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UZH News

Archive Media Releases 2017

73 articles
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Jahresauswahl

Article list Media Releases

  • University of Zurich and Charles University in Prague Join Forces

    The University of Zurich and Charles University in Prague are entering into a strategic partnership. The largest universities of the Czech Republic and Switzerland are stepping up their cooperation in research and teaching, as well as in the area of student mobility.
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  • How Plants Form Their Seeds

    Vegetable, fruit, or grain – the majority of our food results from plant reproduction. Researchers at UZH have now discovered the key to how plants regulate pollen growth and seed formation. In addition to seed formation, knowledge about these signaling pathways can be used to influence plant growth or their defense against pests.
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  • Cellular Self-Digestion Process Triggers Autoimmune Disease

    Autophagy allows cells to degrade and recycle their cellular components. Researchers at UZH have now demonstrated that the autophagy machinery in certain immune cells leads to the immune system attacking the central nervous system. The researchers are using these findings as a basis to look into new approaches to treating autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
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  • How We See the Wolf

    The wolf has returned to Switzerland, and with it come many positive and negative connotations. The new exhibition “Wolf – Wieder unter uns” (Wolf – among us again) in the Zoological Museum of UZH provides an in-depth look at this wild animal. The exhibition focuses on the return of wolves and presents historical facts and current issues.
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  • ERC Consolidator Grant: vier Millionen Euro für UZH-Forscher

    Two researchers from the University of Zurich have been awarded lucrative Consolidator Grants: The European Research Council has awarded funds to Prof. Daniel Moeckli, whose research focuses on the interplay between people’s sovereignty and the rule of law in direct democracies, and Prof. Markus Seeger, who investigates the transportation of iron in tuberculosis pathogens on a molecular level.
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  • UZH Vontobel Award Goes to Three Researchers

    This year’s Vontobel Award for Research on Age(ing) was presented to three academics: Psychologist Stephen Aichele from the University of Geneva and UZH neuroscientist Nathalie Giroud were awarded 12,000 francs each, while Ann Barbara Bauer, business economist at the University of Fribourg, received 6,000 francs.
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  • Pneumonia: Treatment with Vaccines instead of Antibiotics

    A properly functioning immune system is key to resolve bacterial pneumonia. Researchers from the University Children’s Hospital Zurich and UZH working with an international team have now found that specific immune cells are crucial for recovery. The researchers’ work paves the way for developing new vaccines, which would also counteract the emerging resistance to antibiotics.
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  • UZH Spearheads Largest European Study on Aging

    DO-HEALTH, Europe’s largest study on aging, is researching ways to improve the health of adults age 70 and older. Led by Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Aging Research at the University of Zurich, the study involves 2157 participants from five European countries – and bestselling author Donna Leon as DO-HEALTH ambassador.
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  • Mapping Functional Diversity of Forests with Remote Sensing

    Productivity and stability of forest ecosystems strongly depend on the functional diversity of plant communities. UZH researchers have developed a new method to measure and map functional diversity of forests at different scales – from individual trees to whole communities – using remote sensing by aircraft. Their work paves the way for future airborne and satellite missions to monitor global plant functional diversity.
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  • Strong Digital Well-Being in Switzerland

    Internet users in Switzerland largely rate their online skills as good. A majority also view digital overconsumption and the feeling of missing out on more important things as a result of internet usage as unproblematic. These are the results of a representative survey on internet usage in Switzerland carried out by the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich.
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  • A “cosmic snake” reveals the structure of remote galaxies

    The formation of stars in distant galaxies is still largely unexplored. For the first time, astron-omers at the University of Geneva have now been able to closely observe a star system six billion light-years away. In doing so, they are confirming earlier simulations made by the University of Zurich. One special effect is made possible by the multiple reflections of images that run through the cosmos like a snake.
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  • UZH Anthropologists Describe Third Orangutan Species

    Previously only two species of orangutans were recognized – the Bornean and the Sumatran orangutan. Now, UZH researchers working with an international team have described a new great ape species, the Tapanuli orangutan. It is the great ape species at greatest risk of extinction, with only around 800 remaining individuals occuring in upland forest regions of North Sumatra.
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  • Important Mechanism of Epigenetic Gene Regulation Identified

    How can defective gene activity, which can ultimately lead to cancer, be avoided? Researchers at the University of Zurich have now identified a mechanism how cells pass on the regulation of genetic information through epigenetic modifications. These insights open the door to new approaches for future cancer treatments.
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  • Rapid environmental change makes species more vulnerable to extinction

