news

Microcatheters are medical devices that can snake through the body's blood vessels to deliver lifesaving therapies - for example to treat clogged arteries, or to stop bleeding.

Scientists from the Institute of Oncology Research and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, both affiliated with USI, report in Cell Reports the discovery of the first drugs that inhibit FOXA1

Researcher from the Computational Structural Biology group at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, affiliated to USI), have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) can design  a potent novel miniprotein for lipocalin-2 (LCN2), a protein linked to neuroinflammation. Their study, published in Frontiers in Immunology and titled " AI-assisted design of ligands for lipocalin-2 " by Jacopo Sgrignani , Sara Buscarini , Patrizia Locatelli , Concetta Guerra , Alberto Furlan , Yingyi Chen , Giada Zoppi and Andrea Cavalli , paves the way  for new diagnostics and therapies.

A study from the University of Bern and international collaborators shows for the first time that biological invasions don't change ecosystems in a single, uniform way. Some impacts, most notably losses of native plant diversity caused by invasive plant species, are persistent and intensify with time, while others, such as shifts in soil carbon and nutrients, often fade as invasions age.

A study conducted across 43 European sites by an international scientific team coordinated shows that the ability of airborne particles to generate oxidative stress in the lungs varies according to environmental type and emission sources. Notably, oxidative stress can be up to three times higher in urban areas with heavy road traffic than in rural regions.

Using simulations, robots, and live fish, scientists at EPFL and Duke University have replicated the neural circuitry that allows zebrafish to react to visual stimuli and maintain their position in flowing water. They provide a complete picture of how brain circuits, body mechanics, and the environment work together to control behavior.

Bacterial pathogens becoming resistant to antibiotics is well known. But resistance is also emerging among parasites - including those that cause malaria. As existing medicines lose effectiveness, researchers from Swiss TPH and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and partners have developed a new drug candidate that can kill malaria parasites even when standard treatments fail.

A research team from the University of Zurich and the University Children's Hospital Zurich has developed a new approach for treating children with malignant tumors of the nervous system. By combining an approved drug with a specialized diet, they were able to slow down tumor growth and stimulate cancer cells to mature into normal nerve cells.

Once a sperm has broken through to an egg cell in order to fertilise it, the two cells need to hold together tightly. This occurs via a type of protein binding that is among the strongest in biology - and it is also unique. An egg cell and a sperm need to hold together tightly in the Fallopian tube in order to fuse, resulting in the creation of a new organism.

Researchers have discovered that a droplet of liquid can bounce for several minutes - and perhaps indefinitely - over a vibrating solid surface. The seemingly simple observation has big implications for physics and chemistry. If you've ever added liquid to a hot frying pan, maybe you noticed how the droplets bubbled up and skittered across the sizzling surface, rather than immediately flattening and wetting.

An international study conducted by the Experimental Hematology research group at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), in collaboration with the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI), led by Prof. Davide Rossi - Group Leader at IOR and Deputy Head of Hematology at IOSI - and recently published in Blood , has redefined the genetic understanding of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) through the use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

A landmark international study led by the University of Zurich has shown that artificial intelligence can assess patient risk for the most common type of heart attack more accurately than existing methods. This could enable doctors to guide more personalized treatment decisions for patients. Doctors caring for patients with the most common form of heart attack - the so-called non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) - have so far relied on a standardized scoring system.

Researchers at the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and the University of Bern, in collaboration with researchers at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, have developed and tested a novel gene therapy that successfully corrects a life-threatening genetic cardiac arrhythmia in an animal model. The procedure restores the normal function of the affected cardiac ion channel and opens up new perspectives for the future treatment of both rare and common cardiac arrhythmias.

Extreme and prolonged droughts jeopardize the stability of ecosystems worldwide. An international study in Science shows that their productivity declines further with each year of drought. BFH-HAFL was the only Swiss institution involved, providing data and contributing important findings from a Central European grassland.

The surface of the lungs is covered with a fluid that increases their deformability. This fluid has the greatest effect when you take deep breaths from time to time, as researchers at ETH Zurich have discovered using sophisticated measurement techniques in the laboratory. More than half of all premature babies born before the 28th week of pregnancy develop respiratory distress syndrome shortly after birth.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are well known as a form of cancer treatment. Researchers at UZH have now identified a new, important function of these inhibitors: promotion of tissue healing. This finding could help advance the treatment of fibrosis and chronic wounds. The body employs a protective mechanism that curbs overzealous immune responses.

A team from the University of Geneva and HUG has discovered a subgroup of immune cells particularly involved in the disease, paving the way for more precise treatments and avoiding certain side effects. Multiple sclerosis, which affects around one in 500 people in Switzerland, is an autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack the central nervous system, causing irreversible damage.

A simple change in species composition can impact the course of evolution: A research team from the University of Bern and the University of British Columbia in Canada shows that the presence of just one other fish species is enough to drive the emergence of new species in sticklebacks. It has long been assumed that adaptation to different habitats plays an important role in the evolution of new species.

Researchers uncover how transcription factor dosage reshapes cell identity, showing that even small differences in dose can steer cells toward completely different fates. Their findings reveal a new layer of control in cell reprogramming. Transcription factors are proteins that control gene expression in a cell.

An EPFL study shows red light, like blue, causes stronger glare than white, challenging the century-old and globally used function that describes how the human eye responds to different light wavelengths. The findings have implications for standards and research, as well as for the comfort of building occupants.