news 2024

Researchers at EPFL unlock a detailed understanding of brain and spinal cord interactions. The tool that paves the way for future research breakthroughs and innovative therapeutic approaches. The brain and spinal cord are the central pillars of the human central nervous system (CNS), orchestrating everything from movement to sensation.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed ultra-flexible brain probes that accurately record brain activity without causing tissue damage. This opens up new avenues for the treatment of a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Neurostimulators, also known as brain pacemakers, send electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain via special electrodes.

Our glycaemic balance is based on the ability of the pancreatic beta cells to detect glucose and secrete insulin to maintain our blood sugar levels. If these cells malfunction, the balance is broken, and diabetes develops. Until now, the scientific community agreed that beta cells needed the other hormone-producing cells of the pancreas to function properly.

A recent study led by Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the University of Bern shows that stents with a degradable polymer coating offer no long-term advantage over conventional stents. However, patients who consistently take their cholesterol-lowering medication have a lower risk of complications following stent implantation.

The chance of a healthy life is not the same for everyone. On behalf of the FOPH, the FHNW has conducted a study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the migrant population in Switzerland, which provides in-depth insights. In the study, the FHNW investigated the question of how severely the migrant population was affected by severe cases of Covid-19 and how they were able to cope with this crisis.

Medical imaging technology - such as MRI, ultrasound and X-ray - is gaining in power and precision, especially in the wake of recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. Several EPFL research groups are contributing to this progress and actively shaping the future in this area. Thanks to advances in medical imaging, doctors can localize a bone fracture, detect a tumor and observe a baby inside the uterus, all'in a completely noninvasive manner.

The Institute of oncology research (IOR), affiliated to USI, is pleased to announce the publication of a study describing a new compound designed at IOR, targeting the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASp) with anti-cancer activity in various hematological cancers. The research, led by Dr Eugenio Gaudio (former IOR senior investigator) and Prof. Francesco Bertoni (IOR group leader and deputy director, USI adjunct professor), involved prominent institutions, including the Institute for research in biomedicine (IRB) and various European and North-American institutions.

Researchers from EPFL have developed a next-generation miniaturized brain-machine interface capable of direct brain-to-text communication on tiny silicon chips. Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) have emerged as a promising solution for restoring communication and control to individuals with severe motor impairments.

Not all pain is the same. Depending on the cause, it requires different therapies. A team led by ETH Zurich has now developed a method that enables physicians to better distinguish between physical and psychosocial pain. Severe pain often has physical causes. But emotional, psychological and social factors can influence how we perceive and react to pain.

Researchers at Swiss TPH have demonstrated that the novel drug candidate, emodepside, is highly effective in treating parasitic worm infections in humans, particularly hookworms. The results of a Phase 2b trial, published today in The Lancet, confirmed the drug's strong efficacy and safety profile, building on the promising outcomes of an earlier Phase 2a study.

A new class of fat cells makes people healthier. The cells consume energy and produce heat through seemingly pointless biochemical reactions. Fat cells come in three colours: white, brown, and beige. White fat cells store fat in our body as an energy reserve. We need these cells, but having too many creates health problems.

Variations in genetic material allow the water flea to defend itself against parasites, forcing the parasites to adapt. This coevolutionary loop has been running for at least 15 million years, as researchers at the University of Basel have demonstrated. Hosts and their parasites are in constant competition.

Researchers have modified certain bacteria with UV light so that they produce more cellulose. The basis for this is a new approach with which the researchers generate thousands of bacterial variants and select those that have developed into the most productive. Bacteria produce materials that are of interest to humans, such as cellulose, silk and minerals.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have uncovered how colorectal cancer cells colonise the liver. Their findings could open up new ways to suppress this process in the future. In cases where cancer is fatal, nine out of ten times the culprit is metastasis. This is when the primary tumour has sent out cells, like seeds, and invaded other organs of the body.

By identifying mechanisms unique to leukaemia-causing cells, a French-Swiss team has discovered a new way to fight the disease. Acute myeloid leukaemia is one of the deadliest cancers. Leukaemic stem cells responsible for the disease are highly resistant to treatment. A team from the University of Geneva , University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), and Inserm has made a breakthrough by identifying some of the genetic and energetic characteristics of these stem cells, notably a specific iron utilisation process.

How did the 2021 national marriage equality referendum campaign in Switzerland affect the well-being of the LGBTIQ+ community? A team led by researchers at UZH has shown that LGBTIQ+ individuals and their cisgender heterosexual allies exhibited more stress hormones during the controversial campaign.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT are using artificial intelligence to improve the categorisation of breast cancer. Not all cancers are the same. Some tumours grow very slowly or hardly ever change from a comparatively harmless pre-cancerous form to a life-threatening form.

A team from the University of Geneva shows that overly strong or weak interconnections between certain brain areas could be a predictive marker of the disease. Is it possible to assess an individual's risk of psychosis? Identifying predictive markers is a key challenge in psychiatry. A team from the University of Geneva , part of the Synapsy Centre for Neuroscience and Mental Health Research, studied a cohort of patients with a 22q11.2DS microdeletion-a genetic anomaly linked to psychotic disorders.

Addressing problems with diagnosing and treating breast cancer, scientists at EPFL have developed EMBER, a tool that integrates breast cancer transcriptomic data from multiple databases. EMBER can improve precision oncology by accurately predicting molecular subtypes and therapy responses. Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide.

Globally, around 2.6 million children and adolescents are currently living with HIV, the majority of them in Africa. These young people are much more likely to experience treatment failure than adults. Experts long assumed that testing for viral drug resistance could improve treatment in cases where treatment has failed.