Biology

A team of EPFL engineers has discovered a strategy to shape living tissues like dough.

By combining two microscopy methods, EPFL researchers are able to see what is happening inside a cell and on its membrane simultaneously, giving unprecedented insight into the cellular processes that occur during infection, for example.

Like many land plants, seagrasses live in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and Eawag now show that seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea lives in symbiosis with bacteria that reside in their roots and provide the nitrogen necessary for growth. Such symbioses were previously only known from land plants. The study was published in the journal Nature.

These days, the cause of death in cancer patients often isn’t the primary tumour, but metastases. With his research, biochemist Nicola Aceto has found a new way to prevent the formation of such secondary tumours. To achieve this, the Latsis laureate had to repeatedly fight against the prevailing wisdom.

Human cells are like tiny, multi-purpose factories. In his research, ETH biologist Gabriele Alessandro Fontana investigates how cells repair damaged DNA. The mechanisms he has identified will help us to gain a better understanding of diseases and to develop new drugs.

EPFL scientists have developed new controlled proteins and used to switch cellular activities on and off like a light bulb.