Biology

Researchers have developed a new method that uses artificial intelligence to analyse animal behaviour. This opens the door to longer-term in-depth studies in the field of behavioural science – while also helping to improve animal welfare. The method is already being tested at Zurich Zoo.

Plastic waste is now polluting all of the world's ecosystems, even those located far from civilisation. The impact of this on the food chain is still unclear. A laboratory study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL published in iForest has now shown that forest trees also take up plastic particles through their roots and transport them to the above-ground tissues of the plant.

A cell’s production of fat molecules can be a key factor in determining what that cell will become, show scientists at EPFL.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Italian Institute of Technology IIT have developed a novel substance that disables a protein in the cell skeleton, leading to cell death. In this way, substances of this type can prevent, for example, the growth of tumours. To accomplish this, the researchers combined a structural biological method with the computational design of active agents.

In a technological breakthrough, researchers at ETH Zurich have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria – the tiny powerhouses of the cell – from one living cell to another with unparalleled efficiency.