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.
A global study by the University of Basel reveals a surprising picture: while 42 percent of treelines worldwide are shifting upslope, 25 percent are retreating. This seemingly contradictory trend involves more than just warming. Climate change and human land use are interacting.
When a virus enters the lungs, the immune system has to react fast. The lung maintains its own community of immune cells capable of mounting a local defense on the spot. Researchers from the University of Basel now describe the role of a specialized group of cells that orchestrates this local response, directing neighboring immune cells to work together. Their findings could pave the way for new inhalable vaccines against respiratory viruses such as influenza.
There is a promising new drug for the rare disease mastocytosis, which is associated with skin lesions, among other things. Researchers at the University of Basel have now been able to use artificial intelligence to quantitatively measure for the first time the extent to which it reduces skin lesions.
