news 2020

Physicists from Switzerland, Japan and Germany have unveiled the mechanism by which the first event of respiration takes place in heme proteins. Respiration is a fundamental process of all living things, allowing them to produce energy, stay healthy, and survive. In cells, respiration involves what are known as "respiratory proteins", e.g. hemoglobin in the blood and myoglobin in muscles.

ETH Zurich scientists have developed an RNA molecule that can be used in bone marrow cells to correct genetic errors that affect protein production. Patients suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes a painful hypersensitivity to sunlight could benefit in future. Short RNA molecules can be used as medication.

A powerful new computational tool to identify the most promising pharmacological compounds and thus allow a much faster "screening". That is what has been developed thanks to the research carried out by Prof. Vittorio Limongelli's group of USI Faculty of Biomedical Sciences in collaboration with Prof. Siewert Marrink's group of University of Groningen (Netherlands).

Biologists have known for some time that RNA interference can silence genes in far-off cells. They suspected that a messenger substance "transmits" RNA interference. Now, ETH researchers have definitively shown that these messengers in plants are short double-stranded RNA fragments. In most organisms, small bits of RNA play a key role in gene regulation by silencing gene expression.

A team of physicists and chemists has produced the first porous graphene ribbons in which specific carbon atoms in the crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. These ribbons have semiconducting properties that make them attractive for applications in electronics and quantum computing, as reported by researchers from the Universities of Basel, Bern, Lancaster and Warwick in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The cytosolic iron sulfur assembly (CIA) pathway is required for the insertion of Fe-S clusters into proteins, including many DNA replication and repair factors. Despite its essential cellular function, this pathway remains enigmatic. A new integrative structural and biochemical study from the Thomä group now provides detailed insights into the mechanisms of Fe-S protein biogenesis.

ETH researchers have developed a new method for producing polymers with different lengths. This paves the way for new classes of polymer materials to be used in previously inconceivable applications. It is hard to imagine everyday life without materials made of synthetic polymers. Clothes, car parts, computers or packaging - they all consist of polymer materials.

EPFL researchers have developed a high-precision technology that enables them to carve nanometric patterns into two-dimensional materials. With their pioneering nanotechnology, EPFL researchers have achieved the impossible. They can now use heat to break the links between atoms with a miniature scalpel.

A research team from Empa and EPFL has developed a molecular motor which consists of only 16 atoms and rotates reliably in one direction. It could allow energy harvesting at the atomic level. The special feature of the motor is that it moves exactly at the boundary between classical motion and quantum tunneling - and has revealed puzzling phenomena to researchers in the quantum realm.

While conducting experiments on a layered metal, EPFL researchers witnessed something very surprising. The unexpected electron behavior they discovered could open up possibilities in the field of quantum computing. In the world of materials science, sometimes main discoveries can be found in unexpected places.

A recent innovation from an EPFL laboratory will enable, for the first time, mass production of standardized organoids. This breakthrough was achieved thanks to a customized guidance system that ensures homogenous cell culturing. Described in an article published today in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the technique paves the way for industrial uses, such as screening new drugs.

A recent innovation from an EPFL laboratory will enable, for the first time, mass production of standardized organoids. This breakthrough was achieved thanks to a customized guidance system that ensures homogenous cell culturing. Described in an article published today in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the technique paves the way for industrial uses, such as screening new drugs.

A new revolution in the production of electronic circuits is on the way: Empa researchers are working on electronics that come out of printers. This makes it possible to produce the circuits on all sorts of substrates, such as paper or plastic film - but there are still some hurdles to overcome. Imagine being able to easily print electronics on any surface.

ETH researchers have developed a new method in which they use light to draw patterns of molecules that guide living cells. The approach allows for a closer look at the development of multicellular organisms - and in the future may even play a part in novel therapies. Highly complex organisms can arise from a single cell, which is one of the true miracles of nature.

At the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have gained insights into a promising material for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The substance enables high light yields and would be inexpensive to produce on a large scale - that means it is practically made for use in large-area room lighting.

Scientists at EPFL have developed an artificial protein that can keep the CRISPR genome-editing tool on its tracks. The research appears in a paper Chemical Biology A team at EPFL's Laboratory of Protein Design & Immunoengineering (LDPI), led by Professor Bruno Correia, working with Dominik Niopek's lab at Heidelberg University Hospital and the BioQuant Center, Heidelberg, Germany, have designed a protein (AcrX in short), using computational approaches, that can control CRISPR genome-editing in human cells.

Naturally occurring (geogenic) arsenic contamination in groundwater is a problem of global significance, with noteworthy occurrences in large parts of the alluvial and deltaic aquifers in South and Southeast Asia. Computer models are necessary to analyse field observations, to unravel which chemical and physical processes play a role, and to predict the behaviour of arsenic within aquifers - namely where and when pollution may occur in the future.

A new study led by Tobias Züst from the Institute of Plant Sciences of the University of Bern shows that a pair of complementary chemical defenses evolved independently in wallflowers, shaped by co-evolution with local insects. A pair of chemicals used by wallflowers and their kin to ward off predators have evolved to complement each other, with one targeting generalist herbivores and the other targeting specialized herbivores that have become resistant to the generalist defense.

ETH researchers analysed various possibilities for reducing the net CO2 emissions of the chemical industry to zero. Their conclusion? The chemical industry can in fact have a carbon-neutral future. Switzerland's Federal Council has decided that the country should become carbon-neutral by 2050. This may be challenging as far as car traffic and the entire power sector are concerned, but not impossible - with systematic electrification and the exclusive use of carbon-neutral energy sources, for example.

Researchers from the University of Geneva have developed a new method for creating chains of molecular rings with unparalleled sophistication. Cyclic molecules are everywhere, and everything around us stems from the way they are assembled: not just taste, colour and smell but also (for example) pharmaceutical drugs.