news from the lab 2017

Compared to bacteria, in eukaryotes the genetic material is located in the cell nucleus. Its outer shell consists of the nuclear membrane with numerous nuclear pores. Molecules are transported into or out of the cell nucleus via these pores. Beneath the membrane lies the nuclear lamina, a threadlike meshwork merely a few millionths of a millimeter thick.

Some organisms are able to survive in hot springs, while others can only live at mild temperatures because their proteins aren't able to withstand such extreme heat. ETH researchers investigated these differences and showed that often only a few key proteins determine the life and heat-induced death of a cell.

EPFL scientists have created a new computer model that can help better design of allosteric drugs, which control proteins 'at a distance'. Enzymes are large proteins that are involved in virtually every biological process, facilitating a multitude of biochemical reactions in our cells. Because of this, one of the biggest efforts in drug design today aims to control enzymes without interfering with their so-called active sites - the part of the enzyme where the biochemical reaction takes place.

If degraded and logged areas of tropical forests are left to nature, the populations of certain endangered tree species are not able to recover. This applies in particular to trees with large fruit where the seeds are distributed by birds, as ETH scientists have shown in a rainforest in India. In order to restore tropical rainforests, it is not enough to simply set up protected areas and leave them to their own devices.

No less than 500 new species of cichlids, brightly coloured perch-like fish, evolved in Lake Victoria (East Africa) over the past 15,000 years - a record in the animal and plant world.

Why do some people develop caries even though they always brush their teeth carefully while others are less stringent regarding dental hygiene yet do not have any holes' Ultimately, both have bacteria on the surface of their teeth which can attack the enamel. Enamel forms via the mineralization of specific enamel proteins.

Protein aggregates in neurons are characteristic for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

EPFL scientists have made an extensive study in the cause of leukemia that could greatly improve the way we treat the disease. Leukemia affects 350,000 people worldwide. It is a cancer of the white blood cells, which are the cells of the immune system and are produced by stem cells in the bone marrow. There are two types of chronic and two types of acute leukemia.

Researchers from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) and the University of Basel have identified two types of neurons in the amygdala, each of which generates a distinct fear response - freezing or flight.

EPFL scientists designed, built and remote-controlled the robotic structures of a crocodile and a lizard for a field experiment, in the depths of Africa, in collaboration with the BBC. The robots are featured in today's episode of 'Spy in the Wild'. What happens when you combine EPFL's first-class robotic engineering with the BBC's first-class special effects' You get reptilian robots that look and move (almost) like the real thing, and as a bonus, a scientific tool for studying biology and for improving search and rescue robotics.

Adaptive evolution, i.e. genetic change via natural selection, plays a central role in how plant and animal populations guarantee their long-term survival. Although this process is well understood in breeding conditions and in the lab, it is still largely unclear how often and how rapidly it takes place under natural conditions.

A joint study involving Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) shows that people with a genetic predisposition to obesity are more likely to develop the condition if they find themselves in a situation of deprivation. The city of Lausanne was used as a test site by the researchers.

The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) arrived yesterday in Australia after 30 days at sea.

EPFL scientists have discovered a new biological mechanism behind nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease covers a range of diseases that result from fat accumulation in the liver, but not as a result of alcohol abuse. Fat buildup can lead to liver inflammation, scarring and irreversible damage, such as cirrhosis and liver failure.

Scientists at EPFL have developed a technique that can be a game-changer for genetics by making the characterization of DNA-binding proteins much faster, more accurate, and efficient. Genes hold the DNA code for producing all the proteins of the cell. To begin this process, genes require a huge family of DNA-binding proteins called transcription factors, which are of enormous interest to biologists today.

When a certain human enzyme is left uncontrolled, it breaks up chromosomes into tiny pieces. This is damaging to cells, but useful for killing tumours. ETH researchers have now come to understand the underlying mechanism. Our cells contain the enzyme MUS81; this is called on in emergencies, for example, when cells are unable to replicate because the DNA-replication machinery gets tangled up in strands of DNA.

ETH microbiologists have succeeded in showing that nature produces one of the most complex known bioactive natural products in a staggeringly simple way.

Researchers have succeeded in using X-rays to minutely observe a photosynthesis reaction and produce a movie of the event. The findings will aid understanding of similar processes in the human eye. Plants and algae are not alone in undergoing photosynthesis. Some bacteria also use energy from sunlight to grow and reproduce.