UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel

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  Opinion

  CRISPR/Cas9 – Opportunity or Risk, Priya Satalkar?

  Text: Priya Satalkar / Discovered just a few years ago, the CRISPR/Cas9 method promises new possibilities for editing the genome of living creatures. While some see this as an opportunity, others focus on the risks of this efficient technology.

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  In pictures

  Between the tides

  Text: Thomas Jermann, Christoph Dieffenbacher / Since the middle of the 1980s zoology students have been examinating the same coastal section every year in the northern Brittany.

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  Alumni

  Derya Tokay-Sahin, criminal court judge

  Text: Bettina Huber / This summer, aged just 27, the Basel University alumna Derya Tokay-Sahin overcame fierce competition to be re-elected as a judge on Basel’s criminal court. Doggedness, discipline and determination have been her hallmarks ever since she was a child.

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  Research

  New treatment concepts for recurrent lymphoma

  Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / Cancer recurrence is not always what it seems, at least not in lymphoma, or cancer of the lymphatic system. A study conducted at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Basel has revealed how the genetic profiles of tumors could, in the future, help identify the appropriate therapy for each patient with lymphoma relapse.

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  Research

  An almost forgotten pioneer

  Text: Martin Hicklin / Healthy aging is an aspiration for many and a hot topic in research. The Basel physiologist Fritz Verzár (1886–1979) is regarded as a trailblazer for modern gerontology. Although largely forgotten today, his ideas are now being taken up once again.

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  Column

  Languages of Art: Nelson Goodman’s theory of symbols

  Text: Markus Klammer / My book: The art historian Markus Klammer recommends the American philosopher Nelson Goodman`s «Sprachen der Kunst».

• University

  Ambiguous rankings

  Rankings are useful: They organize universities around the world into easy-to-understand ranking lists, help students choose where to study, and are used by the universities themselves as a practical marketing tool (provided they score well).

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  Dossier

  Each person is their own clock

  Text: Oliver Klaffke / Human beings have their own sleep-wake cycles, and these rhythms can be disturbed by light emitted from smartphones and tablets. At the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel (UPK), Christian Cajochen’s team is examining these rhythms in human beings.

• Dossier

  Sleepless in the sleep laboratory

  Text: Yannik Sprecher / My night was not as unpleasant as I had anticipated – wearing electrodes on my head was certainly unusual, but less awkward than expected. Also, my bed was comfortable and the carers were kind. Still, I would not want to spend my nights in the sleep lab for weeks on end. A first-hand account.