The University of Bonn has opened its own supermarket, in which pineapples, canned tomatoes, and toast are neatly lined up on black shelves. The space measuring 55 square meters (approx. 600 square feet) has pretty much everything you’d need in everyday life. The ‘clientele’, however, is very special: they are subjects participating in scientific studies. Here, researchers from the fields of food and resource economics, psychology, economics, and behavioral science are investigating how health- and sustainability-oriented purchases can be encouraged, for example, through product placement and other incentives. Robots are also demonstrating their capabilities here. 

At Frontiers Science House, SPARK Microgravity GmbH revealed plans to build Europe’s first dedicated commercial orbital cancer lab. The lab will accelerate the path from discovery to therapy. In microgravity, researchers can run experiments that are impossible on Earth – including 3D tumor growth and revealing new drug targets.

While thrombolytic therapy remains one of the most effective strategies for stroke recovery, it is effective only for a short span of time. Now, researchers from Japan have demonstrated how numerous mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, produced by muscles during physical training, can aid in stroke recovery. The cell-to-cell transfer of these mitochondria, via the blood platelets, protected mouse brain cells in conditions, such as stroke and certain dementias, offering a novel therapeutic approach.

The mechanism underlying how seasonal allergies recur year after year with precise timing remains largely unknown. An international team led by Professor Rudolf Valenta has identified a specific type of immune cell—the IgE-positive plasmablast (IgE⁺ plasmablast)—as the central player responsible for the seasonal recall of allergy symptoms. This discovery not only provides evidence for understanding the pathogenesis of allergy, but also points the way toward targeted, on-demand therapies.