    Interactions between species play a key role in shaping biodiversity. A team of researchers including members of UZH has now shown that the coevolution of species that are embedded in complex networks of interactions is not only influenced directly by their partners but also indirectly by other species. This slows down the ability of complex communities to adapt to environmental change. Rapid climate changes are therefore likely to increase species’ risk of becoming extinct.
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  • The female brain reacts more strongly to prosocial behavior

    Behavioral Experiments show that women are more generous than men. Now, researchers at the UZH have been able to demonstrate that female and male brains process prosocial and selfish behavior differently. For women, prosocial behavior triggers a stronger reward signal, while male reward systems respond more strongly to selfish behavior.
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  • More Positions for Doctoral Students in Neuroeconomics

    The ‘Marlene Porsche Foundation’ enables 14 students to obtain a PhD in the field of Neuroeconomics at the University of Zurich over the next decade. The young researchers will contribute to a better understanding of the brain’s influence on human behavior. The first students have already started their studies.
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  • Drones can almost see in the dark

    UZH researchers have taught drones how to fly using an eye-inspired camera, opening the door to them performing fast, agile maneuvers and flying in low-light environments. Possible applications could include supporting rescue teams with search missions at dusk or dawn.
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  • Slightly More Students – Thanks to Human Medicine

    A total of 26,400 students have enrolled at the University of Zurich for Fall Semester 2017. For the first time, the University of Zurich is offering 372 places for Bachelor’s degrees in human medicine – more than ever before.
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  • How liver cancer develops

    Researchers at the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have discovered a major mechanism in the development of liver cancer. In chronic liver diseases, damaged cells die off and are replaced by new ones over a period of years. As time goes on, DNA damage accumulates, furthering the development of cancer. The caspase-8 enzyme plays an important dual role in this process.
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  • Trigger for a Fatty Liver in Obesity

    Morbid obesity affects the liver: Almost one-third of all adults suffer from chronic fatty liver disease, which can lead to infections and even trigger cancer. Researchers at the University Children's Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich have now found a signaling pathway in cells that play an important role in the development of fatty liver disease.
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  • Detailed Decoding of Complex Finger Millet Genome for the First Time

    Finger millet has two important properties: The grain is rich in important minerals and resistant towards drought and heat. Thanks to a novel combination of state-of-the-art technologies, researchers at the University of Zurich were able to decode the large and extremely complex genome of finger millet in high quality for the first time. This represents a fundamental basis for improving food security in countries like India and parts of Africa.
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  • Diverse Landscapes Are More Productive and Adapt better to Climate Change

    Ecosystems with high biodiversity are more productive and stable towards annual fluctuations in environmental conditions than those with a low diversity of species. They also adapt better to climate-driven environmental changes. These are the key findings environmental scientists at the University of Zurich made in a study of about 450 landscapes harbouring 2,200 plants and animal species.
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  • Huge interest in the world of data

    The fifth Scientifica at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich was a huge success with the public. More than 30'000 visitors came to find out exactly what data can reveal, and around 300 researchers from both universities were there to answer their questions.
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  • Artists Target Ibexes

    Art meets science at the UZH Zoological Museum: Students from Zurich University of the Arts present their interpretations of genetic and ecological research on the ibex. In close dialogue with researchers at UZH and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, they have created a wide variety of works, all waiting to be discovered at a special exhibition entitled “Displacements – Art, Science and the DNA of the Ibex.”
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  • UZH Life Sciences Fund Invests in First Spin-off

    The recently created UZH Life Sciences Fund is making its first investment, putting one million CHF into CUTISS, a young company aiming to bring bioengineered skin grafts to market. The fund will be investing in further spin-offs with the goal of accelerating the transfer of UZH research findings into practice. The UZH Life Sciences Fund is financed by equal contributions from the UZH Foundation and the Novartis Venture Fund.
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  • Chronic Lack of Sleep Increases Risk-Seeking

    Sleepiness, reduced concentration and performance – more and more people are suffering from the consequences of a chronic lack of sleep. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now demonstrated a further consequence: the people affected are subject to more intensive risk-seeking behavior without even noticing. The scientists advocate for sufficient sleep.
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  • Large-Mouthed Fish Was Top Predator After Mass Extinction

    The food chains recovered more rapidly than previously assumed after Earth’s most devastating mass extinction event about 252 million years ago as demonstrated by the fossilized skull of a large predatory fish called Birgeria americana discovered by paleontologists from the University of Zurich in the desert of Nevada.
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  • Shedding Light on Cause of Resistance to Tumor Immunotherapy

