Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research

20/08/2026

A pathway controlling cell shape and movement also helps set the pace of embryo segmentation, linking cell behavior to developmental timing, FMI researchers have found. The work may also offer clues to developmental conditions that involve spinal malformations. Read more: https://www.fmi.ch/news-events/articles/news.html?news=676

19/08/2026

🎭 Some of our members took an improv challenge, building scenes from scratch with no plan, just paying attention to their partner and responding to what was happening. A useful reminder for science, too: good discussions rely on critical thinking, listening and building on each others’ ideas 🧬

11/08/2026

Postdoctoral fellow Agata Misiaszek has received an Ambizione grant from the SNF FNS SNSF to study how neurons control protein production and how faults in this process may contribute to fragile X syndrome and related neurodevelopmental conditions. Read more:
https://www.fmi.ch/news-events/articles/news.html?news=675

06/08/2026

Animal development depends on precise biological timing. FMI scientists have now uncovered a mechanism that helps keep this process on schedule. Their work in the tiny worm C. elegans shows that LIN28, a protein linked to stem cells and differentiation, can coordinate major developmental transitions through just two key targets.

Animal development depends on precise biological timing. FMI scientists have now uncovered a mechanism that helps keep this process on schedule. Their work in the tiny worm C. elegans shows that LIN28, a protein linked to stem cells and differentiation, can coordinate major developmental tr...

31/07/2026

A forgotten memory may not be gone. FMI researchers investigating the fruit fly brain found that memories can persist as silent traces, recoverable with the right reminder. But misleading cues can distort recall and create false memories—showing how remembering can also rewrite the past.

A forgotten memory is not always a vanished one. FMI neuroscientists investigating the fruit fly brain found that some memories become inaccessible while leaving a silent trace behind. The right reminder can bring them back, but misleading reminders can distort their recovery, producing false memori...

23/07/2026

Congratulations to Anna Vasilevskaya on successfully defending her PhD last week! Her PhD work tackled a fundamental challenge in neuroscience: constraining the set of plausible algorithms that could underlie cortical function 🧠 Well done!

22/07/2026

FMI researchers found that before Hydra regrows a head or foot, its cells first rebuild an internal map—working out both where they are and what stage of regeneration they’ve reached. This work could help explain how tissues repair themselves after injury.

Before Hydra can regrow a head or foot, its cells appear to rebuild the internal map that tells them where they are and what they should become next, FMI researchers report. The work suggests that cells need to interpret not only where they are in the body, but also what stage of regeneration they a...

15/07/2026

Congratulations to Tommaso Caudullo on defending his PhD last month! His work explored how the zebrafish brain learns and updates representations of smells over different timescales—offering new clues about how brains turn sensory experience into memory 🎓🐟

14/07/2026

FMI researchers and their collaborators have shown how regenerating intestinal tissue turns small initial differences between cells into stable patterns. The findings reveal a general principle for how tissues rebuild order after injury, with possible implications for regenerative medicine.

FMI researchers and their collaborators have shown how regenerating intestinal tissue turns small initial differences between cells into stable patterns. The findings reveal a general principle for how tissues rebuild order after injury, with possible implications for regenerative medicine.

09/07/2026

Much of the genome is made up of repetitive DNA sequences that trace back to ancient mobile elements, many of which have lost their ability to copy themselves into new locations but can still cause problems if they become active again at the wrong time.

Now, two studies from FMI scientists reveal how cells keep these potentially disruptive genetic elements under control. The researchers found that a protein complex called ChAHP acts as a targeted genome-defense system, preventing the transcription machinery from switching on these elements in mouse cells. The findings offer insight into how cells manage repetitive sequences while protecting genome stability.

Much of the genome is made up of repetitive DNA sequences that trace back to ancient mobile elements, many of which have lost their ability to copy themselves into new locations but can still cause problems if they become active again at the wrong time. Now, two studies from FMI scientists reveal ho...