ETH News

Researchers at ETH Zurich have analysed down to the smallest detail the unusual arsenal of weapons that a predatory marine bacterium has at its disposal. Perhaps one day these weapons could also be put to use in medicine.

Using a new method, researchers at ETH Zurich can measure alterations in the social network of proteins in cells. This work lays the foundation for the development of new drugs to treat diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

An organism as a tenant in another - in biology, this often works quite well. ETH researchers have now shed light on how such a partnership of a cell in a cell can establish.

Research areas at ETH Zurich span barriers in a wide variety of fields, including cell biology, drug delivery and spatial planning. Below, we look at examples from six different disciplines.

Thomas Michaels, ETH Zurich Professor of Soft and Living Matter Physics, launches the ETH show series "Cook the Science". Together with well-known chefs and food producers, he will present the fascinating science behind cooking, from the basic physical and chemical properties of food to how these change during cooking.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have used a drug screening platform they developed to show that an antidepressant, currently on the market, kills tumour cells in the dreaded glioblastoma – at least in the cell-culture dish.

At its meeting of 18 and 19 September 2024 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed fifteen professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

Using machine-learning methods, researchers at ETH Zurich have shown that more than half of all killer T cells exhibit nuclear invaginations, or folds in the cell’s nuclear envelope. Thanks to this particular cellular architecture, such cells are able to mount a faster and stronger response to pathogens.

At its meeting of 22 and 23 May 2024 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor" four times and the title of "Professor of Practice" three times.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have engineered bacteria in the laboratory to efficiently use methanol. The metabolism of these bacteria can now be tapped into to produce valuable products currently made by the chemical industry from fossil fuels.

Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes have advantages over their relatives with a double set. But why they often start out infertile was only partially understood. Biologists at ETH Zurich have now discovered a new reason for the initial difficulties.

At its meeting of 6 and 7 March 2024 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed nine professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor" three times and the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

Heinrich Ursprung was President of ETH Zurich from 1973 to 1987. He led the bilateral negotiations between Switzerland and the EU in the field of research in his capacity as State Secretary in the 1990s. This influential figure in the Swiss higher education landscape passed away shortly before his 92nd birthday.

Studying at ETH Zurich is demanding, and all students have their own personal hurdles to overcome. This video series portrays ETH students.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare condition in which a person’s immune system attacks the peripheral nerves. People affected suffer from muscle weakness and paralysis. A research team led by ETH Zurich has now clarified the mechanism of this autoimmune disease.

There are some striking parallels between how skin wounds heal and how malignant tumours grow. Cell culture can help us understand the mechanisms involved – but animal testing still has a role to play.

Of the 13 scientists receiving an SNSF Starting Grant for projects at ETH Zurich this year, 11 are women.

ETH Zurich researchers are illuminating what can happen when cells exceed their normal size and become senescent. Their new findings could help to optimise cancer treatments.

The Chinese World Laureates Association (WLA) has awarded highly endowed science prizes for the second time. The prize for Life Science or Medicine goes to ETH professor emeritus Timothy Richmond, among others.

Cell biologists at ETH Zurich describe a new organelle present in mammalian cells that is made of rings of DNA. This container could potentially play a role in autoimmune diseases, and it could help researchers to understand how cell nuclei evolved.

At its meeting of 20 and 21 September 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed five professors and awarded the title of professor three times.

The ability to utilize a mere single alternative food source is all it takes for diarrhoea causing Salmonella bacteria to bloom when a gut is already colonized by a closely related strain, according to researchers from ETH Zurich. This coexistence enables the exchange of antibiotic resistance.

ETH Zurich molecular biologist Mandy Boontanrart is researching gene therapies that could be used to cure two of the most common types of inherited anaemia. She has now developed a promising approach for so-called beta-hemoglobinopathies.

Microbiologists at ETH Zurich have developed computational models that use nutrients and metabolism of plant-associated bacteria to predict how the microbes interact on the surface of leaves and ultimately form the microbiome.

Despite approved treatments being available, multiple myeloma remains incurable. But researchers at ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich set out to improve treatment outcomes by testing hundreds of existing therapeutics outside the body to predict their effectiveness.

A fuel cell under the skin that converts blood sugar from the body into electrical energy sounds like science fiction. Yet it works perfectly, as an ETH Zurich research team led by Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, has shown.

Gregor Weiss is fascinated by the inner workings of our cells and is driven by the hope of finding a non-antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infections.

