Media Releases – v2

An international research team with participation from Bern has identified a previously undiscovered mechanism that significantly influences the stability of mRNA. The discovery opens up new perspectives for cancer therapies.

Researchers at the University of Bern have analyzed a mechanism by which the coronavirus manipulates human cells to replicate itself. They show that a coronavirus protein, which is central to infection, has two independent functions. Only one function however occurs in several species of coronaviruses. These findings could drive the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.

Researchers from the University of Bern and the RIKEN research institute in Japan have made a significant advance in sustainable chemistry. They have succeeded in producing organic molecules through a chemical reaction based on the sustainable metals sodium and iron. This represents a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional methods and has the potential to fundamentally change the production of pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals.

Ein neues Projekt der Universitäten Bern und Basel soll helfen, komplexe Probleme mit Quantencomputer lösen zu können.
(BZ-Artikel basierend auf der Medienmitteilung der Universität)

The University of Basel and the University of Bern are setting up a new research center to enable the construction of superconducting quantum units. The Werner Siemens Foundation is supporting the project with a total of CHF 15 million over the next eleven years.

Thanks to the support of the Bernese entrepreneur Walter Inäbnit, the University of Bern is able to establish a new endowed lectureship. It is based at the newly opened W. Inäbnit Laboratory for Molecular Quantum Materials at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP). The purpose of this new lectureship is to develop new classes of materials which could potentially solve the problem of energy loss in electronics. The lectureship will be held by PD Dr. Shi-Xia Liu.

An international group of researchers with participation from the University of Bern is using new concepts to search for efficient and durable electrocatalysts for the energy transition. They are being funded by the European Research Council (ERC) with 10 million euros.

Treatment of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis often produces unsatisfactory results. Researchers at the University of Bern have now developed a lipid gel that is administered directly to the inflamed part of the intestine, where it remains and releases its active substance evenly. This could result in a new, targeted therapy approach with fewer side effects.

Seit 2020 bietet die Universität Bern ein schweizweit einzigartiges, bifakuItäres Vollstudium in Pharmazie an. Der Studiengang betont die Pharmazie als Brücke zwischen Naturwissenschaften und Medizin und trägt dazu bei, den Mangel an Apothekerinnen und Apothekern in der Schweiz zu bekämpfen. Im Sommer 2022 schloss der erste Jahrgang das Pharmazie-Studium erfolgreich ab.

Cells have their own quality control to prevent the production and accumulation of harmful proteins. This quality control is essential for correct embryonic development in all mammals and plays an important role in tumors and genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. A group of researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Basel have now made visible and cataloged for the first time, "blueprints" that give rise to defective proteins and are normally recognized and rapidly degraded in cells. This leads to a better understanding of this degradation mechanism and helps in the development of new therapeutic approaches.

For the first time, physicists from the University of Basel, working in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Bern, have produced a graphene compound consisting of carbon atoms and a small number of nitrogen atoms in a regular grid of hexagons and triangles. This honeycomb-structured “kagome lattice” behaves as a semiconductor and may also have unusual electrical properties. In the future, it could potentially be used in electronic sensors or quantum computers.

Researchers at the University of Bern and ETH Zurich 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.

A team of physicists and chemists has produced the first porous graphene ribbons in which specific carbon atoms in the crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. These ribbons have semiconducting properties that make them attractive for applications in electronics and quantum computing, as reported by researchers from the Universities of Basel, Bern, Lancaster and Warwick in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Jean-Louis Reymond vom Institut für Chemie und Biochemie und Sven Rottenberg vom Institut für Tierpathologie der Universität Bern werden vom Europäischen Forschungsrat (ERC) mit je einem renommierten ERC Advanced Grant ausgezeichnet. Ihre Forschungsprojekte werden mit je 2,5 Millionen Euro über 5 Jahre unterstützt.

Einem internationalen Team unter Beteiligung der Universität Bern ist ein entscheidender Schritt auf dem Weg zu miniaturisierten Schaltkreisen gelungen: Erstmals haben Forschende eine molekulare Brücke für Elektronen gebaut, die bei Raumtemperatur sowohl mechanisch als auch elektronisch stabil bleibt. Dies könnte in Zukunft den Bau elektronischer Systeme im Nanobereich mit völlig neuartigen Funktionen ermöglichen.

The complexity of molecular structures in the cell is amazing. Having achieved great success in elucidating these structures in recent years, biologists are now taking on the next challenge: to find out more about how they are constructed. A joint research project between two groups from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich now provides insight into a very unusual construction process in the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei.

Researchers of the University of Bern have discovered a new molecular regulatory mechanism in unicellular parasites which has never before been observed. RNA fragments do not act as brakes in the cell apparatus, but on the contrary as "stimulants": they boost protein production after periods of stress.

Sleeping sickness-causing parasites contain an unusual protein synthesis machinery. A team of researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Bern resolved its very special structure for the first time.

Oxygen radicals occur as a by-product when living beings burn carbohydrates or fat. They are suspected of accelerating the ageing process in humans and animals, and to be partly responsible for severe illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or certain types of cancer. Researchers at the University of Bern and the University of Stockholm have now discovered a so far unknown defense mechanism against oxygen radicals which could serve as a base for various medications.

Trypanosomes are single-celled parasites that cause diseases such as human African sleeping sickness and Nagana in animals. But they are also used in basic research as a model system to study fundamental biological questions. Researchers of the University of Bern have now investigated how trypanosomes equally distribute their “power plant” to the daughter cells during cell division. The discovered mechanism potentially opens new avenues for drug interventions.

The tiny diode works by means of an asymmetry caused by water molecules at the molecular junction interface. At around 60% humidity, water molecules lump together at tip side of the molecular layer and cause an imbalance between the energy levels on both sides. This strongly limits the flow of electrons. Under dry circumstances, the molecule’s symmetry doesn’t break and the diode behavior disappears.

Is it better to produce locally or to import? That can be a crucial question for simple lifeforms as well. Mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, have their own protein factories although the cell apparatus could easily do the job for them. A special species of eukaryotes even has all the transfer-RNA it needs for protein assembly promptly delivered. Researchers from the University of Bern have now uncovered how this highly unusual import mechanism works in detail.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has revealed a new way to tune the functionality of next-generation molecular electronic devices using graphene. The results could be exploited to develop smaller, higher-performance devices for use in a range of applications including molecular sensing, flexible electronics, and energy conversion and storage, as well as robust measurement setups for resistance standards.

Eine Goldoberfläche, auf der sich Moleküle mit verschiedenen magnetischen Zentren zu einem Nano-Schachbrettmuster selbst anordnen, stellt den ersten sogenannten ebenen Ferrimagneten dar. Die Existenz solcher zweidimensionaler magnetischer Systeme wurde bisher ausgeschlossen. Dank geschickter Materialwahl wurde dies nun von einer internationalen Forschergruppe mit Berner Beteiligung möglich gemacht.

Mitochondria are the “power plants” of complex cells. In order to provide the cell with energy they need protein building blocks, which are imported from the outside. Over billions of years the “protein import machines” necessary for this process have developed differently than previously assumed, as biochemists in Bern have discovered. This also casts a new light on the evolution of complex cells.