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Chemists at the University of Geneva have developed a new technique for selecting assemblies of molecules, making it possible to find the best combinations for each protein to be combated quickly and cheaply. Our body must constantly defend itself against bacteria and viruses. It generates millions of different antibodies, which are selected to recognise the enemy and trigger the best possible immune response.

Researchers from the University of Geneva identified that the amount of food regulate the gut size and its capacity to absorb calories, thus shedding light on a fundamental mechanism at the very origin of obesity. With more than 10% of the world's population obese and 40% overweight, obesity constitutes one of the most crucial health challenges.

A team from the UNIGE has discovered that neurons linked to the reward system are responsible for motivating us to interact with our fellow human beings. Human beings, like most mammals, need social interactions to live and develop. The processes that drive them towards each other require decision making whose brain machinery is largely misunderstood.

Scientists from the University of Geneva show that during development, the different populations of neurons needed for connections between brain areas share similar genetic programs, but which unfold at different speeds. The cerebral cortex, located at the surface of the brain, handles the cognitive, language, and complex functions that allow us to represent the world or project ourselves into the future.

A team from the University of Geneva has implemented a new way to secure data transfers based on the physical principle of relativity. The volume of data transferred is constantly increasing, but the absolute security of these exchanges cannot be guaranteed, as shown by cases of hacking frequently reported in the news.

Researchers from the UNIGE and USI have analysed the impact of the Swiss motorway network on the evolution of household composition among the country's municipalities. The development of transport infrastructure is a central issue for states, which spend billions to connect cities. But what is their real effect on the municipalities concerned? Researchers from the University of Geneva and the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) looked at the evolution of the income composition of the population of cities in Switzerland once they are connected to the motorway network.

Geologists from the UNIGE and Peking University have developed a technique that makes it possible to estimate the maximum size of a future super-eruption of Toba volcano in Sumatra. It is estimated that about 5-10 volcanoes worldwide are capable of producing a super-eruption that could catastrophically affect global climate.

Astronomers led by the UNIGE have discovered exoplanets that orbit in planes at 90 degrees from each other. When planets form, they usually continue their orbital evolution in the equatorial plane of their star. However, an international team, led by astronomers from the University of Geneva , Switzerland, has discovered that the exoplanets of a star in the constellation Pisces orbit in planes perpendicular to each other, with the innermost planet the only one still orbiting in the equatorial plane.

A team from the University of Geneva has observed that the role of plant tissue - called endosperm - is not only to feed the seed but is crucial for the development and protection of young plants. The endosperm, the tissue surrounding the plant embryo in the seed, has long been perceived as a nourishing tissue that is abandoned once the transition to the seedling is complete.

A UNIGE-led team has studied the fossil rivers of the Egyptian Sahara to reconstruct the region's rainfall rates that led to a major migration of people away from the Nile valley 10,000 years ago. Why did the people living near the Nile river migrate to central Egypt 10,000 years ago, when the Egyptian Sahara was still green? Geologists led by the University of Geneva , Switzerland, have studied the fossil rivers north of Lake Nasser in Egypt in order to reconstruct the palaeo-hydrology of the region and to determine the rainfall rate of this African humid period.

Scientists from the University of Geneva are demonstrating how cold could alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis by depriving the immune system of its energy. In evolutionary biology, the "Life History Theory", first proposed in the 1950s, postulates that when the environment is favourable, the resources used by any organism are devoted for growth and reproduction.

Swiss and German scientists show that activation of the immune system oscillates throughout the day, with a peak just before the start of the day. Circadian clocks, which regulate most of the physiological processes of living beings over a rhythm of about 24 hours, are one of the most fundamental biological mechanisms.

Astrophysicists led by the UNIGE and the NCCR PlanetS have investigated the past of Venus to find out whether Earth's sister planet once had oceans. The planet Venus can be seen as the Earth's evil twin. At first sight, it is of comparable mass and size as our home planet, similarly consists mostly of rocky material, holds some water and has an atmosphere.

The practice of mindfulness shows a positive impact of the intervention on the adolescents' everyday life and on their ability to react to new events. Adolescents born prematurely present a high risk of developing executive, behavioural and socio-emotional difficulties. Now, researchers from Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the University of Geneva have revealed that practicing mindfulness may help improve these various skills.

A team from the University of Geneva has identified a gene that is essential for regulating the sleep-wake cycles of Drosophila. All living organisms are subject to an internal biological rhythm, which controls many physiological processes. In humans in particular, this internal clock follows a 24-hour cycle and occurs even in the absence of external triggers, such as changes in light or temperature.

Researchers at the University of Geneva and the Clinique romande de réadaptation in Sion have mapped the biomarkers of different types of pain to categorise and better treat them in the future. Many people are confronted with chronic pain that can last for months or even years. How to best treat chronic pain? First, pain must be categorized for the right treatment to be prescribed.

Teams from the UNIGE and EPFL have used for the first time the method of longitudinal network analysis applied to children, in order to detect the symptoms that herald the development of psychotic illness in the future. One third of children with a microdeletion of chromosome 22 will later develop a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia.

A team from the University of Geneva has discovered the mechanisms that regulate the formation of the protective layer of plant roots. Plants adapt to their nutritional needs by modifying the permeability of their roots through the production or degradation of a cork-like layer called suberin. By studying the regulation of this protective layer in Arabidopsis thaliana , an international team, led by scientists from the University of Geneva , Switzerland, has discovered four molecular factors responsible for the genetic activation of suberin.

Researchers from the University of Geneva and UNIFR decipher how the amplitude and frequency of tactile vibrations can bias how the brain interprets them. Among the traditional five human senses, touch is perhaps the least studied. Yet, it is solicited everywhere, all the time, and even more so in recent years with the widespread daily use of electronic devices that emit vibrations.

Scientists serendipitously discover two heavily dust-enshrouded galaxies that formed when the Universe was only 5% of its present age. While investigating the data of young, distant galaxies observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, Yoshinobu Fudamoto from Waseda University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan noticed unexpected emissions coming from seemingly empty regions in space that, a global research team confirmed, came actually from two hitherto undiscovered galaxies heavily obscured by cosmic dust.