Regulation of skeletal muscle cell plasticity in health and disease Skeletal muscle has an enormous capacity to adapt to external stimuli including physical activity, oxygen levels, ambient temperature, nutrient availability…

Prof. Flavio Donato on the mysteries of memory Why do we remember some moments vividly, while others seem to vanish? We asked neuroscientist Flavio Donato about how the brain stores experiences – and whether forgotten…

Formation and function of membraneless organelles Life ultimately depends on the tight control of gene expression, which requires ordered and efficient processing of various RNA molecules. Yet, we know very little about the…

Regulators of gene expression from stem cell differentiation to aging Our group is interested in the mechanisms that control gene expression from very early to very late in human life. In eukaryotes, gene expression is a…

Gene expression regulatory programs Although the genetic material is more or less identical in all cells of our body, which genes are being “read” and how they are read to produce RNAs and proteins varies between cell types.…

TOR signaling and control of cell growth Fig. 1: Architecture of human mTOR complex 1 Introduction Cell growth is highly regulated. Cells respond to nutrients or other appropriate growth stimuli by up-regulating…

We study the cellular organization and regulation of metabolism by large macromolecular assemblies as well as giant microbial biosynthetic assembly lines. Our research builds on hybrid use of state-of-the-art cryo electron…

Pathogenesis and treatment of chronic bacterial infections Chronic bacterial infections are a growing global challenge, driven by the rise of antibiotic resistance, an aging population with weaker immune defenses, and the…

FEI Tecnai G2 Spirit TEM Configuration BioTWIN lens configuration for increased contrast. 120kV TEM microscope (operated at 80kV) with a LaB6 filament and an EMSIS Veleta camera (top, side-mounted). The Camera operates using…

Professor Views Prof. Christoph Handschin on understanding muscle health Muscle isn't just about strength; it’s about "plasticity"—the ability of our cells to adapt to health, exercise, and disease. Christoph and his team at…