wire - news in brief

Antibiotic resistance is a silent pandemic. The main objective of the Swiss Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance (StAR) is to ensure the effectiveness of antibiotics for human and animal health over the long term.

A team of researchers at USI has discovered the dimeric structural organisation of certain receptors among the principle drug targets in pharmacology.

The Molecular Oncology research group, led by Prof. Andrea Alimonti at the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI and member of Bios+), in close collaboration with the team of Prof. de Bono (Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK), has finally provided the first clinical evidence that myeloid inflammation can fuel disease progression and resistance to hormonal therapies in prostate cancer patients.

Swelling of one or more limbs due to lymphedema affects one in five women undergoing breast cancer surgery following the operation.

Almost 60 percent of all medicines displayed in the windows of pharmacies in Switzerland have no medically proven efficacy.

A joint study by the Universities of Lucerne and Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich and Swissmedic shows for the first time comprehensively how many people in Switzerland were admitted to hospital due to medication side effects. Despite the legal obligation, only a small proportion of these were reported in the eight-year observation center period.

The Corona Immunitas project has published the results of the first large-scale epidemiological study carried out since the Omicron variant supplanted Delta in Switzerland in early 2022. The results indicate a significant amount of antibodies present and exceptionally high neutralisation levels. The study also confirms that hybrid immunity, a combination of vaccination and infection, is the most effective.

ETH Zurich molecular biologist Mandy Boontanrart is researching gene therapies that could be used to cure two of the most common types of inherited anaemia. She has now developed a promising approach for so-called beta-hemoglobinopathies. Many hereditary diseases have largely been considered to be incurable.

Researchers at PSI have developed a new drug that could increase the survival chances of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The drug is now being tested on patients in the PROGNOSTICS project. A research consortium consisting of the Paul Scherrer Institute, the University Hospital Basel and ETH Zurich is receiving two million Swiss francs in funding for this project.

Nanomedicine involves packaging drugs in microscopic particles to make them more effective.

A team from the University of Geneva, in collaboration with the CHUV, has developed a new method of encapsulating fecal bacteria to treat a serious intestinal infection.

Global progress against malaria has stagnated and novel medical interventions are urgently needed.

Cancer patients might one day benefit from being administered immune cells from healthy donors. But as things stand, receiving donor cells can cause severe or even fatal immune reactions. A researcher at ETH Zurich has now developed a technology that avoids these. Edo Kapetanovic is a medical doctor, but for a while now he has devoted himself entirely to research in synthetic immunology.

Researchers at the Institute of oncology research (IOR, affiliated to USI and member of Bios+ ) , in collaboration with researchers from the University of Padova, have made a groundbreaking discovery that could change the way we think about ageing and immune cells offering a potential new target for treatments in cases of prostate cancer.

Since 2016, the Swiss Cancer Center Léman provides a space for scientists and clinicians from across the Lake Geneva region to pool their efforts, share insights and work together on innovative cancer treatments.

The coronavirus keeps evolving, and in doing so, it evades our immune defences. But does the entire coronavirus evolve, or do some portions remain unchanged? Sieving through over 10 million coronavirus sequences, two PhD students at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, Switzerland, affiliated with the Università della Svizzera italiana) discovered that some portions of the virus spike (the molecule on the virus that is key to infect human cells) were remarkably conserved.

The LOOP Zurich research center combines expertise from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the four university hospitals in Zurich with the aim of developing more personalized therapies.

An international team highlights the importance of localising BRCA gene mutations for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are inherited by 1 in 400 and 1 in 800 people respectively, significantly increase the risk of certain cancers such as ovarian, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer.

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel has studied the effects of the Covid-19 booster vaccination on the heart muscle.

A team from the UNIGE has found an alternative for patients who have developed resistance to chemotherapy treatments. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers. Its treatment is mainly based on chemotherapy. However, over time, chemotherapy induces resistance in the majority of patients, who end up being unresponsive to the drugs.

A prestigious grant from the USA goes to the biomedical scientist Sven Rottenberg, University of Bern, and the clinical scientist Intidhar Labidi-Galy, University of Geneva and University Hospital of Geneva.

EPFL spin-off ArcoScreen has developed a platform that turns the discovery of new drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, diabetes and cancer from a marathon into a sprint. The firm's microfluidic readout system assesses the response of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to new substances, delivering significant time and financial gains for pharmaceutical companies.

A combination of high-dose vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and a simple home strength exercise program (SHEP) can cumulatively reduce the risk of cancer in healthy adults over the age of 70 by 61 percent, the international DO-HEALTH study led by the University of Zurich has shown. It is the first study to test the combined benefit of three affordable public health interventions for the prevention of invasive cancers.

Although allergies are widespread, their diagnosis is complex and, depending on the type of allergy, the prospects of success with therapy are not always clear.

Researchers from Bern, Geneva, Berlin and Riems are developing two vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2.

A team from the UNIGE has identified a potential target for restoring the efficacy of standard treatment in resistant patients. Many breast cancer patients develop resistance to standard drug treatments aimed at preventing the growth of cancer cells. A team from the University of Geneva has identified a molecular regulator involved in these resistance mechanisms.

Prof. Markus Rüegg and Dr. Judith Reinhard from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have founded the start-up SEAL Therapeutics AG together with Dr. Thomas Meier, former CEO of Santhera Pharmaceuticals.

The need for effective COVID-19 treatments remains particularly acute, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where access to vaccines is still extremely limited.

Projects taking part in the National Research Programme "Covid-19" (NRP 78) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) are pursuing highly promising approaches in a drive to develop new vaccines.

In professional circles, there is talk of a toilet revolution. What exactly is going on here? It is not only about the toilet itself, but also highly about the treatment of excreta.