news from the lab 2017

By studying a worm infection, EPFL scientists have discovered how lymphatic vessels grow within lymph nodes, with major implications for cancer and inflammation. Lymph nodes are small, kidney-shaped organs found throughout the body. Full of immune cells, their function is to clear out foreign objects and support the immune system.

Young adults have a natural sleep requirement of about 9 hours a day on average, older adults 7.5 hours.

Since January 2017 a sensor wristband that, according to the manufacturer, is capable of detecting a woman's fertile days in her cycle with 89 percent certainty has been on the market.

ETH researchers have developed a new rice variety that not only has increased levels of the micronutrients iron and zinc in the grains, but also produces beta-carotene as a precursor of vitamin A&per

An Empa team has succeeded in developing a new three-dimensional cell model of the human placental barrier. The "model organ" can quickly and reliably deliver new information on the intake of substances, such as nano-particles, by the placental barrier and on any possible toxic effects for the unborn child.

In their final year of life, on average men cause more healthcare costs than women. Dying is more expensive in the Frenchand Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland than in the German-speaking part. These are the findings of an analysis of health insurance data that was conducted as part of the National Research Programme "End of life" (NRP 67).

Dehydration is one of the most common causes of death among young children in the developing world - particularly during the hot summer months.

EPFL scientists have made new insights into the control of cell senescence, which is intimately linked to the development of cancer and ageing. Cells in the body or in cultures eventually stop replicating. This phenomenon is called "senescence" and is triggered by shortening of telomeres, oxidative stress or genetic damage to the cells, either acute or simply due to the cell growing "old".

Answering a long-standing question, EPFL scientists have determined that the sense of body ownership is not affected in schizophrenia patients. Image: In the Full Body Illusion participants view their own backs being stroked, and when the seen and perceived stroking is synchronous a bodily illusion occurs causing them to feel illusory ownership over the viewed body.

Cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Until recently, the chances of cure for patients suffering from metastatic cancer were low, as with such cancer the surgical removal of dista

The frequency of inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis has been on the rise in many Western countries for decades.

EPFL scientists have discovered gene variants that make children life-threatening susceptible to common-cold viruses. Although most children can handle viral respiratory infections like the common cold, about 2% of children become sick enough to require hospitalization. There are some known risk factors for this, but severe illness still affects 1 in 1000 previously healthy kids.

Researchers funded by the SNSF have discovered mutations that worsen respiratory infections among children. Their study explain the mechanism involved. Colds that are not linked to influenza are generally benign. Still, 2% of each generation of children have to go to hospital following a virulent infection.

The CRISPR-Cas system is an immune system that is found in many bacteria. It provides protection from viruses and other molecular parasites that can invade the bacterium and take over its genome. In these systems, the immunity is mediated by a complex multi-protein molecular machinery that uses RNA molecules as molecular guides to recognize the invader and target it for destruction.

EPFL scientists have developed a ligand molecule that connects peptide drugs to blood-serum albumin and keeps them from being cleared out by the kidneys too soon. The ligand is easy to synthesize and can extend the half-life of therapeutic peptides from minutes to several days. Peptides are biological molecules, made up of short sequences of amino acids.

ETH researchers from the Functional Materials Laboratory have developed a silicone heart that beats almost like a human heart.

More and more people suffer from allergies and asthma. In the past decades, these diseases have massively increased in industrialized countries. Today, about 30 percent of children have allergies - with the exception of farm children. Among farm children, the disease is increasing less dramatically than in the case of their friends who live in the same village, but not on a farm.

A novel bandage alerts the nursing staff as soon as a wound starts healing badly. Sensors incorporated into the base material glow with a different intensity if the wound's pH level changes.

Similar to other neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's is a disease in which the cognitive abilities of afflicted persons continuously worsen. The reason is the increasing loss of synapses, the contact points of the neurons, in the brain. In the case of Alzheimer's, certain protein fragments, the β-amyloid peptides, are suspected of causing the death of neurons.

EPFL scientists show how some pathogenic bacteria - such as the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis - use a previously unknown mechanism to coordinate their division. The discovery could help develop new ways to fight them. Most rod-shaped bacteria divide by splitting into two around the middle after their DNA has replicated safely and segregated to opposite ends of the cell.