news 2019

Researchers from EPFL and the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands have developed an extremely fast optical method for sculpting complex shapes in stem-cell-laden hydrogels and then vascularizing the resulting tissue. Their groundbreaking technique stands to change the field of tissue engineering.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute, together with colleagues from the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, have taken an important step towards the development of an agent against the metastasis of certain cancers. Using the Swiss Light Source, they deciphered the structure of a receptor that plays a crucial role in the migration of cancer cells.

EPFL scientists are investigating new ways to provide visual signals to the blind by directly stimulating the optic nerve. Their preliminary study on animals uses a new type of neural electrode and provides distinct signals. Scientists from EPFL in Switzerland and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy are developing technology for the blind that bypasses the eyeball entirely and sends messages to the brain.

Scientists have demonstrated how chronic liver diseases cause molecular changes in the brain. They carried out their research using the 9. Tesla high-magnetic-field MRI machine at the Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM) at EPFL. The liver plays a vital role as a filter in the human body.

Researchers from UNIGE, CHUV, EPFL, CIBM, HUG and UNIL have demonstrated how chronic liver diseases cause molecular changes in the brain. The liver plays a vital role as a filter in the human body.

Very little was known till now about DNA repair by homologous recombination, which is fundamental for human health. Now an ETH research group has for the first time isolated and studied all the key proteins involved in this process, laying the foundation for investigating many diseases. Within our body, the process of cell division is constantly creating new cells to replace old or damaged ones.

Deubiquitinases (DUBs) play a general role removing protein-degrading ubiquitins throughout the cell and are not typically known for specificity. Analyzing the two protein complexes BRISC and BRCA1-A, which have the same DUB core but play different roles in human biology, the Thomä group - in a collaboration with the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) - showed that DUBs can have diversified targeting and regulatory functions.

Numerous studies have shown that heat increases mortality rates. In Switzerland, for example, the hot summer of 2015 caused around 800 additional deaths. Only a few studies, however, have investigated the effects of heatwaves on morbidity and hospital admissions. Researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) recently conducted a detailed analysis of emergency hospital admissions in Switzerland during the three heatwaves between June and August 2015 in a study commissioned by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

EPFL researchers have developed biodegradable microresonators that can be heated locally with a wireless system. Doctors could soon be using them in implants to control the release of painkillers within tissue. Patients fitted with an orthopedic prosthetic commonly experience a period of intense pain after surgery.

Previous studies analysing malaria mortality in sub-Saharan Africa may have underestimated the burden caused by this mosquito-borne disease. A study by Swiss TPH researchers found that when taking into account indirect causes of death such as anaemia, the risk of death from malaria was up to 3.5 times higher.

At the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI), researchers have discovered two molecules, so far known in the field of treatments against Ewing's sarcoma, which have strong antilymphoma activity, thus proposing clinical studies on patients. The study has been published in the scientific journal Clinical Cancer Research .

The protein TRIM71 is an important regulator of animal development and plays a role in various diseases. In close collaboration, scientists from the groups of Helge Grosshans and Marc Bühler at the FMI elucidated the mechanism by which TRIM71 binds and turns off its RNA targets. They also identified several core targets of TRIM71, including proteins involved in genetic disorders.

Modern medicine is looking for markers that provide early warning of complex diseases. In its quest to discover these 'biomarkers', the ETH spinoff Scailyte has developed software capable of analysing millions of single cells very efficiently. The search for biomarkers is currently one of the biggest challenges of modern medicine.

In multiple sclerosis (MS), dysregulated immune cells periodically infiltrate the brain of afflicted patients, causing damages to neural transmission and neuronal loss. If not properly monitored and treated, the disease leads to accumulating disabilities that ultimately greatly restrict the daily life of patients.

Acute myeloid leukemia stem cells elude the body's immune cells by deactivating a danger detector. The underlying mechanisms and the potential new therapeutic approaches that this gives rise to have been detailed by researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel in collaboration with colleagues in Germany.

The University of Bern and the Diabetes Center Berne (DCB) are together creating four professorships in the field of diabetes technology research and development. This will boost the international profile of diabetes research in Bern and strengthen its role as a center of medicine in the long term. The four professorships are to be financed with 417,000 Swiss francs per annum each over a period of 12 years.

Researchers at EPFL and Stanford have carried out an analysis of the largest datasets from fertility awareness apps. Analyzing data from 200,000 users of the apps Sympto and Kindara, they have been able to make population-level observations regarding user demographics, tracking behavior patterns and accuracy in measuring menstrual health and ovulation.

A team of scientists from EPFL has compiled environmental and epidemiological data from around the world to develop a map that shows the riskiest areas for Hepatitis E outbreaks. Their work, published in Scientific Reports, opens the way to new avenues of research and prevention. EPFL scientists have created the first world map of regions with the highest prevalence of the hepatitis E virus (HEV).

Bed nets and indoor residual spraying with insecticides are key interventions to protect people in their homes from mosquito bites, thereby preventing malaria transmission. A remaining challenge is the transmission that occurs outdoors. A new study found that the proportion of outdoor mosquito bites in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

Biofilms are enormously resistant accumulations of germs, which can cause serious problems, especially in hospitals. Like a single large creature, they can spread within wounds or colonize implants or biomedical products. With novel materials and surfaces researchers intend to combat the sturdy pathogens.