news 2022

A team of researchers led by Professor Yimon Aye at EPFL's School of Basic Sciences has developed a new screening method to explore an important biological process known as electrophile signaling. In general, an electrophile is a highly reactive compound that -seeks- to bond with atoms or other molecules that have an available electron pair.

The nucleus is guarded by a highly secure door, the so-called nuclear pore, that controls the transport of substances from the cytoplasm to the cell nucleus and back. A research group at the University of Basel has now shown that different shuttle proteins occupy the nuclear pore to prevent unsolicited leakage of molecules.

A team from the University of Geneva demonstrates how genes and environment interact in autistic disorders, thus explaining the vast variability of the disease's symptoms. People with autism spectrum disorders all have characteristic behavioural difficulties. Nevertheless, the important heterogeneity of their symptoms remains one of the major questions for scientists and physicians.

Scientists have made the first link between muscular dystrophy and a group of bioactive fats, the sphingolipids, which are involved in numerous cell functions and other diseases. In a new study, the group of Johan Auwerx at EPFL's School of Life Sciences has made the first connection between muscular dystrophy and sphingolipids, a group of bioactive lipids.

New research suggests that targeting proteins essential to neurotransmission could be a promising alternative to treat Alzheimer's disease New research published today in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association could explain why neurons fail to communicate effectively in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Scientists at EPFL and the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV) have found the biological mechanism behind the inflammation seen in COVID-19 infections that involve a rise in interferons in the lungs and skin. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, scientists across the world are looking at the pathology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an effort to find effective treatments for patients.

Scientists at EPFL and Sorbonne propose a new model of the diversity and evolution of gut bacteria that shows how the gut environment helps neutral mutations become prevalent, with significant potential implications on health and metabolic diseases. -We are used to thinking of evolution as a very slow process, and this is definitely the case for large mammals etc,- says Professor Anne-Florence Bitbol at EPFL's School of Life Sciences.

Organoids are miniature lab-grown tissue structures that can mimic real organs. But guiding stem cells to grow an organoid of defined shape and size is difficult. Now, EPFL bioengineers have developed new methods for successfully guiding the stem cells to grow into intestinal tissues with real-life 3D structure and function.

A research team from the UNIGE and the HUG has succeeded in identifying certain signals produced by our brain when we speak to ourselves. What if it were possible to decode the internal language of individuals deprived of the ability to express themselves? This is the objective of a team of neuroscientists from the University of Geneva and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG).

In the fight against tumours, how the key driver mutations related to disease progression and metastatic spread regulate gene expression to promote ultimately tumor progression and cancer cell adaptation to therapies have remained largely elusive. Using the gene expression fingerprint of cancer cells, researchers at the Istitute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI Università della Svizzera italiana) in Bellinzona have now developed a novel method to track precisely prostate cancer progression in an unprecedented manner.

Stroke survivors have improved recovery of hand and arm function with the help a new rehabilitation protocol thanks to finely tuned electrostimulation of target muscles in the arm. After lying for a while in a way that puts pressure on a nerve in your arm, it may happen that you no longer feel your arm anymore.

Our actions are motivated by the goals we want to achieve. However, little is known about the mechanism in our brains that allow us to make the right decisions to reach our goals. Researchers at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) and the University of Basel now identified the sequence of events taking place in a mouse brain when the mouse behaves in a certain way to obtain a reward.

PSI scientists have shed light on an important component of the eye: a protein in the rod cells of the retina which helps us see in dim light. Acting as an ion channel in the cell membrane, the protein is responsible for relaying the optical signal from the eye to the brain. If a genetic disorder disrupts the molecular function in a person, they will go blind.