wire - news in brief

A team from the University of Geneva has developed in vitro organ models to test their sensitivity to novel cancer therapies. Overcoming acquired treatment resistance is one of the major challenges in the fight against cancer. While combination therapies hold promise, their toxicity to healthy tissue remains a major hurdle.

A team from the University of Geneva shows that certain vocal processing skills are shared between humans and great apes. The brain doesn't just recognise the human voice. A study by the University of Geneva shows that certain areas of our auditory cortex respond specifically to the vocalisations of chimpanzees, our closest cousins both phylogenetically and acoustically.

A UNIGE study shows that reducing smartphone use in the evening significantly increases teenagers' sleep and improves their academic performance.

A team from the University of Geneva has shown that memories are more strongly triggered by the deeper meaning of a situation than by its form. If memories are the black box of our past, they can also shed light on the present by giving meaning to new situations.

A recent excavation campaign led by a Swiss-Greek team has unearthed several fragments of the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered in Greece.

A team from the University of Geneva and HUG has shown that the side on which the first symptoms of the disease appear - left or right - influences patients' cognitive and emotional symptoms. Parkinson's disease often begins asymmetrically, affecting either the right or left side of the body first. Researchers from the University of Geneva and the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) have demonstrated that this initial side of onset influences the progression of non-motor symptoms.

A UNIGE and UniBE team shows that generative AI can outperform humans in emotional intelligence tests. Is artificial intelligence (AI) capable of suggesting appropriate behaviour in emotionally charged situations? A team from the University of Geneva and the University of Bern (UniBE) put six generative AIs - including ChatGPT - to the test using emotional intelligence (EI) assessments typically designed for humans.

An international team, including researchers from UNIGE, has revealed that the Arabian Peninsula's desert was once home to a vast lake and rivers that shaped its landscape. The Empty Quarter (Rub' al-Khali), the vast desert of the Arabian Peninsula, was not always an arid landscape.

A study led by the University of Geneva and the HUG shows that an interval of at least 50 days between stopping immunotherapy and liver transplantation significantly reduces the risk of rejection. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer in Switzerland and worldwide. Immunotherapy through immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) combined with a liver transplant (see below) could constitute a solution for treating even advanced stages.

By combining the four giant telescopes of the Very Large Telescope, an international team has observed the exoplanet WASP-121b with unprecedented precision, revealing one of the most extreme climates in the Galaxy. WASP-121b is one of the most studied exoplanets. Known for its extreme conditions-such as clouds of metal vapor-it belongs to the category of ultra-hot Jupiters.

The University of Geneva coordinates the participation of Swiss institutions in the CTAO project, which addresses the most fascinating questions of high-energy astrophysics.

A team from the University of Geneva and the HUG has revealed that the majority of tweets published about obesity between 2019 and 2022 convey negative feelings.

Using a particle accelerator, a scientific team has identified a new species of these fish, considered to be 'living fossils'.

A cell division resembling that of an animal embryo has been observed in a prehistoric unicellular organism, suggesting that embryonic development might have existed prior to the evolution of animals. Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii.

A global expert panel led by HUG, UNIGE and the Salpêtrière Hospital advocate that clinical signs as well as biomarkers must be taken into account.

A French-Swiss team has highlighted the long-term impact of socioeconomic inequalities on the quality of life of women who have had breast cancer.

A team from UNIGE, together with ETH Zurich and NCHU in Taiwan, has developed a rice line that has enhanced vitamin B1 content.

A Swiss collaboration has been designated a member of the WHO's CoViNet network for the detection and surveillance of coronaviruses.

A team from the University of Geneva, the HUG and the IRCCS has drawn up recommendations for the effective and individualised use of biomarkers in memory clinics for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

A team from the University of Geneva is developing new alloys with bactericidal properties to combat antibiotic-resistant germs. While crucial to biotechnology, bacteria can also cause severe disease, exacerbated by their increasing resistance to antibiotics. This duality between economic benefits and infectious risks underlines the importance of finding ways to control their development.

A team from the University of Geneva, in collaboration with the CHUV, has developed a new method of encapsulating fecal bacteria to treat a serious intestinal infection.

As the population ages, the number of people with Alzheimer's disease in Europe will double by 2050.

The University of Geneva is putting a platform online to monitor variations in the composition and carbon emissions of the electricity mix consumed by the Swiss population. Where does the electricity we use come from? And what is its impact on the environment? It all depends on the time of day and the season.

An international team highlights the importance of localising BRCA gene mutations for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are inherited by 1 in 400 and 1 in 800 people respectively, significantly increase the risk of certain cancers such as ovarian, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer.