SystemsX.ch

"With SystemsX.ch we launched a program that allows Switzerland to take a global lead in systems biology research," says the biologist Ruedi Aebersold from ETH Zurich.

Looking at the bigger picture The human body is a highly complex system. Nowadays, research not only explores the individual parts of the human body, but also tries to understand it as a ...

The human body is a huge network of actions and reactions. At first sight, it seems almost impossible to make sense of this complexity. But this is precisely what researchers, including the molecular biologist Lucas Pelkmans from the University of Zurich, are trying to achieve.

Understanding complexity A gene can have a pronounced effect in one person, but not in another. Why is this? In order to find the answer to this question, researchers must examine no...

The biologist Weijia Wang at ETH Zurich examines how stem cells communicate and transform into exactly the cells that the body needs.

Stem cells Stem cells can transform themselves into any type of cell and are thus considered the factories of the human body. For example, they produce our blood by div...

The medical oncologist and bioinformatician Olivier Michielin at the University Hospital of Lausanne aims to discover strategies to defeat metastatic melanomas.

Fighting melanoma Every year, around 2,500 people in Switzerland develop melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer that, if not treated, can spread quickly and attack other organs. ...

"Today, breakthroughs in biological research are increasingly possible thanks to the cooperation of different disciplines,“ says former ETH President, Ralph Eichler.

SystemsX.ch: a success story The second half of the 20th century was the heyday of molecular biology. By incorporating chemistry and physics into their research, scientists came to grips...

The biologist Simon Sprecher from the University of Fribourg explores the interplay between remembering and forgetting. In order to do this, he investigates approximately one hundred genes that are responsible for both processes.

How to forget Learning is one of our most important skills. To learn requires memory. However, perhaps counter-intuitively, forgetting is just as important. It clears our ...

Michel Milinkovitch from the University of Geneva and his team are studying the development of skin in different mammals and reptiles. If a particular gene is defective in a crocodile embryo, it will be born without scales.

The marvels of skin The skin is the body’s largest organ. At the same time, it is also one of the least explored. Skin formation, how it grows and how it develops color patterns...

The microbiologist Sébastien Gagneux from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the University of Basel is investigating resistance formation in tuberculosis in a biosafety laboratory.

Confronting super resistant bacteria An old disease is back in a new guise: tuberculosis. At one time it was thought that, thanks to modern antibiotics, the disease was by and large contained, a...

The biotechnologist Michele Fiscella from ETH Zurich examines the fundamentals of vision by means of a new microchip. The chip can register thousands of nerve signals simultaneously.

The secrets of vision The eye is a true masterpiece of the human body. It gives us sight, one of the most impressive feats of biology. The retina is comprised of over 60 different...

Andrew Macpherson from the University of Bern examines the ecosystem within the intestine to find therapies for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Are you your microbiome? There are more bacteria living within and on the surface of the body than there are cells making up the human body. Thanks to its biodiversity, the intestine...

Gisou van der Goot from the EPFL and her team are investigating the body’s lipids and the genes that control them. The researchers are trying to understand when, how and where useful fat becomes a mortal enemy.

Smart fat When the human body functions normally, fat is not harmful but useful. Fat – or lipids, as researchers say – is vital to the human body. Each and every cell ...

Adriano Aguzzi, neuropathologist at the University Hospital of Zurich, is looking for the genes responsible for the production of prions. "Our hope is that we can find a therapy for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and perhaps even for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's."

Protecting the brain The prion may be one of the most exciting medical discoveries of the past 35 years. These tiny proteins produced by our own bodies play a role in maintaining...