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Health - Life Sciences - 08.04.2020 
A novel molecular target for particularly aggressive cancers
By deciphering how the FKBP10 protein facilitates lung cancer progression, UNIGE scientists are proposing an original therapeutic strategy. Three-dimensional lung (green) and tumors (red) and corresponding X-ray scans (black and white) at weeks 0, 6, and 12 after tumour onset (left: mouse with intact FKBP10; right: mouse with inhibition of FKBP10).
Health - Environment - 03.04.2020 
Wastewater testing as a potential early warning system for waves of coronavirus
You were already collecting wastewater samples in Ticino weeks ago - why? Christoph Ort (environmental engineer): We have many years of experience in the measurement of illicit drugs in wastewater.
Health - Computer Science / Telecom - 02.04.2020 
Software to enable secure data-sharing for hospitals
The MedCo system aims to facilitate medical research on pathologies - such as cancer and infectious diseases - by enabling secure computations on decentralized data. The unique software has recently been deployed at three Swiss hospitals. MedCo was first released in 2019 as the first operational system to protect sensitive patient data so that it can be used collectively for medical research.
Health - Life Sciences - 01.04.2020 
Blocking the Iron Transport Could Stop Tuberculosis
The bacteria that cause tuberculosis need iron to survive. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now solved the first detailed structure of the transport protein responsible for the iron supply. When the iron transport into the bacteria is inhibited, the pathogen can no longer grow. This opens novel ways to develop targeted tuberculosis drugs.
Media - Health - 30.03.2020
Health - 27.03.2020 
A device for the early detection of certain eyesight problems
EPFL researchers have developed a device that can zoom in on previously invisible cells at the back of the eye. The technology could be extremely useful for ophthalmologists, in particular for detecting age-related macular degeneration early and assessing new treatment options. There is renewed hope for people with eyesight problems such as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.
Life Sciences - Health - 23.03.2020 
Stem Cells and Nerves Interact in Tissue Regeneration and Cancer Progression
Researchers at the University of Zurich show that different stem cell populations are innervated in distinct ways. Innervation may therefore be crucial for proper tissue regeneration. They also demonstrate that cancer stem cells likewise establish contacts with nerves. Targeting tumour innervation could thus lead to new cancer therapies.
Pharmacology - Health - 23.03.2020 
IOR lays the foundation for a new clinical trial against lymphomas
A study conducted by med. Francesco Bertoni at the Institute of Oncology Research ( IOR , affiliated to USI) has shown that a specific combination of drugs is a potentially winning strategy in the fight against lymphomas. The results obtained in the laboratory have enabled the researchers at the Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera italiana ( IOSI ) to develop a clinical study together with the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research ( SAKK ).
Health - Life Sciences - 18.03.2020 
Loss of Protein Disturbs Intestinal Homeostasis and Can Drive Cancer
An international team of researchers from the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich, Heidelberg and Glasgow has identified a novel function for the cell death regulating protein MCL1: It is essential in protecting the intestine against cancer development - independent of bacterial-driven inflammation.
Health - 17.03.2020 
New mechanisms of regulation of our immune system
A group of researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona (IRB, affiliated to USI) and the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan have identified a molecular mechanism that maintains the regulation of the response of our immune system avoiding excessive responses that can damage the body.
Health - Environment - 16.03.2020 
Better Understanding of Air Pollution and Health in Europe
To date, air pollution represents the largest environmental risk to health. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for about one in every nine deaths annually. A new study by Swiss TPH used robust modelling methodology to estimate nitrogen dioxide levels in Europe through the combination of monitors, satellites and chemical transport models.
Life Sciences - Health - 16.03.2020 
The importance of gene position for muscle development and integrity
Mutations in the nuclear structural protein lamin A produce rare, tissue-specific diseases called laminopathies. To study these diseases, researchers from the Gasser group introduced a mutation inducing a human laminopathy in C. elegans and monitored its effect on chromatin. Not only did they understand the molecular basis of the disease, they found a way to counteract the dominant defects of the mutation, suggesting a novel therapeutic pathway.
Health - Environment - 13.03.2020 
Reducing the risk of infection
Biology shows us that there are additional ways to reduce the risk of serious coronavirus infections, in addition to hand hygiene and keeping distance, Viola Vogel writes. We all know the importance of good hand hygiene and of keeping our distance if we want to protect ourselves and others from infection with the novel coronavirus.
