news 2021
Health
Results 1 - 20 of 196.
Health - Life Sciences - 22.12.2021
T cells: No time to die
They are at the forefront in the fight against viruses, bacteria, and malignant cells: the T cells of our immune system. But the older we get, the fewer of them our body produces. Thus, how long we remain healthy also depends on how long the T cells survive. Researchers at the University of Basel have now uncovered a previously unknown signaling pathway essential for T cell viability.
Life Sciences - Health - 21.12.2021
Mechanism for DNA invasion of Adenoviral Covid-19 Vaccines Discovered
Adenoviruses have a linchpin protein that stabilizes their DNA until it reaches the infected cell's nucleus. The protein then detaches from the viral genome, and the virus uncoats. Only then are the genes released into the nucleus, which is necessary for the production of new viruses. This process, discovered by researchers at the University of Zurich, is a key for effective functioning of various Covid-19 vaccines.
Health - Life Sciences - 20.12.2021
New muscle layer discovered on the jaw
Human anatomy still has a few surprises in store for us: researchers at the University of Basel have discovered a previously overlooked section of our jaw muscles and described this layer in detail for the first time. The masseter muscle is the most prominent of the jaw muscles. If you place your fingers on the back of your cheeks and press your teeth together, you'll feel the muscle tighten.
Health - 17.12.2021
Assessing the Potential Health Impact of Omicron
Cases of SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron are surging in numerous settings, with early evidence suggesting Omicron is more infectious than the Delta variant. It is not yet known, however, if Omicron has higher severity or if vaccines are less effective. New research from Swiss TPH now provides guidance to decision-makers on Omicron's potential public health impact for a range of different scenarios.
Health - 17.12.2021
Assessing the Potential Health Impact of Omicron
Cases of SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron are surging in numerous settings, with early evidence suggesting Omicron is more infectious than the Delta variant. It is not yet known, however, if Omicron has higher severity or if vaccines are less effective. New research from Swiss TPH now provides guidance to decision-makers on Omicron's potential public health impact for a range of different scenarios.
Health - Pharmacology - 15.12.2021
Effective combination cancer treatment
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have tested various methods to check how effective they are in combatting certain types of cancer. They found a combination of two preparations to be much more effective than treatment with just one of the two active substances. They have published their findings today in the medical journal Pharmaceutics .
Health - 15.12.2021
Where in Geneva Canton do people live the longest?
Scientists at EPFL and Geneva University Hospitals have mapped discrepancies in the difference to life expectancy at birth across Geneva Canton. Their findings shed new light on what researchers previously thought, as the lower-life-expectancy neighborhoods they identified weren't necessarily those detected in earlier studies.
Health - Life Sciences - 14.12.2021
An enemy within: Pathogens hide in tissue
Antibiotics cure many bacterial infections. However, some patients suffer a relapse. A research group at the University of Basel has now discovered why some bacteria can survive antibiotic therapy. The team uncovered where the bacteria hide in the body and how the body's own immune system also plays an important role.
Health - 09.12.2021
More infections in poorly ventilated classrooms
Indoor air quality has an influence on how many corona virus infections occur there. This has now been shown for the first time in a pilot project involving researchers in 150 primary school classrooms in Graubünden. The analysis also showed that the air quality in many classrooms is poor. The study concluded that regular ventilation of classrooms is therefore very important, even in winter months.
Health - Pharmacology - 07.12.2021
Rigidifying cancer cells for better immunotherapy
Scientists have found that stiffening the membranes of cancer cells can lead to improved immunotherapy outcomes. Preclinical tests show that it can increase long-term survival rates to nearly 50%. Immunotherapy is a promising form of cancer treatment that boosts patients' own T cells so that they can proliferate and destroy cancer cells.
Health - Life Sciences - 02.12.2021
How food intake modifies the gut
Researchers from the University of Geneva identified that the amount of food regulate the gut size and its capacity to absorb calories, thus shedding light on a fundamental mechanism at the very origin of obesity. With more than 10% of the world's population obese and 40% overweight, obesity constitutes one of the most crucial health challenges.
Life Sciences - Health - 02.12.2021
Tracking the neurons that make us social
A team from the UNIGE has discovered that neurons linked to the reward system are responsible for motivating us to interact with our fellow human beings. Human beings, like most mammals, need social interactions to live and develop. The processes that drive them towards each other require decision making whose brain machinery is largely misunderstood.
Health - Chemistry - 02.12.2021
Uterine atlas can lead to better models of the womb, provide insights into diseases
In the quest to study the womb and its role in reproductive health, researchers in the Turco lab and their collaborators have generated a cellular map of the human uterus and of endometrial organoids — lab-grown models of the womb's lining. The atlas, which is the most detailed of its kind, will help scientists to develop better models of the womb.
Pharmacology - Health - 30.11.2021
Promising Drug Combination Treatment Against Parasitic Worm Infections
In a Phase III clinical trial, researchers at Swiss TPH have successfully gathered encouraging data to demonstrate higher efficacy of co-administration of ivermectin-albendazole in combating soil-transmitted helminthiasis. The findings were published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal.
Health - Environment - 30.11.2021
Personen mit niedrigem Einkommen stärker von Pandemie belastet
The COVCO-Basel study by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) has been investigating the health-related and societal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year. New results from the study have shown that people coming from low-income households are more severely affected by the pandemic, and that rates of depression among this population group have risen.
Environment - Health - 29.11.2021
Ozone causes our skin to emit tiny airborne particles
An international research team including scientists has found that whenever we encounter ozone, it reacts with lipids in our skin to create nanoparticles. Air pollution is responsible for seven million of premature deaths around the world every year, according to the World Health Organization. That's roughly the same number of people who die from smoking or malnutrition.
Health - Life Sciences - 29.11.2021
Wyss Center and Inselspital Bern announce clinical trial for long-term brain monitoring technology
Early clinical study will assess safety and feasibility of the Epios(TM) subscalp recording leads in epilepsy patients Geneva, Switzerland - Brain signal recording with the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering's subscalp Epios(TM) sensing electrodes (leads) is being carried out for the first time in patients at the University Hospital Bern, Inselspital.
Health - 29.11.2021
Cancer cells may promote metastases and resistance to therapy, depending on their state
A type of cell transformation known as EMT enables cancer cells to break away from the tumor and form metastases elsewhere. However, this process does not always take place in full. Researchers at the University of Basel have now been able to show that tumor cells contribute differently to the formation of metastases and the development of therapy resistance, depending on whether they have undergone full or only partial transformation.
Health - Physics - 25.11.2021
Proton therapy: a success story that started 25 years ago
On 25 November 1996, the Center for Proton Therapy at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI treated a cancer patient using the spot-scanning technique for the very first time - a world premiere. This technique developed at PSI scans and irradiates deep-seated tumours with a pencil-thin beam of charged particles, killing cancer cells with extreme precision while preserving the surrounding healthy tissue.
Health - Mechanical Engineering - 25.11.2021
Tissue engineering using mechanobiology and robotic micromanipulation
A team of EPFL engineers has discovered a strategy to shape living tissues like dough. Have you ever wondered how a sphere of cells, morula, gives rise to tissues and organs with mesmerizing shapes and architectures? The secret lies in the mechanics of embryonic tissues. They exhibit a viscous (fluid-like) and an elastic (solid-like) behavior depending on the forces acting on them.
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