news 2019

Why do we move our eyes fast in the paradoxical sleep - in that sleep phase, in which most dreams take place? The secret is not yet fully aired, but we are on his track: A team of researchers has identified the nerve cells behind this curious phenomenon. REM - Rapid Eye Movement - is not only the name of a successful American rock band, but also and not least a characteristic eye movement in paradoxical sleep, so in the stage with high dream activity.

Pathogens can drive the evolution of social behaviour in insects. This is shown by researchers from Bern and Würzburg for ambrosia beetles. Ants and honeybees share nests of hundreds or thousands of individuals in a very small space. Hence the risk is high that infectious diseases may spread rapidly.

Researchers from UNIL, UNIGE and SIB provide the researchers' community with an extremely powerful computer tool to facilitate the interpretation of the genome's Big Data Haplotypes are a set of genetic variations that, located side by side on the same chromosome, are transmitted in a single group to the next generation.

The year 2019 has certainly been a busy one at ETH. A new president took office and the second Sci-Tech Oscar was awarded, along with other major prizes, but there were also plenty of inventions and topics for discussion. The new year also ushered in a new era at ETH. The former director of PSI, Joël Mesot, took over the reins of the Executive Board as the new President of ETH Zurich with a sense of "great elation, drive and enthusiasm for this venerable institution".

Researchers from UNIGE and Uméå show that to resist stronger species, rare animal and plant species group together in ghettos to help each other, maintaining biodiversity. How can you survive when your species has few representatives' An international team of researchers, led by the Universities of Umeå (Sweden) and Geneva (UNIGE, Switzerland), demonstrates that animal and plant communities are organized into ethnic neighbourhoods, where species in low abundance come together to strengthen their persistence against more competitive species.

Thanks to their expertise in single-molecule imaging of RNAs, researchers from the group of Jeff Chao at the FMI helped to reveal the biological mechanism of a small molecule that restricts Ewing's sarcoma cell growth. The study - published - is further evidence that each step of the gene expression pathway may be druggable, and a great example of a Novartis-FMI collaboration.

Researchers at EPFL have developed a new way to predict a protein's interactions with other proteins and biomolecules, and its biochemical activity, merely by observing its surface. The method, published in open-source format, opens up new possibilities for artificial protein design. Proteins are the building blocks of life and play a key role in all biological processes.

To uncover the relationship between variation in genes and phenotypic diversity, geneticists use a set of fully sequenced fruit-fly genomes. But little is known about the variation in the mitochondrial genome, for which mutations are linked to an array of diseases. Now, EPFL scientists have created a high-resolution map of mitochondrial DNA variants in the fruit fly, connecting mitochondrial genes to metabolic traits and diseases.

A research team with members from ETH Zurich has discovered a new method for turning nearly any object into a data storage unit. This makes it possible to save extensive data in, say, shirt buttons, water bottles or even the lenses of glasses, and then retrieve it years later. The technique also allows users to hide information and store it for later generations.

The Defitech Foundation has teamed up with EPFL, CHUV and UNIL to widen access to the groundbreaking neurotechnology developed under the 2018 STIMO study, which allowed paraplegic patients to walk again. Their aim is also to develop new neurosurgical treatments for people suffering from Parkinson's disease or from neurological disorders following a head injury or stroke.

When two individuals from different species mate, the offspring is known as a hybrid. As a result of the genomes being mixed, sometimes phenotypes are produced that deal with new environmental conditions better than the two parent species. Very often, hybrids are not able to reproduce, but there are quite a number of exceptions to this, including the cichlids.

Scientists from ETH Zurich and the University of Basel's Biozentrum have shown that chaperone proteins dynamically bind to the Parkinson protein -synuclein. If this interaction is disturbed, it leads to cell damage and the formation of aggregates typical for the disease. Parkinson's disease is characterised by the progressive death of nerve cells in the brain.

EPFL researchers have developed Big Data tools for identifying new gene functions. The work identifies millions of connections between genes and their functions, and can facilitate the development of precision medicine. Genes are the functional units of heredity, and the understanding of gene function is the major focus of biomedical research, serving as the basis of precision medicine.

EPFL scientists have developed a computational method modeling and designing protein allostery that allows the accurate and rational engineering and even re-purposing of cell receptors. The method can be a significant tool for drug development. Called the "second secret of life", allostery is one of the most fundamental processes of biology and has been a central focus among scientists across the life sciences spectrum, from fundamental biology to drug development.

Causal Effects of Brevity on Style and Success in Social Media Faculty of Informatics Open lecture of the course Argumentation in Conflict Resolution Visiting Alumni: Loredana Padurean, Associate Dean, Asia School of Business «Quel ramo del lago di Como. Lettura dei «Promessi Sposi» Faculty of Communication Sciences Visiting Alumni: Elia Frapolli, Freelance Consultant Course schedules Academic calendar Humans cells select, through the endoplasmic reticulum, the damaged proteins that must be destroyed quickly to avoid their accumulation, which is toxic to our organism.

New migraine medications block αCGRP, a neuropeptide which causes vasodilation, for example in the meninges. The very same peptide, which is formed in the muscles during physical activity, protects the heart ' which is vital for people with chronic high blood pressure. The innovative migraine prophylaxis could endanger these people, as researchers at the University of Zurich have demonstrated in mice.

Researchers from UNIGE and HUG demonstrate how the fears we experience in our dreams prepare us to tackle anxiety-provoking situations once we're awake. Do bad dreams serve a real purpose? To answer this question, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Switzerland, - working in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin (USA) - analysed the dreams of a number of people and identified which areas of the brain were activated when they experienced fear in their dreams.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common form of cancer affecting children in Switzerland and, unfortunately, is often incurable. Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Children's Hospital Zurich have now found a way to stop the driving force behind this type of leukemia at a molecular level and develop a targeted therapy.

Killer cells of the immune system detect and kill infected cells or cancer cells. Researchers at the Institute of Pathology at the University of Bern have now discovered that the mechanism by which certain immune cells kill their target cells can also be used to control the killer cells themselves. This finding may be relevant to cancer immunotherapy.

The western corn rootworm, one of the world's most damaging maize pests, can use plant defense compounds to defend itself against its own natural enemies, so-called entomopathogenic nematodes. However, the nematodes can become immune against these compounds in turn, which enhances their ability to fight the western corn rootworm, as researchers at the University of Bern show.