Biotechnology

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.

Using CRISPR technology, researchers at EPFL and the University of Geneva have uncovered the complex dance of genes involved in embryonic development.

Nako Nakatsuka earned a place on this year’s MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 list for her invention of a precise chemical biosensor that empowers researchers to better understand brain processes and diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Major Depression, and Parkinson’s.

EPFL researchers found that, if expressed too early during embryonic development, one of the genes that orchestrate the formation of limbs can lead to a rare disorder of bone growth.