news 2022
Life Sciences
Results 121 - 140 of 173.
Life Sciences - Health - 25.04.2022

By developing a tool to visualize the membrane association and activation status of normal and oncogenic proteins, scientists at the University of Geneva have established the basis for innovative drug discovery. Peripheral membrane proteins have the particularity of temporarily binding to cell membranes, a necessary step for them to be able to fulfil their biological function.
Health - Life Sciences - 22.04.2022
World Cancer Day 2022 | ETH Zurich
Step-by-step researchers at are working towards reducing the global impact of cancer. In recognition of World Cancer Day - a day dedicated to the promotion of research for curing and preventing the disease, we share a collection of recent research insights. #WorldCancerDay #CloseTheCareGap Harnessing the organisation of the cell surface Scientists at have developed a new method to determine how proteins are organised on the surface of cells.
Life Sciences - Health - 20.04.2022
Structural insights into the assembly of cilia
Cilia, the little "hairs" attached to almost all cells of the human body, play a role in various cellular functions and cause diseases called ciliopathies when they are defective. Researchers from the group of Patrick Matthias and the FMI Structural Biology platform determined the structure, at near atomic resolution, of a protein complex that plays an essential role in the assembly of cilia - and causes ciliopathies when it is mutated.
Health - Life Sciences - 19.04.2022
Breast cancer: why metastasis spreads to the bone
A team of biologists led by UNIGE has discovered, for breast cancer, a factor that explains the spread of metastases to the bones. 3D image showing the invasion of breast cancer cells (green) expressing ZEB1 into mouse bone tissue (red). (c) Didier Picard When cancer cells break away from a primary tumor and migrate to other organs, this is called 'metastatic cancer'.
Life Sciences - 13.04.2022

Our blood vessels must remain sealed to prevent blood leakage. During blood vessel formation vascular cells are able to reinforce their cell junctions by employing a specific protein when exposed to great forces, University of Basel scientists report. Throughout our body there is a dense, widely ramified network of blood vessels.
Health - Life Sciences - 13.04.2022
The origins and ID of pancreatic endocrine cells
UNIGE Scientists show that endocrine stem cells in the pancreas disappear after birth, and detail the genetic identity of the different types of pancreatic hormone-producing cells. Pedro Herrera's team reports new discoveries in the knowledge of the mechanisms of pancreatic cell formation, as well as in the gene expression profile defining the identity of the different types of endocrine cells of the pancreas.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 13.04.2022

When and where a gene is transcribed in a living organism often depends on its physical interactions with distal genomic regulatory regions called enhancers. Researchers in the group of Luca Giorgetti have thrown light on how such interactions control transcription thanks to a novel ingenious experimental approach combined with mathematical modelling.
Chemistry - Life Sciences - 12.04.2022

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Italian Institute of Technology IIT have developed a novel substance that disables a protein in the cell skeleton, leading to cell death. In this way, substances of this type can prevent, for example, the growth of tumours. To accomplish this, the researchers combined a structural biological method with the computational design of active agents.
Life Sciences - Health - 08.04.2022

Two DNA defense systems protect the bacterial strains responsible for the ongoing seventh cholera pandemic from potentially harmful genetic material and viruses, scientists have found. Their study also shows that the defense systems may have been key in the evolution and success of these strains. Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae , a waterborne pathogen that infects the gut of humans through contaminated water and food.
Health - Life Sciences - 07.04.2022

Electronic implant reactivates spinal-cord nerves of a patient with a neurodegenerative disease that causes dramatic blood pressure drops. A patient suffering from a debilitating neurodegenerative disease was able to get up and walk again after being bedridden for over a year, thanks to an innovative system developed by a team of scientists at the NeuroRestore research center headed by Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and Professor at University of Lausanne UNIL, and Grégoire Courtine, an EPFL professor in neuroscience.
Life Sciences - Environment - 07.04.2022

A new study has shown how fish influence oceans- ecosystems in coastal regions, revealing for the first time the role they play in distributing heat, nutrients and oxygen that keep the system functioning. Oceans are made up of multiple layers, ranging from lighter, warmer waters at the top to denser, cooler waters at the bottom.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 06.04.2022

Researchers from EPFL have found a way to use only mathematics to automatically draw neurons in 3D, meaning we are getting closer to being able to build digital twins of brains. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish physician from the turn of the 19 th century, is considered by most to be the father of modern neuroscience.
Environment - Life Sciences - 31.03.2022

To test if a single gene could affect an entire ecosystem, a research team of the University of Zurich conducted a lab experiment with a plant and its associated ecosystem of insects. They found that plants with a mutation at a specific gene foster ecosystems with more insect species. The discovery of such a -keystone gene- could change current biodiversity conservation strategies.
Life Sciences - Health - 24.03.2022

A team led by UNIGE and EPFL has made a counterintuitive discovery in mice: epileptic seizures are more violent when the energy-producing pathway in their neurons is blocked. Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders, is characterized by the spontaneous repetition of seizures caused by the hyperactivity of a group of neurons in the brain.
Social Sciences - Life Sciences - 24.03.2022

The reproductive success of male dolphins is not determined by strength or age, but via social bonds with other males. The better integrated males are in their social network, the more offspring they produce, a new study by an international team of researchers led by the University of Zurich has shown using long-term behavioral and genetic data.
Life Sciences - Health - 22.03.2022

EPFL engineers have discovered that increasing the temperature of cartilage in the knee during physical exertion could prevent the cartilage from degenerating. "There is currently no treatment for knee arthritis; we can offer only palliative care to reduce the symptoms,- says Prof. Dominique Pioletti, head of the Laboratory of Biomechanical Orthopedics within EPFL's School of Engineering.
Life Sciences - Health - 22.03.2022

Two-year study paves the way for new technologies for people with severe paralysis Geneva, Switzerland - Researchers at the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering, in collaboration with the University of Tübingen in Germany, have enabled a person with complete paralysis, who cannot speak, to communicate via an implanted brain-computer interface (BCI).
Life Sciences - Environment - 18.03.2022

Two scientists are putting their expertise in coral reefs to work in Mauritius and Seychelles. The pair has joined a United Nations program that aims to restore reefs affected by human and environmental pressure using a method known as seascape genomics.
Life Sciences - Health - 17.03.2022

A team from the University of Geneva has identified a gene whose overexpression prevents the development of Parkinson's disease in the fruit fly and the mouse. Biologists have created mutants of the Fer2 homolog in mouse dopamine neurons. (c) Adobe Stock Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the destruction of a specific population of neurons: the dopaminergic neurons.
Life Sciences - Computer Science - 11.03.2022

Deep learning models are becoming increasingly common in bioimage analysis. Yet a lack of standardization and the use of these algorithms by non-experts are potential sources of bias. Scientists from EPFL and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) offer practical tips and guidance in a paper recently published in the journal IEEE.
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