    In tumor immunotherapy, the body’s own defense system is activated against the tumor cells. However, for the majority of patients, the tumor cells become resistant to the treatments used. Researchers at the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have now found in skin cutaneous melanoma that an epigenetic control protein is key to the development of this resistance.
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  • Innate Reaction of Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Severe Infections

    Researchers at the University of Zurich have shown for the first time that hematopoietic stem cells detect infectious agents themselves and begin to divide – that is, without signals from growth factors. This direct production of defensive cells damages hematopoiesis in the long term, however, which could lead to malignant hematopoietic stem cell diseases at advanced age.
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  • Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Can Exacerbate Colitis

    Titanium dioxide, one of the most-produced nanoparticles worldwide, is being used increasingly in foodstuffs. When intestinal cells absorb titanium dioxide particles, this leads to increased inflammation and damage to the intestinal mucosa in mice with colitis. Researchers at the University of Zurich recommend that patients with colitis should avoid food containing titanium dioxide particles.
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  • New bacterial defense mechanism of the CRISPR-Cas system uncovered

    Researchers led by Martin Jinek of the University of Zurich have found an unprecedented defense mechanism by which bacteria defend themselves against invading viruses. When the bacterial immune system gets overwhelmed, the CRISPR-Cas system produces a chemical signal that activates a second enzyme which helps in degrading the invaders’ genetic material. This process is very similar to an antiviral mechanism of the human innate immune system.
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  • Generous people live happier lives

    Generosity makes people happier, even if they are only a little generous. People who act solely out of self-interest are less happy. Merely promising to be more generous is enough to trigger a change in our brains that makes us happier. This is what UZH neuroeconomists found in a recent study.
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  • A Molecule Found in Cats and Cows Protect Farm Children from Asthma

    It is a known fact that microbes on farms protect children from asthma and allergies. But even non-microbial molecules can have a protective effect: Immunologists from the University of Zurich have shown that a sialic acid found in farm animals is effective against inflammation of lung tissue. This study opens up a wide variety of perspectives for the prevention of allergies.
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  • Ancient Swiss Reptile Shows Its Bizarre Scale Armor for the First Time

    Grisons, 241 million years ago – Instead of amidst high mountains, a small reptile suns itself on an island beach in a warm shallow sea, where many fish and marine reptiles frolic. This is the story told by an excellently preserved new discovery of the reptile Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi studied by paleontologists from the University of Zurich.
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  • Overactive Scavenger Cells May Cause Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's

    For the first time, researchers from the University of Zurich demonstrate a surprising effect of microglia, the scavenger cells of the brain: If these cells lack the TDP-43 protein, they not only remove Alzheimer’s plaques, but also synapses. This removal of synapses by these cells presumably leads to neurodegeneration observed in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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  • What Makes Stem Cells into Perfect Allrounders

    Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have discovered the protein that enables natural embryonic stem cells to form all body cells. In the case of embryonic stem cells maintained in cell cultures, this allrounder potential is limited. Scientists want to use this knowledge to treat large bone fractures with stem cells.
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  • Previously Unknown Extinction of Marine Megafauna Discovered

    Over two million years ago, a third of the largest marine animals like sharks, whales, sea birds and sea turtles disappeared. This previously unknown extinction event not only had a considerable impact on the earth’s historical biodiversity but also on the functioning of ecosystems. This has been demonstrated by researchers at the University of Zurich.
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  • Legend of Prince Vessantara Told on 50 Meters of Cloth

    For more than 2,000 years, it has been the source of Asian literature and art: the story of Prince Vessantara, who renounced everything to become the Buddha. Cotton scroll paintings containing this story, up to 50 meters in length, are now available for viewing at the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich. Starting on 20 June 2017, a new exhibition will show how village festivals in Northeast Thailand use such painted scrolls.
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  • New "WHO Collaborating Centre for Physical Activity and Health"

    The University of Zurich is launching a new "WHO Collaborating Centre for Physical Activity and Health": The Physical Activity and Health Unit and other groups of the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute will support the Physical Activity Strategy for the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region.
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  • The Creation of the Most Complex Virtual Cosmos to Date

    Researchers from the University of Zurich have simulated the formation of our entire Universe with a large supercomputer. A gigantic catalogue of about 25 billion virtual galaxies has been generated from 2 trillion digital particles. This catalogue is being used to calibrate the experiments on board the Euclid satellite, that will be launched in 2020 with the objective of investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
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  • Dogs Help in Breast Carcinoma Research

