news from the lab 2016

The global catches of fishes would largely benefit from achieving the 1.5°C global warming target.

Snapshots from a Molecular Dynamics simulation of a single shigella toxin particle binding to its lipid partners in the vesicle membrane (side and top views).

EPFL scientists have identified a protein that caps chromosomes during cell division and protects them from oxidative damage and shortening, which are associated with aging and cancer. When cells divide, they pack up all of their genetic material in the tightly wrapped chromosomes. The ends of our chromosomes have a unique structure, named a telomere.

Neurons in the brain store RNA molecules - DNA gene copies - in order to rapidly react to stimuli. This storage dramatically accelerates the production of proteins. This is one of the reasons why neurons in the brain can adapt quickly during learning processes. The recent results of a research group at the University of Basel's Biozentrum have been published in the current issue of 'Neuron'.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Mitochondria are the 'power plants' of complex cells. In order to provide the cell with energy they need protein building blocks, which are imported from the outside. Over billions of years the 'protein import machines' necessary for this process have developed differently than previously assumed, as biochemists in Bern have discovered.

How the differences between the sexes evolve depends not only on which parts of the genome are sex-specifically active. The question also arises concerning the sex in which such changes take place. ETH researchers demonstrate this using a closely related pair of plants. Scientists have been asking a fundamental question ever since the time of Darwin: how do the different sexes evolve when the genes of females and males are for the most part the same? Take the example of humans: a small but obviously important genetic difference between women and men is that a man has a Y chromosome.

Researchers have used the simplest approach yet to produce artificial beta cells from human kidney cells. Like their natural model, the artificial cells act as both sugar sensors and insulin producers. Researchers led by ETH Professor Martin Fussenegger at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel have produced artificial beta cells using a straightforward engineering approach.

Bacteria able to shed their cell wall assume new, mostly spherical shapes. ETH researchers have shown that these cells, known as L-forms, are not only viable but that their reproductive mechanisms may even correspond to those of early life forms. Researchers from a group led by ETH professor Martin Loessner discovered a few years ago that rod-shaped Listeria can become spherical.

A protein that stays attached on chromosomes during cell division plays a critical role in determining the type of cell that stem cells can become. The discovery, made by EPFL scientists, has significant implications for stem cell biology and their use in medicine. When cells divide, DNA is neatly wrapped up into chromosomes, and the normal expression of genes into proteins stops until the new cells are formed.

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Intensive use of grasslands by humans reduces species diversity and makes the landscape more monotonous, so that the same species end up everywhere. Nature is then no longer able to provide us with many essential 'services', which range from soil formation for food production to pest control.

Several simple and inexpensive techniques make it possible to store antiviral-vaccines at room temperature for several months.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have produced starch in yeast - the first time this has been achieved in a non-plant organism. The new model system now makes it easier for them to investigate how starch is formed and what role is played by the enzymes involved. In future, it may be possible to use yeast to trial specific modifications of starch.

Type-1 diabetes occurs when immune cells attack the pancreas. EPFL scientists have now discovered what may trigger this attack, opening new directions for treatments. Type-1 diabetes is the rarest but most aggressive form of diabetes, usually affecting young children and adolescents. The patient's own immune cells begin to attack the cells in the pancreas that make insulin, eventually eliminating its production in the body.

EPFL scientists have developed a gel for growing miniaturized body organs that can be used in clinical diagnostics and drug development.

Microbiologists at EPFL and the University of Edinburgh have discovered that red squirrels in Britain and Ireland carry the two bacterial species that cause leprosy in humans. Once rampant in medieval Europe, leprosy dramatically declined by the end of the Middle Ages for reasons that are still unclear.

Non-human primates regain control of their paralyzed leg ­- as early as six days after spinal cord injury - thanks to a neuroprosthetic interface that acts as a wireless bridge between the brain and spine, bypassing the injury.

How long do animals live? Although the question seems trivial, it is not easy to answer - especially in the case of free-ranging animals, as it is extremely difficult to determine accurate dates of birth and death of all members of a specific population. By comparison, zoos meticulously record the births and deaths of the animals in their care.

Researchers at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the University of Basel have isolated and analyzed genetically tuberculosis bacteria from several thousand patients from over a hundred countries. This analysis demonstrates that the tuberculosis bacteria vary in their ecological niche.

People in love like to be called turtle doves. But the love symbol is hunted massively: In the Mediterranean region alone, 2-3 million turtle doves are shot annually.

Targeted iron supplements in biscuits can achieve a striking reduction in the level of lead in children's blood in regions with high exposure to this toxic heavy metal. This has been demonstrated for the first time by an ETH-led research group in a study of schoolchildren in Morocco. Lead is a toxic heavy metal that was added to petrol for use in cars until as recently as 25 years ago, including in Switzerland.