FWF (3 total)
Breast milk as a weapon against cancer
In an FWF-funded project, scientists at the University of Graz modified and reinforced a host defence peptide from breast milk so as to enable it to specifically detect cancer cells. The active substance can then induce cell death. Research continues on this new therapeutic approach to types of cancer with limited treatability.
Many types of cancer respond well to treatment if detected early and treated with effective chemotherapy. But types that…
Sparking Hearts: SPARC Promotes Heart Muscle Formation from Stem Cells
The protein SPARC plays a key role in the development of heart muscle in the embryo. An Austrian Science Fund FWF project has discovered this previously unknown role of SPARC. The protein has a significant effect on the activity of the genes that are responsible for the emergence of heart cells from initially undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. The results of this project, carried out at the Medical University of Vienna,…
Brown Bears: The Guile and Wile of Reproduction
Female brown bears are driven to having many partners - not because of lust but as part of a sophisticated strategy for protecting future offspring. This surprising discovery is the result of a large-scale project by the Austrian Science Fund FWF in which the bear population in Scandinavia was closely observed in the wild. The data, that goes back for over 20 years, is published today and is contributing to…
