The spatial arrangement of genetic material within the cell nucleus plays an important role in the development of an organism. A research team from the University of Basel, in collaboration with scientists from Harvard University, has developed a method to trace the chromosomes in individual cells. Using this method, they have now been able to demonstrate that chromosomes reorganize during embryonic development. The study has recently been published in “Molecular Cell”.
Professor Nicola Aceto of the University of Basel is awarded the prestigious Friedrich Miescher Award 2020 for his research on circulating tumor cell clusters. He shares the award with Professor Greta Guarda, a group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona.
The round goby, one of the most common invasive freshwater fish, boasts a particularly robust immune system, which could be one of the reasons for its excellent adaptability. This is the result of international genome research.
Migraines affect not only adults but frequently also children and adolescents. Researchers from the University of Basel have concluded that in this age group, the preventive pharmacological treatment of migraine is no more effective than placebo in the long term. The results of the review, carried out as part of an international collaboration, have been published in the scientific journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have discovered a “clockwork” mechanism that controls cell division in bacteria. In two publications, in “Nature Communications” und “PNAS”, they report how a small signaling molecule starts the “clock”, which informs the cell about the right time to reproduce.
Young people make intensive use of digital networks to read, write and comment on literary texts. But their reading behavior varies considerably depending on whether the title is from the world of popular or classic literature, as revealed by a new study that takes the reading platform Wattpad as an example.
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The International Day of Women and Girls in Science will take place on 11 February. To mark this day, physicists from the University of Basel are hosting a public panel discussion with guests from industry and research. The aim is to discuss strategies for increasing gender balance in science. The program also features an exhibition on famous female scientists and demonstration experiments aimed at capturing the interest of schoolgirls in particular. In the run-up to the event, UniNews spoke to the two women behind it.
Terence Tao is one of the most important mathematicians of our time. The Fields Medalist, who teaches in California, will give a lecture at the University of Basel next week. He will talk about the notorious Collatz conjecture – only by appearance the simplest mathematical problem.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Sjöberg Prize 2020 jointly to Prof. Michael N. Hall, Biozentrum of the University of Basel, and Prof. David M. Sabatini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. The two scientists receive this international award for their discovery of mTOR and its role in the control of cell metabolism and growth.