At its meeting of 8 and 9 March and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 14 professors and awarded the title of professor five times. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to three professors and thanked them for their service.

The LOOP Zurich research centre is creating a central platform for the exchange of health data between the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and the four university hospitals. This will allow data to be utilised quickly and easily to the benefit of patients. 

New research offers potential benefits for those affected by the hereditary metabolic disease methylmalonic aciduria. By combining the results of multiple molecular analyses, scientists can better diagnose this rare and severe disease. In the future, an improved understanding of the disease might also improve treatment options.

Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have discovered how proteins in the cell can form tiny liquid droplets that act as a smart molecular glue. Clinging to the ends of filaments called microtubules, the glue they discovered ensures the nucleus is correctly positioned for cell division.  

We posed this question to ETH Zurich researchers. In return, we got five intriguing answers from the perspectives of biomedicine, computer science, biology, robotics and philosophy.

The LOOP Zurich research center combines expertise from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the four university hospitals in Zurich with the aim of developing more personalized therapies. Two new projects supported by The LOOP Zurich target urinary tract infections and obesity respectively.

For the first time, farmers in the Philippines have cultivated Golden Rice on a larger scale and harvested almost 70 tonnes of grains this October.This nearly never-ending story began at ETH Zurich.

ETH Zurich researchers have found that a set of proteins have different shapes in the spinal fluid of healthy individuals and Parkinson’s patients. These could be used in the future as a new type of biomarker for this disease. 

Gregor Weiss used state-of-the-art microscopy to show how the body prevents bladder infections. He now wants to make this method from basic research usable for the analysis of patient samples – and has received the Lopez-Loreta Prize for it.

On the current list of Highly Cited Researchers, 21 have a connection to ETH Zurich. Four of these appear on the list for the first time.

Together with her group, Annette Oxenius conducts research on the fundamental mechanisms of the body’s own immune cells as they react to viral infections. The immunologist has now been honoured with the Cloëtta Prize

It is not only classical genes that determine our predisposition to obesity. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now shown that microRNA molecules play a central role in the regulation of body weight.

Scientists have a duty to initiate a dialogue with the public on cellular engineering, says Daniel Müller. The discussion must be held now – before complex engineered cellular systems are ready for widespread use in humans.

ETH Zurich biologist Daniel Richter has developed a method that enables proteins to be linked to a drug molecule or biomarker with a high level of stability. He plans to use this method in the future to identify tumour cells and open the door to more effective cancer drugs.

ETH Zurich is opening a new research and teaching centre with a focus on exploring the origin and prevalence of life on Earth and beyond. Under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Didier Queloz, more than 40 research groups from five departments will address the big questions posed by humankind.

Researchers from ETH Zurich and EPFL are expanding the emerging field of single-cell analysis with a ground-breaking method: Live-seq makes it possible to measure the activity of thousands of genes in a single cell without having to isolate and destroy it.

Researchers of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and ETH Zurich have created the first full connectivity map of the human immune system, showing how immune cells communicate with each other and ways to modulate these pathways in disease.

Researchers from ETH Zurich, the United States and Uganda have identified the gene responsible for resistance in certain cassava cultivars against the devastating cassava mosaic disease. This is an important step for breeding virus-resistant cassava varieties.

ETH researchers found that in mice, long-lived embryonic macrophages in the lungs die upon aging and during infection and are replaced by inflammatory bone marrow-derived macrophages. This causes severe disease progression when infected with viral flu.

The latest CRISPR-based genome editing systems function more like molecular taxis rather than a pair of molecular scissors. This makes them much safer for patients who will soon benefit from gene therapies, as Eric Aird explains.

The Swiss National Science Foundation has awarded Advanced Grants to make up for the loss of European support. Researchers at ETH Zurich did particularly well, with 6 of the 24 grants going to the university.

A new study shows that breast cancer metastases form more efficiently while patients are sleeping. This finding, in a study led by researchers at ETH Zur-ich, could significantly change the way cancer is diagnosed and treated in future.

Using DNA data, ETH researchers have examined seawater to find not only new species of bacteria, but also previously unknown natural products that may one day prove beneficial.

From diagnostics to treatment, the biochemical method developed by Daniel Richter, Edgars Lakis and Jörn Piel paves the way for a diverse range of applications in research and medicine. The researchers received the ETH Zurich Spark Award 2022 for their innovative solution.

