news 2024

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, as researchers have shown. Their findings open up new avenues for the asexual propagation of crop plants.

A team at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) and the University of Basel is hunting for the causes of hereditary retinal diseases.

As we age, our cells lose the ability to effectively eliminate the waste products they produce. This degeneration has serious consequences as it can cause inflammation and dysfunction throughout the body. A team of scientists at the University of Freiburg has now discovered that a specific drug treatment can alleviate this condition by stimulating a mechanism called mitophagy .

Chronic stress affects the immune system and the brain. researchers now show that a particular enzyme found in cells of the immune system enters the brain under stress. In mice, it causes them to withdraw and avoid social contact. This newly discovered connection between body and mind in stress-related mental illnesses could lead to new treatments for depression.

Researchers have developed a machine learning approach to compressing image data with greater accuracy than learning-free computation methods, with applications for retinal implants and other sensory prostheses. A major challenge to developing better neural prostheses is sensory encoding: transforming information captured from the environment by sensors into neural signals that can be interpreted by the nervous system.

Researchers have observed living red blood cells transforming into spiky "echinocytes" in real time when treated with high concentrations of ibuprofen using holotomographic microscopy and displayed them in 3D renderings. Blood is indeed "a juice of rarest quality." What the poet and natural scientist Goethe already suspected can now actually be visualized using innovative imaging techniques.

Researchers at ETH Zurich recently developed highly realistic simulations of the proteins on sperm and egg cells coupling together before they fuse. These findings enabled the research team to solve several mysteries of fertilisation at once, which could help to accelerate development of more targeted infertility treatments.

Fighting disease-causing bacteria becomes more difficult when antibiotics stop working. People with pre-existing conditions in particular can carry resistant germs and suffer from repeated infections for years, according to a study by the University and University Hospital of Basel. Pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sepsis: diseases like these can become fatal without antibiotics.

Researchers reveal a novel method to uncover bits of our genetic blueprint that come from ancient genetic parasites, offering fresh insights into human evolution and health. The human genome, an intricate tapestry of genetic information for life, has proven to be a treasure trove of strange features.

To rapidly transmit electrical signals in the brain, the long nerve fibers are insulated by specialized cells called oligodendrocytes. These cells also respond to the electrical signals of active nerve fibers and provide them with energy on demand, as researchers have discovered. If this process, regulated by potassium, is disabled in mice, the nerve fibers are severely damaged as the animals age - resembling the defects of neurodegenerative diseases.

The placenta provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby, but its early interactions with a mother's uterus remain an enigma.

Researchers have found a virus that kills dormant bacteria. This rare discovery could help to combat germs that can't be treated with antibiotics alone. In nature, most bacteria live on the bare minimum. If they experience nutrient deficiency or stress, they shut down their metabolism in a controlled manner and go into a resting state.

In a recent research, scientists have revealed new insights into the complex network of blood vessels in brain metastases, which were not well understood before. They've emphasized a significant increase in a molecule called CD276, known for its role in immune regulation. What's promising is that experimental antibodies targeting CD276 have shown positive results in early trials, suggesting a potential breakthrough in treatment approaches.

Scientists unveil a groundbreaking method using biological nanopores and deep learning to detect protein modifications, offering new avenues in disease diagnostics. Proteins, the workhorses of the cell, undergo various modifications after their synthesis. Because they can profoundly affect how a protein operates in the cell, these "post-translational modifications", or PTMs, are key in numerous biological processes.

Genetic diversity plays a critical role in enabling species to adapt to climate change. An international study, jointly conducted with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), indicates that ongoing endeavors to monitor genetic diversity in Europe are inadequate and incomplete.

A study conducted at the University of Lausanne and the SIB has demonstrated that a little-studied category of genetic variants, generally associated with serious rare diseases, also influences the risk of more common diseases in the general population. Their results, published in the January 8, 2024 issue of the journal "Genome Medicine", are promising for the development of personalized medicine.

Unknown germs are a common occurrence in hospitals. Researchers at the University of Basel have spent many years collecting and analyzing them. They have identified many new species of bacteria, some of which are significant for clinical practice. Bacterial infections can be treated more efficiently if the cause of the disease is known.

Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study led by UZH, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary. Primates - and this includes humans - are thought of as highly social animals. Many species of monkeys and apes live in groups.

For children, the world is full of surprises. Adults, on the other hand, are much more difficult to surprise. And there are complex processes behind this apparently straightforward state of affairs. Researchers at the University of Basel have been using mice to decode how reactions to the unexpected develop in the growing brain.

Influenza and other viruses pack their genetic material into a protein shell, which must be disassembled for the viruses to efficiently replicate. But how viruses 'uncoat' their genes remains largely unknown. Now, FMI researchers have identified crucial features of this uncoating process - work that may inform the development of new antiviral treatments.