    Cancer of the mammary glands in dogs is very similar to human breast carcinoma. For this reason, treatment methods from human medicine are often used for dogs. Conversely, scientific knowledge gained from canine mammary tumors may also be important to human medicine. Researchers from the University of Zurich were able to show how similar these tumors are in both dogs and humans.
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  • Horses masticate similarly to ruminants

    In contrast to ruminants, horses chew their food only once – but with the same regu-lar, rhythmic movements as cows, who ruminate their food after eating, as demon-strated by researchers at the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich. They assume that ruminants chew their food less intensively during initial eating to protect their teeth.
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  • Better Treatment for Kidney Cancer Thanks to New Mouse Model

    Research in the field of kidney cancer, also called renal cancer, is vital, because many patients with this disease still cannot be cured today. Researchers from the University of Zurich have now identified some of the gene mutations that contribute to the development of carcinomas in the kidneys. They also developed a mouse model that will contribute to progress in the research and treatment of this type of cancer.
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  • Too Much Stress for the Mother Affects the Baby through Amniotic Fluid

    If the mother is stressed over a longer period of time during pregnancy, the concentration of stress hormones in amniotic fluid rises, as proven by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Zurich. Short-term stress situations, however, do not seem to have an unfavorable effect on the development of the fetus.
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  • “Pregnant” Housefly Males Demonstrate the Evolution of Sex Determination

    An international team headed up by researchers from the University of Zurich has discovered the gene that determines the male sex in houseflies. Surprisingly, the sex-determining mechanisms are not the same for all houseflies – they depend on where the insects live. This knowledge not only helps us better understand the evolution of sex determination, but also aids in the control of agricultural pests or carriers of disease.
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  • Deep Sleep Maintains the Learning Efficiency of the Brain

    For the first time, researchers of the University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have demonstrated the causal context of why deep sleep is important to the learning efficiency of the human brain. They have developed a new, non-invasive method for modulating deep sleep in humans in a targeted region of the brain.
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  • Engineering heart valves for the many

    Harvard’s Wyss Institute and the University of Zurich partner to create a next-generation heart valve that accurately functions upon implantation and regenerates into long-lasting heart-like tissue.
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  • XENON1T: the most sensitive detector on Earth

    “The best result on dark matter so far and we only started!”. This is how scientists behind XENON1T, now the most sensitive dark matter experiment world-wide, commented on their first result from a short 30-day run presented today to the scientific community.
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  • With Stem Cells to New Intervertebral Discs

    Slipped discs are the most common reason to go to the doctor in Switzerland. Not only people, but also dogs frequently suffer from this problem. An operation cures the painful consequences of a slipped disc, but the disc remains degenerated. Help is on its way: In a study with German shepherds, researchers at the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Zurich have shown that stem cells may change this situation.
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  • Extinction of Alpine Plants May Remain Undetectable for a Long Time

    How do alpine plants react to warmer climatic conditions? Due to their longevity, the plants may survive longer than expected in their habitats, but produce offspring that are increasingly maladapted. Population size may decrease faster than the contraction of the species range, as UZH researchers show using computer models. Scientists who wish to track the precise extinction risk of plant species must not only measure their dispersal, but also the densities of the local populations.
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  • Comprehensive Atlas of Immune Cells in Renal Cancer

    Researchers from the University of Zurich have individually analyzed millions of immune cells in tumor samples from patients with renal cell carcinoma. They are now presenting an immunological atlas of the tumor environment for the first time, leading to possible further developments of immunotherapies.
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  • Elephant Herpes: Super-Shedders Endanger Young Animals

    Elephants have species-specific herpesviruses, which frequently lead to death, especially in the young. Researchers at the University of Zurich have traced the infection transmission route of different elephant calves, recognizing the following in the process: Some animals do not shed the virus or shed it only rarely, while other do so frequently. In the process, these super-shedders and their offspring are only mildly affected by the virus, but endanger the juveniles of non-shedders in particular.
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  • Press Release

    Action Required: Invasive Fungus Is Killing European Salamanders

    A new fungal disease brought in from Asia is threatening European salamanders. Once the amphibians become infected, they die within a brief period of time, as biologists of the Universities of Zurich and Ghent have shown. Because saving the infected populations is still not possible, Switzerland has preventively imposed an import ban for salamanders and newts.
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  • Assessing the impact of climate risks on the financial system

