The intervertebral discs connect the vertebrae and give the spine its mobility. The disc consists of a cartilaginous fibrous ring and a gelatinous core as a buffer. It has always been assumed that only humans and other mammals have discs. A misconception, as a research team under the leadership of the University of Bonn has now discovered: Even Tyrannosaurus rex could have suffered a slipped disc. The results have now been published in the journal "Scientific Reports".

The University of Bonn is inviting to the "Digital Unifest 2020" and thus creates an alternative opportunity to celebrate graduation. Students can create an individual graduation video of themselves and share it with their families and friends, among other digital activities.

“Spinocerebellar ataxias” are diseases of the nervous system associated with a loss of motor coordination. A European research alliance headed by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Bonn has now registered whether and how symptoms of ataxia developed over the years in around 250 persons at risk, who initially did not show symptoms. This is the first study worldwide to investigate the onset of spinocerebellar ataxia directly and in a large group of individuals. The results published in the journal “The Lancet Neurology” provide valuable data for prevention studies.

Through their basic research, physicians at the Heart Center of the University Hospital Bonn have discovered how the communication between individual cells can be influenced with the help of a specific protein. These findings are an important approach to improving the treatment of diseases such as arteriosclerosis (calcified blood vessels), which causes heart attacks. The study was published online in advance in the "Journal of Extracellular Vesicles", the printed version will be published shortly.

According to the recently published Academic Ranking of World Universities by the Chinese Jiaotong University in Shanghai, the University of Bonn is one of the four best universities in Germany, one of the best 20 universities in the European Union and one of the top 100 universities in the world.

For her important research contributions, Dr. Kerstin Ludwig of the Institute of Human Genetics receives the Marylou Buyse Excellence in Craniofacial Research Award of the international Society of Craniofacial Genetics and Developmental Biology.

The Magna Charta Observatory in Bologna has accepted the University of Bonn as a new signatory of the Magna Charta Universitatum.

Researchers at Münster University with the participation of the University of Bonn are studying key mechanisms in the regulation of energy metabolism in plants and, using a new method of in vivo biosensor technology, they have opened the door to monitoring, in real time, what effects environmental changes have on the central redox metabolism. The study has been published in the journal "The Plant Cell".