EPFL

A new study from EPFL reveals novel insights into the ultrastructure and biochemical composition of huntingtin aggregates, the mark of Huntington’s disease, pointing to new avenues for treatment strategies.

The EPFL Blue Brain Project has created the first digital reconstruction of the Neuro-Glia-Vascular Architecture providing a new framework to study brain function in health and disease. The study, published in Cerebral Cortex, represents a major milestone because they can now reconstruct the architecture of non-neuronal entities such as blood vessels and the supporting cells called glia. These reconstructions of the brain tissue provide a sub-micron precise framework needed to simulate the molecular interactions relevant to understanding how neurons are supported and nurtured. They can also be used to investigate how drugs interact and explore how neurodegenerative diseases arise.

Digital twins are computer-based models of an object or even a human organ, and the technology behind them is advancing at a rapid pace. EPFL will host a series of talks and seminars on this topic at its Digital Twin Days on 15 and 16 November. An ideal opportunity to learn more about the work EPFL researchers are doing in this pioneering field.

An international collaboration led by EPFL chemical engineers has overcome a problem in the manufacturing of perovskites that reduces their efficiency as solar panels. The approach produced perovskite solar panels with an efficiency of 23.9% and operational stability longer than 1000 hours.

By combining two microscopy methods, EPFL researchers are able to see what is happening inside a cell and on its membrane simultaneously, giving unprecedented insight into the cellular processes that occur during infection, for example.