In a technological breakthrough, researchers at ETH Zurich have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria – the tiny powerhouses of the cell – from one living cell to another with unparalleled efficiency.

Four researchers from ETH Zurich have been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Since Switzerland is no longer fully associated, they will receive the approximately eight million francs in research funding from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

At its meeting of 9 and 10 March 2022 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors and awarded the title of professor twice.  

Biologists from ETH Zurich have discovered speargun-like molecular injection systems in two types of bacteria and have described their structure for the first time. The special nanomachines are used by the microbes for the interaction between cells and could one day be useful as tools in biomedicine.

Bacteria show great promise as a source of active ingredients. Using computer-based genome analysis, researchers at ETH Zurich have now discovered a new class of natural products that might one day serve as antibiotics.

In the last application process for the sought-after ERC Starting Grants, the European Research Council made 11 awards to ETH researchers worth about CHF 17 million. Due to Switzerland’s non-association, however, the researchers will not receive these grants. The funds will now be provided by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

World’s most highly cited scientists list includes 17 from ETH Zurich. Many of whom conduct cross-disciplinary research.

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.

The Italian scientist Nicola Aceto will receive the Swiss Science Prize Latsis 2021 worth CHF 100,000. Aceto is an associate professor at ETH Zurich and is being honoured for his groundbreaking discoveries in the field of cancer research.

Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.

Artificial intelligence can help predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins. Beat Christen describes how such algorithms should soon help to develop tailored artificial proteins.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a molecule that fluoresces where new tissue is forming in the body. Alongside helping to detect tumours, the molecule could play a significant role in research of wound healing disorders.

ETH professor and molecular biologist Ernst Hafen retires at the end of July. We look back at the colourful career of a leading scientist with many different interests beyond the narrow world of molecular genetics.

Not only animals and humans host a complex community of microorganisms – plants do this as well. Researchers at ETH Zurich have recently published two new studies that shed light on fundamental aspects of these close – and often overlooked – relationships.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have developed a vaccine that protects animals from Salmonella. These bacteria often escape the effects of vaccination by genetically modifying their protective coat. The researchers have succeeded in manipulating this process to lure the bacteria into an evolutionary trap.

SARS-CoV-2 is critically dependent on a special mechanism for the production of its proteins. A collaborative team led by a research group at ETH Zurich obtained molecular insights into this process and demonstrated that it can be inhibited by chemical compounds, thereby significantly reducing viral replication in infected cells.

ETH Fellow Serina Robinson is devoted to microorganisms. She is particularly interested in the enzymes they use to produce and break down chemical substances. The young scientist is also especially fascinated by as yet uncultivated microbes.

Evolution never stops – and disruptions can speed up the process. Now ETH researchers are delving deeper into the secrets of evolutionary change.

Bernd Bodenmiller  studies the mechanisms of cancer development. The quantitative biologist uses 3D analysis and virtual reality to detect groups of cells that break away from tumours.  

With Markus Aebi’s retirement, ETH is losing a great scientist. The microbiologist has also made a name for himself as a teacher and mentor well beyond his own discipline. His passion for research and teaching is reflected in his involvement in many university institutions – and in a series of prestigious awards.

ETH researchers have drastically improved existing proteomics techniques so they can capture all functional alterations in proteins. Their work paves the way for using these signatures as diagnostic tools.

Widespread and repeated testing, including of healthy people, is an effective tool in the fight against COVID-19, write Patrick Jenny and Wolf-Dietrich Hardt. With this approach, we have a chance against the new and more infectious viral strains.

A team of ETH researchers led by Karsten Weis has developed a method that allows them to study the assembly process for large protein complexes in detail for the first time. As their case study, the biologists chose one of the largest cellular complexes: the nuclear pore complex in yeast cells.

Daniela Latorre wanted to be a scientist since she was a child. At the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the USI in Bellinzona and the Institute of Microbiology, she is finding evidence that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. She has now received the Pfizer Prize for Research 2020 for her pioneering work.

Seven ETH researchers can look forward to generous funding for their projects: the European Research Council (ERC) has approved a total amount of around 15 million Swiss francs.  

Researchers working under ETH Professor Emeritus Ruedi Aebersold have demonstrated how mutations in a gene influence the structure, function and interaction network of a protein complex. Their work lays a key foundation for personalised medicine.

