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Cereals have natural resistance to pathogenic fungi, but powdery mildew, for example, can overcome this resistance. A team at the University of Zurich has now discovered a new mechanism that enables powdery mildew to outsmart the immune system of wheat. This opens the door to targeted development of resistant varieties with a reduced risk of resistance breakthrough.

The fight against plastic pollution requires accurate, regional data on the origin of waste. A new study from the Vietnamese province of Phu Yen provides precisely this data. The study shows that most of the plastic waste that ends up in the region's waters comes from uncollected waste and leakage during collection and transport.

Drugs that act against bacteria are mainly assessed based on how well they inhibit bacterial growth under laboratory conditions. A critical factor, however, is whether the active substances actually kill the pathogens in the body. Researchers at the University of Basel have presented a new method for measuring how effectively antibiotics kill bacteria.

A landmark atlas shows lipids rely on specialised transporters to reach their cellular targets. In addition to providing energy, lipids are also essential building blocks of our cell membranes. However, despite their importance, they remain poorly understood. A team from the University of Geneva has revealed for the first time the secrets of their transport within cells.

An international team has provided the first direct evidence of the beneficial effects of scheduled daylight as compared to artificial light in people with type 2 diabetes. Metabolic diseases have reached epidemic proportions in our society, driven by a sedentary lifestyle coupled with circadian misalignment - a desynchrony between our intrinsic biological clocks and environmental signals.

AI-generated images of "professional golfers" show elegant, but hypersexualized women: shorts too short, suggestive poses, far from the reality of the sport.

Scientists at EPFL and Johns Hopkins uncover the central role of an enzyme in controlling prostate cancer subtypes and improving therapeutic response. A large team of researchers led by Wouter Karthaus, head of the Endocrine Therapy Resistance and Molecular Genetics Lab at EPFL, and Eneda Toska at Johns Hopkins University have identified the enzyme KMT2D as a key epigenetic regulator in prostate cancer.

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a tool that measures when people engage in dialog across political divides. The results show that personal factors play a greater role in people's willingness to engage in dialog than the controversial nature of a topic. "Democracy thrives on political discourse," says Dr Melissa Jauch, a research associate in the Department of Social Psychology at the University of Basel.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown, for the first time with very high time and spatial resolution, that electrons in certain two-dimensional materials only follow the motion of the atomic nuclei with a delay. This insight could lead to the development of novel electronic devices in the future. One of the great successes of 20th-century physics was the quantum mechanical description of solids.

Modeling the formation and distribution of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the atmosphere In collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FoeN) and the University of Bern, researchers have investigated how trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), the smallest of the PFAS molecules, is formed in the atmosphere and enters water bodies via precipitation.

Ovarian cancer often forms secondary tumors, especially in a certain tissue in the abdominal cavity known as the omentum. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have investigated what happens when the cancer "hijacks" this organ. It is hoped their findings will lead to more successful treatments.

Researchers have developed formulations for the kind of paper used in cash receipts or shipping tags using wood-based chemicals that reduces reliance on toxic bisphenols while keeping print performance. Every day, millions of people use thermal paper without thinking about it. Receipts, shipping labels, tickets, and medical records all rely on heat-sensitive coatings to make text appear.

Researchers have discovered how cells help keep their protein levels steady even when their ability to make new proteins changes. The finding could shed light on how our bodies stay resilient when nutrients and other resources rise and fall. Every cell depends on proteins to function and stay healthy.

For years, researchers have been investigating a molecular complex that plays a key role in protein synthesis. They have now discovered that this complex also contributes a crucial function in ensuring that our DNA is properly processed and "packaged". The protein factories in our cells - so-called ribosomes - have a central task: during a process known as translation, amino acids are linked together according to messenger RNA, forming a growing peptide chain that later folds into a functional protein.

Researchers have successfully engineered cells of the immune system to more effectively recognize cancer cells. The work, covered in two papers, turns the previously lab-based method into a full-blown immunotherapy strategy. Cancer immunotherapy is a strategy that turns the patient's own immune cells into a "search-and-destroy" force that attacks the tumor's cells.

Mouse geneticist Antoine Peters and his team investigate how information beyond the DNA sequence - shaped by chemical marks on the DNA molecule - controls the earliest steps of life. By revealing how errors in these mechanisms can silence essential genes and prevent embryos from implanting, this work may shed light on the molecular causes of infertility.

Among sharks and rays, species within the first four million years of existence are significantly more likely to go extinct than older species, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Zurich based on fossils from the last 145 million years. This shows that in addition to environmental stressors, the evolutionary age of species also plays a crucial role in their survival.

The genome differs from person to person in thousands of positions. In some cases, this means that proteins have a different building block in certain regions, rendering some antibody-based therapies ineffective, report researchers from the University of Basel. Antibody-based therapies are used to treat numerous diseases, from cancer to rheumatic disorders and multiple sclerosis.

Ultra-light, super-flexible, highly insulating: An aluminum-coated polymer film is used to shield satellites from temperature extremes. Researchers at Empa have succeeded in making the material even more resistant by implementing an ultra-thin intermediate layer. The technology could in future also be used to improve flexible electronics and medical sensors.

A study by the University of Zurich, based on policy changes in Spain, shows that teenagers drink significantly less alcohol when the minimum legal drinking age is raised. In addition, a reduction in drinking also leads to improved academic performance and mental health. These findings could be relevant for Switzerland as well.