    Climate change brings new risks for financial investments, in particular for pension funds. An international research team coordinated by the University of Zurich has developed a “climate stress-test” for financial institutions. Results suggest that while better disclosure of climate-relevant financial information can improve risk estimation, the early introduction of stable climate policies is needed to mitigate risk.
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  • Brain stimulation influences honest behavior

    Researchers at the University of Zurich have identified the brain mechanism that governs decisions between honesty and self-interest. Using non-invasive brain stimulation, they could even increase honest behavior.
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  • Using drugs to weaken traumatic memories

    A potential new approach to treat posttraumatic stress disorder: After taking the antibiotic doxycycline, study participants remembered an unpleasant event considerably less, as experiments conducted by a team of researchers from the University Psychiatric Hospital and the University of Zurich reveal.
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  • Testing the Efficacy of New Gene Therapies More Efficiently

    Using a new cellular model, innovative gene therapy approaches for the hereditary immunodeficiency Chronic Granulomatous Disease can be tested faster and cost-effectively in the lab for their efficacy. A team of researchers from the University of Zurich and the Children’s Hospital Zurich successfully achieved this using the ‘gene-scissor’ CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The aim is to treat severely affected patients in the near future using novel approaches.
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  • Flies and bees act like plant cultivators

    Pollinator insects accelerate plant evolution, but a plant changes in different ways depending on the pollinator. After only nine generations, the same plant is larger and more fragrant if pollinated by bumblebees rather than flies, as a study conducted by evolutionary biologists from the University of Zurich reveals.
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  • From heroin addiction to alcohol-related problems

    Methadone programs and long-term therapy using other opioids evidently work. People addicted to heroin consume less heroin, cocaine and even alcohol at the beginning of the treatment. As a long-term study conducted by the University Psychiatric Hospital and the University of Zurich reveals, however, the alcohol consumption among these patients has increased considerably since the 1990s.
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  • Molecular structure of the cell nucleoskeleton revealed for the first time

    Using 3D electron microscopy, structural biologists from the University of Zurich succeeded in elucidating the architecture of the lamina of the cell nucleus at molecular resolution for the first time. This scaffold stabilizes the cell nucleus in higher eukaryotes and is involved in organizing, activating and duplicating the genetic material. Diseases such as muscular dystrophy and premature aging, caused by mutations in the lamin gene, the major constituent of the lamina, can now be studied more effectively.
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  • Cells adapt ultra-rapidly to zero gravity

    Mammalian cells fully adapt to zero gravity in less than a minute. Real-time readings on the International Space Station (ISS) reveal that cells compensate ultra-rapidly for changes in gravitational conditions. This new discovery was achieved by an international team headed by scientists at the University of Zurich.
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  • Prospect for more effective treatment of nerve pain

    Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by sharp, lancinating pain in the teeth or facial area. The standard treatment for this chronic nerve pain can cause burdening side effects. A novel substance inhibits the pain effectively and is well tolerated, as documented by the initial results of an international study involving the Center of Dental Medicine at the University of Zurich.
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  • A novel socio-ecological approach helps identifying suitable wolf habitats in human-dominated landscapes

    About one third of the Swiss landscape offers suitable wolf habitat. Nonetheless, there is only a small fraction thereof where the wolf is tolerated by local communities. Those regions – characterized by both favourable environmental conditions and a positive attitude towards the wolf – are identified as candidate regions for the successful short to medium-term wolf expansion, according to a study conducted at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies of the University of Zurich
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  • Psychotherapy normalizes the brain in social phobia

    Psychotherapy is a central treatment for social anxiety disorder. Due to this treatment, changes in key brain structures involved in emotion processing and regulation are normalized, as researchers from the University of Zurich, Zurich University Hospital and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich demonstrate in a new study.
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  • Early onset of winter leads to smaller snow voles in Graubünden

    Researchers from the University of Zurich have succeeded in documenting an extremely rare case of evolutionary adaptation “in action” among wild snow voles near Chur. The selective pressure triggered by several consecutive winters with early snowfall resulted in a genetic decrease in body weight. The reason: Smaller voles are fully grown by the time the weather conditions deteriorate.
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  • LSD alters perception via serotonin receptors

    Researchers from UZH have discovered how the perception of meaning changes in the brain under the influence of LSD. The serotonin 2A receptors are responsible for altered perception. This finding will help develop new courses of pharmacotherapy for psychiatric disorders such as depression, addictions or phobias.
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Jahresauswahl