2015
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A step towards quantum electronics
Work of physicists at the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), in which they connected two materials with unusual quantum-mechanical properties through a quantum constriction, could open up a novel path towards both a deeper understanding of physics and future electronic devices. Their results have just been published in the journal Science.
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A wax shield to conquer the Earth
Seeds have recycled a plant protection mechanism, the cuticle, to withstand terrestrial aggressions. Having emerged late during evolution, seeds have transformed many plants into miniature travelers, contributing greatly to their colonization of terrestrial habitats. Researchers at the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, have just discovered one of the keys of this success: the cuticle. Present as a thick waxy layer in the seed coat and composed of cutin - a type of fatty acid -, the cuticle increases seeds’ viability, their resistance to reactive oxygen species, and contributes to maintaining their dormant state. Seeds have thus recycled an ancient terrestrial plant protection mechanism that allows their leaves to be covered with an impermeable film preventing excessive transpiration. The results are published in the journal PLoS Genetics.
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Hydra can modify its genetic program
Certain cells of the animal change to overcome the loss of its nervous system. Champion of regeneration, the freshwater polyp Hydra is capable of reforming a complete individual from any fragment of its body. It is even able to remain alive when all its neurons have disappeared. Researcher the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered how: cells of the epithelial type modify their genetic program by overexpressing a series of genes, among which some are involved in diverse nervous functions. Studying Hydra cellular plasticity may thus influence research in the context of neurodegenerative diseases. The results are published in Philosophical Transactions, the journal of the Royal Society.
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The corn snake genome sequenced for the first time
Among the 5 000 existing species of mammals, more than 100 have their genome sequenced, whereas the genomes of only 9 species of reptiles (among 10 000 species) are available to the scientific community. This is the reason why a team at the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, has produced a large database including, among others, the newly-sequenced genome of the corn snake, a species increasingly used to understand the evolution of reptiles. Within the same laboratory, the researchers have discovered the exact mutation that causes albinism in that species, a result published today in Scientific Reports.
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Quantifying the impact of volcanic eruptions on climate
Large volcanic eruptions inject considerable amounts of sulphur in the stratosphere which, once converted into aerosols, block sun rays and tend to cool the surface of the Earth down for several years. An international team of researchers has just developed a method, published in Nature Geoscience, to accurately measure and simulate the induced drop in temperature.
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Deciphering the olfactory receptor code
A tool to identify all the receptors activated by a specific smell, in species ranging from mice to flies, was developed at UNIGE. In animals, numerous behaviors are governed by the olfactory perception of their surrounding world. Whether originating in the nose of a mammal or the antennas of an insect, perception results from the combined activation of multiple receptors located in these organs. Identifying the full repertoire of receptors stimulated by a given odorant would represent a key step in deciphering the code that mediates these behaviors. To this end, a tool that provides a complete olfactory receptor signature corresponding to any specific smell was developed in the Faculties of Science and Medicine of the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland. Published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, this approach allows to identify thousands of chemosensory receptors, among which, potentially, those able to trigger predetermined behaviors in mammals or in insects, such as pests, disease vectors or parasites.
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Mayo Clinic researchers find new code that makes reprogramming of cancer cells possible
Cancerresearchers dream of the day they can force tumor cells to morph back to the normal cells they once were. Now, researchers on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus have discovered a way to potentially reprogram cancer cells back to normalcy. The finding, published in Nature Cell Biology, represents “an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer,” says the study’s senior investigator, Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Biology on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus.
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Researchers explore ultrafast control of magnetism across interfaces
The Geneva team of Prof. Jean-Marc Triscone is well known for the high quality oxide materials that they can synthesize in thin film form with nanoscale control.
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Water to understand the brain
The detection of aqueous influxes in neurons allows a better deciphering of cerebral functioning. To observe the brain in action, scientists and physicians use imaging techniques, among which functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the best known. These techniques are not based on direct observations of electric impulses from activated neurons, but on one of their consequences. Indeed, this stimulation triggers physiological modifications in the activated cerebral region, changes that become visible by imaging. Until now, it was believed that these differences were only due to modifications of the blood influx towards the cells. By using intrinsic optical signals (IOS) imaging, researchers from the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, demonstrated that, contrary to what was thought, another physiological variation is involved: the activated neurons swell due the massive entry of water. This discovery provides evidence that a much finer analysis of the functioning of the brain - and of its dysfunctions - is possible. These results are published in the journal Cell Reports.
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The fly’s time
The biological clockwork of human beings and flies is comparable. The Drosophila, the so-called fruit fly, attends all day long to its activities. It flutters, has naps, lays its eggs or emerges from the pupa, the stage of metamorphosis preceding maturity. At the AV短视频 (UNIGE), Switzerland, the team of the researcher in biology Emi Nagoshi is closely interested in this insect, used as a model organism for the study of circadian rhythms in the animal kingdom. The researcher’s group discovered that the main clock of the Drosophila, formed by neurons clustered in various regions of the brain, is controlled by mechanisms similar to those regulating the internal clock of mammals. This study, described in the journal Current Biology, demonstrates how very distant organisms, displaying different circadian activities, can present the same type of biological clock gears.