Health - Life Sciences - 12.03.2020
Health - Pharmacology - 09.03.2020 
Circulatory failure is predictable
Researchers at ETH Zurich and Bern University Hospital have developed a method for predicting circulatory failure in patients in intensive care units - enabling clinicians to intervene at an early stage. Their approach uses machine learning methods to evaluate an extensive body of patient data. Patients in a hospital's intensive care unit are kept under close observation: clinicians continuously monitor their vital signs such as their pulse, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation.
Life Sciences - Health - 28.02.2020 
Calculating the beginnings of the coronavirus epidemic
Analyses of publicly available genome data provide clues to the beginnings of the coronavirus epidemic in China. Researchers from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel used a statistical model they had developed in recent years. Since the current coronavirus epidemic started, scientists and authorities have determined the genetic fingerprint of virus samples from numerous affected countries.
Physics - Health - 26.02.2020 
Glass slides that stand to revolutionize fluorescence microscopy
EPFL scientists have developed a new type of microscope slide that can boost the amount of light in fluorescence microscopy by a factor of up to 25. These new slides can both amplify and direct light, making them ideal for applications ranging from early-stage diagnosis to the rapid archiving of pathology samples.
Health - Chemistry - 26.02.2020 
Better care: fast, sensitive blood tests for use at home
They should be fast, portable and easy to use: blood tests that can be done at home. Having already come up with a prototype, ETH Pioneer Fellow Alexander Tanno is working with doctoral student Yves Blickenstorfer to bring the idea to market. The prototype that Alexander Tanno is holding between his thumb and forefinger doesn't look particularly impressive.
Health - Pharmacology - 21.02.2020 
A better diagnosis of rare diabetes to adapt treatment
Scientists highlight the importance of monogenic diabetes and the consequences in terms of care of a precise diagnosis. Diabetes affects more than 400 million people worldwide and is a major public health problem. Although commonly referred to as a single disease, it actually constitutes a group of metabolic disorders with hyperglycaemia as a common feature.
Life Sciences - Health - 20.02.2020 
A scaffold at the center of our cellular skeleton
UNIGE researchers have discovered a new nano-structure that lies at the center of our cellular skeleton. This discovery will allow to better understand how the cell maintains its architecture as well as the pathologies associated with dysfunctions of this structure. All animal cells have an organelle called a centrosome, which is essential to the organization of their cell skeleton.
Health
Results 1 - 20 of 649.
By deciphering how the FKBP10 protein facilitates lung cancer progression, UNIGE scientists are proposing an original therapeutic strategy. Three-dimensional lung (green) and tumors (red) and corresponding X-ray scans (black and white) at weeks 0, 6, and 12 after tumour onset (left: mouse with intact FKBP10; right: mouse with inhibition of FKBP10).
You were already collecting wastewater samples in Ticino weeks ago - why? Christoph Ort (environmental engineer): We have many years of experience in the measurement of illicit drugs in wastewater.
The MedCo system aims to facilitate medical research on pathologies - such as cancer and infectious diseases - by enabling secure computations on decentralized data. The unique software has recently been deployed at three Swiss hospitals. MedCo was first released in 2019 as the first operational system to protect sensitive patient data so that it can be used collectively for medical research.
The bacteria that cause tuberculosis need iron to survive. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now solved the first detailed structure of the transport protein responsible for the iron supply. When the iron transport into the bacteria is inhibited, the pathogen can no longer grow. This opens novel ways to develop targeted tuberculosis drugs.
Four keywords to understand journalism during a pandemic
From newspapers to television, from the internet to social media, we experience an overload of information on the Covid-19 pandemic. Science journalism has become an important source to help individuals understand what is true and what is false. In this video Philip Di Salvo, a post-doc researcher at USI Institute of Media and Journalism, proposes four key words to comprehend what is happening to the media.
From newspapers to television, from the internet to social media, we experience an overload of information on the Covid-19 pandemic. Science journalism has become an important source to help individuals understand what is true and what is false. In this video Philip Di Salvo, a post-doc researcher at USI Institute of Media and Journalism, proposes four key words to comprehend what is happening to the media.
