For decades, Alzheimer’s was considered incurable. Now, a shift is emerging: clinician and dementia researcher Professor Marc Aurel Busche explains why our understanding of the disease is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation.
Meningitis is rare in newborns but often dramatic. For the first time, researchers have developed a preventive approach that stops harmful bacteria in their tracks before transmission even occurs. Researchers at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich harness one of its natural enemies: a virus that kills bacteria.
Literary scholars Moniek Kuijpers and Tina Ternes investigate how Shared Reading affects people’s well-being. On the occasion of the Schweizer Vorlesetag on 27 May, they offer insights into their research and share personal experiences.
Lakes play a vital filtering role in the ecosystem: they remove excess nitrogen from the water. An international research team led by the University of Basel and Eawag has now shown that climate change could weaken this natural purification process. This would have consequences extending all the way to coastal marine ecosystems.
Different beak and jaw shapes are illustrative examples of how animal species have adapted to different food sources. In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers now show how diet itself shapes the composition of intestinal tissue, using the highly diverse cichlid fishes as an example.
A blood stem cell donation can save the lives of people with leukemia. To collect these cells from the bloodstream, donors are given medication that mobilizes blood stem cells from the bone marrow. A pilot study now suggests that physical exercise could specifically support stem cell donation.
Millions of people worldwide carry viral infections they acquired at birth, often for life. For a long time it was assumed that the immune system hardly fights these pathogens. Researchers from the University of Basel show now that the body’s defenses do indeed act against the virus. This could be a useful starting point for future therapies.
In many diseases, damaged mitochondria play a central role. These small structures supply cells with energy. Researchers have now developed the system MitoCatch, which delivers healthy donor mitochondria specifically to the cells that need them most urgently.
Excavations beneath Basel’s Stadtcasino uncovered graves from the 17th century, including plague burials. Analysis by researchers at the University of Basel shows that it was primarily young people from lower social strata who fell victim to the disease.
