news 2019

Using the new Imaging Mass Cytometry method, Zurich researchers have investigated the pancreas of healthy organ donors and those with type 1 diabetes. The study shows that many beta cells, which normally produce insulin, are still present in the early stages of the disease, but look very different. These beta cells could potentially be rescued for the benefit of the patient and the progression of the disease could be slowed down or even stopped.

The debate on air quality standards for ambient air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and ozone has revived in Germany last week. The International Society for Environmental Epidemiology and the Environment and Health Committee of the European Respiratory Society have now issued a statement on the debate of the effects of air pollution on health.

Plant researchers at the University of Zurich have developed transgenic corn and barley lines with improved resistance against several fungal diseases thanks to the wheat resistance gene Lr34. Following successful tests in the greenhouse, the researchers are now planning to carry out field trials at the Agroscope site in Zurich-Reckenholz.

EPFL scientists have discovered how a mutated gene can affect the three-dimensional interactions of genes in the cell, leading to various forms of cancer. Inside the cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins and packed in a complex, 3D structure that we call "chromatin". Chromatin not only protects our genetic material from damage, but also organizes the entire genome by regulating the expression of genes in three dimensions, unwinding them to be presented to the cell's gene-expression machinery and then winding them back in.

UNIGE researchers have discovered the fundamental role of the Not1 protein, which allows proteins to find each other and assemble at a precise pace, in the right place and at the right time. To perform properly the task for which they have been synthesized, proteins must first assemble to form effective cellular "machines".

EPFL scientists have developed a new method for evaluating building safety after an earthquake, helping residents return to their homes more quickly. Deciding when it's safe for a building's residents to move back in after an earthquake is a major challenge and responsibility for civil engineers. Not only do they have to evaluate whether the building could collapse, but also whether it could withstand aftershocks of the same magnitude.

A Phase 1 clinical trial to test the safety of an antibody to use against Ebola outbreak has been successfully concluded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland (U.S.A. The treatment is based on the monoclonal antibody mAb114, which was isolated and characterized in Switzerland at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Bellinzona, affiliated to USI Università della Svizzera italiana) in collaboration with Humabs BioMed SA, a subsidiary of Vir Biotechnology Inc.

Researchers from the Department of Biomedical Research of the University of Bern and the University Clinic of Visceral Surgery and Medicine of the Inselspital Bern, Switzerland, have discovered that changes in the composition of the intestinal bacteria in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease affect the severity of the disease and the success of therapy.

Organ transplant rejection is a major problem in transplantation medicine. Suppressing the immune system to prevent organ rejection, however, opens the door to life-threatening infections. Researchers at the University of Basel's Biozentrum have now discovered a molecular approach preventing rejection of the transplanted graft while simultaneously maintaining the ability to fight against infections.

An innovative combination therapy can force malignant breast cancer cells to turn into fat cells. This can be used to prevent the formation of metastases in mice, as researchers at the University of Basel's Department of Biomedicine recently reported in the journal Cancer Cell. Tumor cells can adapt dynamically to changing conditions thanks to their ability to reactivate a cellular process that is central to embryonic development.

The most deadly aspect of breast cancer is metastasis. It spreads cancer cells throughout the body. Researchers at the University and the University Hospital of Basel have now discovered a substance that suppresses the formation of metastases. The development of metastasis is responsible for more than 90% of cancer-related deaths, and patients with a metastatic disease are considered incurable.

Researchers of the University of Bern have discovered a new molecular regulatory mechanism in unicellular parasites which has never before been observed. RNA fragments do not act as brakes in the cell apparatus, but on the contrary as "stimulants": they boost protein production after periods of stress.

Elongated segments of DNA cause Huntington's disease and certain other disorders of the brain. Researchers have developed a method to determine the length of the mutated genes quickly and easily. People with Huntington's disease suffer from jerky body movements and decreasing mental abilities. The condition usually leads to death 15-20 years after diagnosis.

Chemotherapy is an effective treatment for breast cancer, yet some patients develop metastasis in spite of it. Researchers at EPFL have discovered that chemotherapy-treated mammary tumors produce small vesicles that may help them spread to other organs. The study is published. Some patients with breast cancer receive chemotherapy before the tumor is removed with surgery.