The group of Paul Guichard has developed a technique to visualize cellular elements with a resolution unequalled in optical microscopy. Published on December 17, 2018 in Nature Methods, the results demonstrate how the researchers have succeeded in enlarging biological samples without deforming them and revealing details at a nanometric scale.
News / Bio.news
Monitoring the environment with artificial intelligence
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The team of Jan Pawlowski has developed an approach that combines genomics and machine learning tools to explore the microbial biodiversity of ecosystems. This new approach, published on December 13, 2018 in Trends in Microbiology, will enable the development of very efficient routine biomonitoring programs.
Michael Hothorn receives an ERC Consolidator Grant
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An ERC CoG has been awarded to Michael Hothorn for his research project entitled “System-wide discovery and analysis of inositol pyrophosphate signaling networks in plants (InsPire)”. The aim is to uncover nutrient signaling networks in plants.
The grant is endowed with 2 million Euros over 5 years.
Information (pending)
The Trojan horse of Staphylococcus aureus
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The team of Sandra Citi has identified the mechanism that allows pores formed by the bacterial α-toxin to anchor to human epithelial cell membranes. The study, published on November 20, 2018 in Cell Reports, also demonstrates that blocking the assembly of the protein complex to which pores are docked allows cells to survive.
Stem cells organize themselves into pseudo-embryos
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In collaboration with the University of Cambridge and the EPFL, the group of Denis Duboule has developed murine artificial pseudo-embryos capable of forming the three major axes of the body. These ‘gastruloids’, detailed on October 3, 2018 in Nature, possess a remarkable potential for the study of the early stages of normal or pathological embryonic development.
How the African elephant cracks its skin to cool off
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The team of Michel Milinkovitch has discovered that elephants regulate their body heat through their skin, which cracks into deep crevices, absorbing a maximum water. These results were published on October 2, 2018 in Nature Communications.
Video showing in detail the skin structure of the African elephant
A protein prevents plants from premature flowering
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The team of Roman Ulm has discovered that UV-B rays could influence the onset of flowering, but that their action is repressed by a protein called RUP2. This work was published on September 25, 2018 in Genes & Development.
Thanos Halazonetis receives an ERC Advanced Grant
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An ERC Advanced Grant has been awarded to Thanos Halazonetis for his research project entitled “DNA Replication: From Physiology to Replication Stress in Human Cancer”.
The program is endowed with 2’231’378 Euros over 5 years.
Novice Biology Students’ Teleological and Essentialist Misconceptions
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Kostas Kampourakis and his colleagues at the Faculty of Science conducted a study with 93 first year undergraduate students in biology. Their findings, published on August 31, 2018 in Education Sciences, provide evidence for considerable persistence of teleological and essentialist misconceptions about biological phenomena.
Séance d’accueil des nouveaux étudiants
17 septembre 2018
Auditoire A 300, dès 8h30
Sciences II, 30 quai Ernest-Ansermet, rez-de-chaussée
9h45 Conférence intitulée “L’informatique à l’intersection des disciplines scientifiques”, prononcée par le Dr Jonas LATT du Département d’informatique
A l’issue de cette conférence, la séance d’information de la biologie se déroulera dans l’auditoire A 300, avec le professeur Didier Picard, président de la Section