News
At the University of Zurich and at ETH Zurich, Life Science research covers a huge range of different topics. There is plenty of new information about all these research activities is every day and you easily lose track of what is really important. Under “News”, we have selected some of the reports and articles on new and relevant findings in the Life Science research for you. If you are looking for more detailed knowledge of a specific subject you might find an answer here. If you miss your favorite research topic, please let us know.
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How bacteria fertilise soya
Soya and clover have their very own fertiliser factories in their roots, where bacteria manufacture ammonium, which is crucial for plant growth. Although this has long been common knowledge, scientists have only recently described the mechanism in detail. With biotechnology, this knowledge could now help make agriculture more sustainable.
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The key lies in the genes
“All things are poison, and nothing is without poison, the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.” These were the words of Paracelsus, a Swiss physician who recognised back in the 16th century that every medicine has its benefits and risks, and that for a medicine to work, the individual dose is crucial.
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ETH researchers deconstruct tissue repair
ETH biologists and engineers have deconstructed the mechanisms that control wound healing and scar formation in more detail. To this end, they have developed a method that allows the biomechanical properties of the healing tissue to be measured in vivo for the first time.
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Bumblebees speed up flowering
When pollen is in short supply, bumblebees damage plant leaves in a way that accelerates flower production, as an ETH research team headed up by Consuelo De Moraes and Mark Mescher has demonstrated.
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Joining forces at ETH Zurich for a covid-19 vaccine
As the shutdown began and the lights went out in the ETH labs a new consortium crystalized around the idea of developing a vaccine. With special permission from the ETH Executive Board to continue wet-lab research the project quickly got moving and testing of the first vaccine candidates is now underway.
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Extinct Giant Turtle Had Horned Shell of up to Three Meters
Paleobiologists from the University of Zurich have discovered exceptional specimens in Venezuela and Colombia of an extinct giant freshwater turtle called Stupendemys. The carapace of this turtle, which is the largest ever known, measured between 2.4 to almost 3 meters. Moreover, the shell of male Stupendemys had horns – a rare feature in turtles.
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Maintaining better health
The health care system places a greater emphasis on the treatment of diseases than the root causes of health. On the invitation of the Life Science Zurich (LSZ) Business Network, science, business and society recently discussed this challenge.
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New world map of fish genetic diversity
An international research team from ETH Zurich and French universities has studied genetic diversity among fish around the world for the first time. Their research produced a map that will serve as a tool in improving the protection of species and genetic diversity in the future.
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Refining Breast Cancer Classification by Multiplexed Imaging
An imaging approach developed at UZH enables the study of breast cancer tissue in greater detail. It uses 35 biomarkers to identify the different cell types in breast tumors and its surrounding area compared to the current standard of testing single markers. This increases the precision of tumor analysis and classification - and improves personalized diagnostics for breast cancer patients.
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Cellular Traitors
When it comes to disease-causing viruses, medicine is still waiting for a breakthrough. The reason lies in the special way these quasi-living organisms function. Viruses don’t simply attack us; they live in constant symbiosis with us.
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Machine keeps human livers alive for one week
Researchers in Zurich have developed a machine that keeps human livers alive outside the body for one week. This breakthrough may increase the number of available organs for transplantation saving many lives of patients with severe liver diseases or cancer.
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Fixing Hearts, Saving Lives
Artificial heart valves save many lives. But the problem is that a prosthesis is never as robust as the real thing. This is why UZH Professor Maximilian Emmert wants to get the human body to rebuild the damaged valves itself.
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Fading Petunias
Through heat, saline soil or aridity, the environment can directly influence the activity of genes. As the biologist Ueli Grossniklaus has demonstrated, in plants these epigenetic changes can sometimes be inherited.
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Mindfulness Meditation Enhances Positive Effects of Psilocybin
Researchers of the UZH have shown that mindfulness meditation can enhance the positive long-term effects of a single dose of psilocybin.
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Antibiotics with Novel Mechanism of Action Discovered
Swiss researchers co-headed by the University of Zurich have now discovered a new class of antibiotics with a unique spectrum of activity and mechanism of action – a major step in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.