Ruedi Aebersold, a professor of molecular systems biology at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, is to receive the Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist. Aebersold is being honoured for the part he has played in founding and advancing the field of proteomics, a branch of biology that is seen as the foundation of the personalised medicine of tomorrow.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bern have discovered a mechanism by which the corona virus manipulates human cells to ensure its own replication. This knowledge will help to develop drugs and vaccines against the corona virus.

Biologists have known for some time that RNA interference can silence genes in far-off cells. They suspected that a messenger substance “transmits” RNA interference. Now, ETH researchers have definitively shown that these messengers in plants are short double-stranded RNA fragments.

Making tumours visible so that surgeons can cut only as much as necessary: this is the goal of an invention by chemical biologists Helma Wennemers and Matthew Aronoff. For their achievement they have received the Spark Award, with which ETH recognises the most innovative invention with the most commercial potential of the past year.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and ZHAW present a simple method to precisely map resistance exercise on machines and record missing comparative figures. This could help to develop optimised training strategies in the future, such as for age-associated muscular atrophy.

Some people are better protected than others against urinary tract infections. This may be because their bodies produce more of a protein called uromodulin. An interdisciplinary research team has now found out how this helper protein brings relief when nature calls and how this knowledge might benefit the treatment and prevention of these painful inflammations.

Systems biologist Paola Picotti receives this year’s Rössler Prize for her groundbreaking work in the field of proteomics. She has developed a method of measuring structural changes in thousands of proteins at the same time, paving the way for personalised therapy.

Whether or not patients will respond to a drug can be determined in advance. In this way, side effects can be avoided and patients benefit, writes Ernst Hafen.

Soya and clover have their very own fertiliser factories in their roots, where bacteria manufacture ammonium, which is crucial for plant growth. Although this has long been common knowledge, scientists have only recently described the mechanism in detail. With biotechnology, this knowledge could now help make agriculture more sustainable.

ETH researchers have deconstructed the mechanisms that control wound healing and scar formation in more detail. To this end, biologists and engineers have developed a new method that allows the biomechanical properties of the healing tissue to be measured in vivo for the first time.

As the world anxiously awaits a remedy for the novel coronavirus, ETH Zurich is also involved in the search for active substances and vaccines. This overview sets out the therapeutic approaches pursued by ETH researchers.

ETH researchers are developing and improving methods to detect the pandemic virus or virus-specific antibodies. With the help of such tests, the scientists are also investigating the details of how the pathogen is spreading. A project overview.

What is life? This question is the starting point not for a philosophy lecture, but for the newly designed Bachelor’s degree programme in biology at ETH Zurich. With it, the department is embarking on an entirely new path.

In the latest round of prestigious ERC Advanced Grants, ETH Zurich has secured two of the awards – one in the area of biology and the other in pharmacy. The grants will see ETH receive around 5.16 million Swiss francs in funding.

Two researchers from ETH Zurich have been awarded USD 1.5 million each from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to explore the diverse symbiotic relationships between bacteria and other aquatic organisms.

Researchers have used cryo-electron microscopy to elucidate for the first time the structure and function of a very small enzyme embedded in cell membranes. This enzyme builds complex sugar trees that are subsequently attached to other membrane proteins. The findings could accelerate the development of new, protein-based medications.

The health care system places a greater emphasis on the treatment of diseases than the root causes of health. On the invitation of the Life Science Zurich (LSZ) Business Network, science, business and society recently discussed this challenge.

Genetic modification of babies in China one year ago was universally condemned. At the same time, CRISPR treatments are on their way into our clinics. Jacob Corn explains the difference.

Automation and digitisation of industry and society, new approaches to sustainable chemistry, and the influence of bacteria on health – these are the topics covered by the three new National Centres of Competence led or co-led by ETH Zurich.

Four researchers from ETH Zurich have successfully applied for ERC Consolidator Grants worth EUR 2 million.

Proteomics pioneer Ruedi Aebersold is retiring soon. Protein analysis was his life’s work, and he paved the way for countless protein researchers around the world.

An international research consortium with ETH participation demonstrates that marine plankton is more diverse in warm oceans than in polar seas, both in terms of species count and the biological activities of the plankton communities. Climate change could lead to a redistribution of plankton in the world’s oceans.

Two ETH Zurich projects and one with ETH involvement have been awarded one of the coveted ERC Synergy Grants. These EU grants offer up to EUR 14 million to promote interdisciplinary collaboration on research projects.