Research

ETH Fellow Rodrigo Arzate-Mejia is studying how traumatic life experiences affect the brain, with a focus on epigenetic changes in brain cells.  

Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt, in cooperation with PSI, have probably discovered another, previously unknown mechanism of action of the antiviral remdesivir. Using structural analyses, they have discovered that a decomposition product of the virostatic agent remdesivir binds to the viral protein nsP3 of Sars-CoV-2. This protein helps the virus suppress host cell defence mechanisms. The discovery may be important for the development of new drugs to combat Sars-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses.

The 5G wireless standard is a less polarising issue among the Swiss population than thought. According to a survey conducted by ETH researchers, the majority of people are in favour of 5G. However, a substantial portion of the population in the French-speaking region had concerns about electromagnetic radiation.

Extreme weather poses increasing challenges to the agricultural sector. New insurance models based on satellite data may reduce the risk of drought for farmers, writes Robert Finger.

Since February 2021, the canton of Grisons is using saliva-based PCR mass testing within its mobile workforce as a potential means to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce infection rates. Empa researchers are now leading the analysis of data from the first eight weeks of the testing regime. They observed a reduction in the incidence rate between 20 and 50%, depending on the business sector, and a noticeable reduction in the test positivity rate among those who were regularly tested. This suggests that viral propagation can indeed be contained through regular mass testing.

Through a unique combination of computer simulations and laboratory experiments, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have discovered new binding sites for active agents – against cancer, for example – on a vital protein of the cell cytoskeleton. Eleven of the sites hadn’t been known before. The study is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

In the Alps, it is getting warmer and warmer and spring is starting earlier and earlier. Many species living there can adapt their behaviour as well as their choice of habitat accordingly. But as it is shown in an overview study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the CNRS in France, which also includes numerous results from citizen science projects, these adaptations usually do not take place quickly enough.

On Wednesday, 5 May, the expansion of the Empa and Eawag research campus in Dübendorf began with a ground-breaking ceremony for a new laboratory building. This was attended by representatives of the two research institutes, the general contractor, the architectural office and the city of Dübendorf.

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.

Biodiversity on Earth is declining dramatically. Eawag has always had a great tradition of supporting research on biodiversity. With modern research approaches and a highly interdisciplinary environment, which is almost the only one of its kind worldwide, it also wants to contribute to ensuring that politics, economy and society have the necessary foundations to understand and preserve biodiversity.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have succeeded in turning specially prepared graphene flakes either into insulators or into superconductors by applying an electric voltage. This technique even works locally, meaning that in the same graphene flake regions with completely different physical properties can be realized side by side.

The new research project SURE (SUstainable and Resilient Energy for Switzerland) started on May 4. Over the next six years, ten research institutions under the project lead of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI will study how Switzerland can ensure its energy supply is as sustainable and resilient as possible in the coming decades.

EPFL scientists are beginning to understand why corals in the Gulf of Aqaba, along with their symbiotic algae and bacteria, resist higher temperatures particularly well.

The climate action potential of carbon capture during the processing of biomass feedstock is considerable, ETH Zurich researchers have calculated. If this potential is to be fully exploited in practice, however, there are challenges to overcome.

The images leave no one cold: giant vortices of floating plastic trash in the world's oceans with sometimes devastating consequences for their inhabitants – the sobering legacy of our modern lifestyle. Weathering and degradation processes produce countless tiny particles that can now be detected in virtually all ecosystems. But how dangerous are the smallest of them, so-called nanoplastics? Are they a ticking time bomb, as alarming media reports suggest? In the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team from Empa and ETH Zurich examines the state of current knowledge – or lack thereof – and points out how these important questions should be addressed.