EPFL researchers have developed a device that can zoom in on previously invisible cells at the back of the eye. The technology could be extremely useful for ophthalmologists, in particular for detecting age-related macular degeneration early and assessing new treatment options. There is renewed hope for people with eyesight problems such as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.
Researchers at the University of Zurich show that different stem cell populations are innervated in distinct ways. Innervation may therefore be crucial for proper tissue regeneration. They also demonstrate that cancer stem cells likewise establish contacts with nerves. Targeting tumour innervation could thus lead to new cancer therapies.
A study conducted by med. Francesco Bertoni at the Institute of Oncology Research ( IOR , affiliated to USI) has shown that a specific combination of drugs is a potentially winning strategy in the fight against lymphomas. The results obtained in the laboratory have enabled the researchers at the Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera italiana ( IOSI ) to develop a clinical study together with the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research ( SAKK ).
An international team of researchers from the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich, Heidelberg and Glasgow has identified a novel function for the cell death regulating protein MCL1: It is essential in protecting the intestine against cancer development - independent of bacterial-driven inflammation.
A group of researchers from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona (IRB, affiliated to USI) and the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan have identified a molecular mechanism that maintains the regulation of the response of our immune system avoiding excessive responses that can damage the body.
To date, air pollution represents the largest environmental risk to health. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for about one in every nine deaths annually. A new study by Swiss TPH used robust modelling methodology to estimate nitrogen dioxide levels in Europe through the combination of monitors, satellites and chemical transport models.
Mutations in the nuclear structural protein lamin A produce rare, tissue-specific diseases called laminopathies. To study these diseases, researchers from the Gasser group introduced a mutation inducing a human laminopathy in C. elegans and monitored its effect on chromatin. Not only did they understand the molecular basis of the disease, they found a way to counteract the dominant defects of the mutation, suggesting a novel therapeutic pathway.
Biology shows us that there are additional ways to reduce the risk of serious coronavirus infections, in addition to hand hygiene and keeping distance, Viola Vogel writes. We all know the importance of good hand hygiene and of keeping our distance if we want to protect ourselves and others from infection with the novel coronavirus.
Gold nanoparticles uncover amyloid fibrils
EPFL scientists have developed powerful tools to unmask the diversity of amyloid fibrils, which are associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The scientists made the breakthrough by developing gold nanoparticles that combine with cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, to provide rapid and unprecedented images of fibrils.
EPFL scientists have developed powerful tools to unmask the diversity of amyloid fibrils, which are associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The scientists made the breakthrough by developing gold nanoparticles that combine with cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, to provide rapid and unprecedented images of fibrils.
Researchers at ETH Zurich and Bern University Hospital have developed a method for predicting circulatory failure in patients in intensive care units - enabling clinicians to intervene at an early stage. Their approach uses machine learning methods to evaluate an extensive body of patient data. Patients in a hospital's intensive care unit are kept under close observation: clinicians continuously monitor their vital signs such as their pulse, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation.
Analyses of publicly available genome data provide clues to the beginnings of the coronavirus epidemic in China. Researchers from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel used a statistical model they had developed in recent years. Since the current coronavirus epidemic started, scientists and authorities have determined the genetic fingerprint of virus samples from numerous affected countries.
EPFL scientists have developed a new type of microscope slide that can boost the amount of light in fluorescence microscopy by a factor of up to 25. These new slides can both amplify and direct light, making them ideal for applications ranging from early-stage diagnosis to the rapid archiving of pathology samples.
They should be fast, portable and easy to use: blood tests that can be done at home. Having already come up with a prototype, ETH Pioneer Fellow Alexander Tanno is working with doctoral student Yves Blickenstorfer to bring the idea to market. The prototype that Alexander Tanno is holding between his thumb and forefinger doesn't look particularly impressive.
Scientists highlight the importance of monogenic diabetes and the consequences in terms of care of a precise diagnosis. Diabetes affects more than 400 million people worldwide and is a major public health problem. Although commonly referred to as a single disease, it actually constitutes a group of metabolic disorders with hyperglycaemia as a common feature.
UNIGE researchers have discovered a new nano-structure that lies at the center of our cellular skeleton. This discovery will allow to better understand how the cell maintains its architecture as well as the pathologies associated with dysfunctions of this structure. All animal cells have an organelle called a centrosome, which is essential to the organization of their cell skeleton.
