Through analysis of the human genome, Basle scientists have identified molecules and compounds that are related to human memory. In a subsequent pharmacological study with one of the identified compounds, the scientists found a drug-induced reduction of aversive memory. This could have implications for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, which is characterized by intrusive traumatic memories.
Alpine plants that survived the Ice Ages in different locations still show accrued differences in appearance and features. These findings were made by botanists from the University of Basel using two plant species. So far, it was only known that the glacial climate changes had left a «genetic fingerprint» in the DNA of alpine plants.
Cold seeps are the basis for a surprising diversity in the desert-like deep sea. Off the coast of Costa Rica, an international team involving Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, University of Basel and Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, documented lithodid crabs of the genus Paralomis sp. grazing bacterial mats at a methane seep. The scientists' analysis results and a time-lapse video, published in the online journal Plos One, show that not only sessile organisms benefit from the productivity around the cold seeps.
To gain complete control over chemical reactions is one of the main goals of chemists around the world. For the first time, scientists at the University of Basel and the Center of Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg were able to successfully sort out single forms of molecules with electric fields and have them react specifically. Analysis of the reaction rates showed a relation between the spatial structure of the sorted molecules and their chemical reactivity.
The outer membrane of bacteria contains many proteins that form tiny pores. They are important for absorbing nutrients and transmitting signals into the cell. A research group at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum has now shown for the first time at atomic resolution, that these pore proteins are transported in an unstructured, constantly changing state to the outer bacterial membrane.
Sonja Hofer, Professor at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has been honored with the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize by the Hertie Foundation, for her research in the field of neuroscience. The award was presented on September 27, 2013, in Frankfurt am Main by the Nobel Prize laureate and namesake, Prof Eric Kandel.
The bacterial outer envelope is densely packed with proteins that form small pores and facilitate the passage of nutrients, toxins and signaling molecules. Researchers from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel now demonstrate how these transporter proteins are integrated into the outer membrane.
The University of Basel has concluded the appointment process for the newly established Schaulager Professorship for Art Theory with its selection of the Austrian art historian Markus Klammer. Funding for the Schaulager Professorship is provided by the Laurenz Foundation.
What makes money essential for the functioning of modern society? An international group of researchers from Switzerland, Italy and the U.S. have shown through an experiment how money helps modern societies prosper by fostering cooperation among strangers.
