news 2020

Heatwaves in the world's oceans have become over 20 times more frequent due to human influence. This is what researchers from the Oeschger Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bern are now able to prove. Marine heatwaves destroy ecosystems and damage fisheries. A marine heatwave (ocean heatwave) is an extended period of time in which the water temperature in a particular ocean region is abnormally high.

Researchers at ETH Zurich - in collaboration with colleagues from EPFL in Lausanne and Harvard Medical School - have developed a system that allows them to optically stimulate individual nerve fibres in living mice. Through this process, they have demonstrated that the nervous system has a direct influence on the immune system.

Researchers at EPFL have developed an approach to print tiny tissues that look and function almost like their full-sized counterpart. Measuring just a few centimeters across, the mini-tissues could allow scientists to study biological processes-and even test new treatment approaches-in ways that were previously not possible.

DNA damage can occur anywhere in the genome, but most DNA is wrapped around nucleosomes making it inaccessible to the repair machinery. Researchers from the Gasser group now show that DNA damage induces histone depletion, which increases the accessibility and flexibility of the DNA fiber and enhances the rate of homology search during repair by homologous recombination.

By exploring the benefits of sport in memory and motor learning, scientists from the University of Geneva are opening up promising perspectives for school programmes and in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. After an intensive sports session, the memory performance are much better. @DR  If sport is good for the body, it also seems to be good for the brain.

The trade-off between gleaners and exploiters does not explain the diversity of biological species in the way that scientists expected. Our understanding of biodiversity has to change. Aquatic organisms - and terrestrial ones - that do best when there is lots of food also do best when there is very little .

Scientists at EPFL, ETH Zurich and Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital have developed an implantable technology that enabled the discovery of an interaction between sensory neurons and immune cells. Pain is a protective mechanism, alerting us to danger by generating an unpleasant sensation.

Researchers at EPFL have made a surprising discovery about how bile acids act as signaling molecules to boost intestinal regeneration. The discovery sheds light on the role of bile acids as hormone-like molecules and opens new ways for regenerative therapies of the gut. Intestinal stem cells replenish the cells lining the gut epithelium, which usually renews itself every week.

A team from the University of Geneva has artificially reproduced a nanoscale coating on different types of surfaces that usually covers the eyes of fruit flies, and which provides anti-reflective, anti-adhesive properties. The eyes of many insects, including the fruit fly, are covered by a thin and transparent coating made up of tiny protuberances with anti-reflective, anti-adhesive properties.

Bioengineers at EPFL have created miniature intestines in a dish that match up anatomically and functionally to the real thing better than any other lab-grown tissue models. The biological complexity and longevity of the new organoid technology is an important step towards enabling drug testing, personalized medicine, and perhaps, one day, transplantations.

Humans, like other animals, have the ability to constantly adapt to new situations. Researchers at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich have utilized a mouse model to reveal which neurons in the brain are in command in guiding adaptive behavior. Their new study contributes to our understanding of decision-making processes in healthy and infirm people.

Scientists have demonstrated that cellular tissues are deformed by buckling (or bending under the action of compression), a phenomenon that could lie behind embryo morphogenesis. The embryo of an animal first looks like a hollow sphere. Invaginations then appear at different stages of development, which will give rise to the body's structures (the brain, digestive tract, etc.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bern have discovered a mechanism by which the corona virus manipulates human cells to ensure its own replication. This knowledge will help to develop drugs and vaccines against the corona virus. Like a pirate hijacking a ship, a virus takes control of an infected cell because every virus depends on the resources and molecular machines of the cell to multiply.

Using algorithms to analyse the whole-genome sequence of a tumour can make treatment more successful - and can even help determine how cells become cancerous. Detailed genetic analysis of tumour tissue samples has become standard practice at a small number of the world's leading hospitals specialising in cancer treatment.

Researchers have discovered that they can use light-sensitive molecules to switch genetic networks on and off as required. Their finding gives rise to an easy method for dynamically controlling biotechnological substance production. Tetracycline (Tc), an antibiotic, and its derivative anhydrotetracycline (aTc) enjoy widespread use in biotechnology and synthetic biology.

UNIGE Scientists demonstrate that warmth exposure improves bone strength, and decipher the role of gut microbiota in this phenomenon. This gives rise to innovative perspectives in the treatment of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, a bone disease linked to ageing, is characterised by a loss of bone density, micro-architectural deterioration of the bones and an increased risk of fractures.

Scientists have developed a non-invasive technique for unraveling the complex dynamics generated by spinal cord circuits to unprecedented detail, a first in functional magnetic resonance imaging that may one day help diagnose spinal cord dysfunction or injury. The spinal cord roughly looks like a long tube, with a diameter of only 1.5 cm, and yet this crucial part of the nervous system is essential for controlling how our arms and legs move, for giving us our sense of touch as well as a notion of where our bodies are in space.

Reading difficulties can be improved with non-invasive brain electrical stimulation, a hope for people suffering from dyslexia. Dyslexia is a frequent disorder of reading acquisition that affects up to 10% of the population, and is characterised by lifelong difficulties with written material. Although several possible causes have been proposed for dyslexia, the predominant one is a phonological deficit, a difficulty in processing language sounds.

With life expectancy increasing, age-related diseases are also on the rise, including sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass due to aging. Researchers from the University of Basel's Biozentrum have demonstrated that a well-known drug can delay the progression of age-related muscle weakness. The findings were recently published in -Nature Communications-.

Scientists propose that periods of unconscious processing-during which the brain integrates information-precede brief moments of consciousness. When we watch a movie or hear an orchestra playing, it seems that we perceive images and sounds as a continuous stream of information. But a new study suggests that the brain makes information conscious only at certain moments of time, which are preceded by intervals of unconscious processing that can last up to half a second.