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Marek Basler receives prestigious "ERC Consolidator Grant"

Since his time as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Marek Basler has been fascinated by a tiny bacterial injection apparatus, the so-called type 6 secretion system (T6SS). This nanomachine works like…


Like a revolving door: How shuttling proteins operate nuclear pores

Genetic information is protected in the cell nucleus by a membrane that contains numerous nuclear pores. These pores facilitate the traffic of proteins known as importins that deliver molecular cargoes between the nucleus…


Synapses in the brain mirror the structure of the visual world

Individual visual stimuli are not processed independently by our brain. Rather neurons exchange incoming information to form a coherent perceptual image from the myriad of visual details impinging on our eyes. How our visual…


Distant brain regions selectively recruit stem cells

Our brain generates new neurons throughout life. A diversity of stimuli promotes stem cells in their niche to form neurons that migrate to their place of action. In an animal model Prof. Fiona Doetsch’s team at the…


Precise Genetics: New CRISPR method enables efficient DNA modification

With the revolutionary CRISPR/Cas technology, the DNA of living organisms can be precisely altered. Using a guide RNA that recognizes a specific DNA sequence, Cas9 protein is recruited to that sequence and cuts the DNA. This…


The power of neighbors: Neighboring synapses shape learning and memory

In 1949, the Canadian psychologist Donald O. Hebb described that connections between neurons become stronger when the neurons are active at the same time, and that strengthened connections facilitate signal transmission. The…


Genetic signature boosts protein production during cell division

The production of proteins is the most energy-consuming activity of cells. It needs to be tightly regulated, to ensure efficient use of cellular resources. Researchers led by Prof. Mihaela Zavolan at the Biozentrum have now…


Aging muscles – uncovering the causes of sarcopenia

You are likely to lose around one third of your muscle mass over your lifetime. An excessive loss of muscle mass and muscle strength is known as sarcopenia. As life expectancy increases, so does the number of people…


Good times, bad times: Worms equip their offspring for the future

Food scarcity, toxins, or pathogens: to survive, organisms must be able to respond to diverse environmental conditions and adapt their behavior appropriately. Parents pass on information about the prevailing living…


Nanocontainers introduced into the nucleus of living cells

In order to combat diseases, different therapies strive to intervene in pathological processes that occur in the cell nucleus. Chemotherapies, for example, target biochemical reactions that are involved in the proliferation…