Antibodies can improve the rehabilitation of people with acute spinal cord injury

20-Dec-2024 - Antibody that Neutralizes Inhibitory Factors Involved in Nerve Regeneration Leads to Enhanced Motor Function after Acute Spinal Cord Injury. Researchers at 13 clinics in Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Spain have investigated this with promising results. For the first time, it was ...

Use of “Genetic Scissors” Carries Risks

The study provides valuable insights for the development of gene-editing therapies

07-Nov-2024 - The CRISPR molecular scissors have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of genetic diseases. This is because they can be used to correct specific defective sections of the genome. Unfortunately, however, there is a catch: under certain conditions, the repair can lead to new genetic ...

Why liver inflammation can damage the kidneys

04-Nov-2024 - The hepatitis E virus actually infects the liver. However, infected liver cells secrete a viral protein that reacts with antibodies in the blood - and as a complex can damage the filtering devices in the kidneys, as researchers at the University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich have ...

AI helps to detect antibiotic resistance

This is an important first step toward integrating GPT-4 into clinical diagnostics

24-Oct-2024 - Researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have used artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The team led by Adrian Egli, UZH professor at the Institute of Medical Microbiology, is the first to investigate how GPT-4, a powerful AI model developed by OpenAI, ...

Reducing Herbivore Damage Using Biodiversity Instead of Insecticide

10-Oct-2024 - Pesticides aren’t always necessary: researchers at the University of Zurich have conducted a comprehensive field study showing that damage from herbivores can be reduced by using biodiversity within a plant species. Different plant genotypes can cooperate to help fend off herbivorous ...

Compact “gene scissor” enables effective genome editing

Much smaller genome editing tool

25-Sep-2024 - CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known “gene scissor” but is much smaller and thus easier to transport into cells. Using protein engineering and AI algorithms, UZH researchers have now ...

Influenza viruses can use two ways to infect cells

The risk that avian, swine and other animal influenza viruses could trigger a flu pandemic in humans may thus be greater than previously assumed

23-Jul-2024 - Most influenza viruses enter human or animal cells through specific pathways on the cells’ surface. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now discovered that certain human flu viruses and avian flu viruses can also use a second entry pathway, a protein complex of the immune system, to ...

Autoantibodies Cause Lifelong Risk of Viral Infections

19-Jul-2024 - A new study shows that about two percent of the population develop autoantibodies against type 1 interferons, mostly later in life. This makes individuals more susceptible to viral diseases like COVID-19. The study, conducted by UZH researchers together with a USZ team, is based on an analysis of ...

Novel Blood Test Helps Improve Cancer Treatments

This could make it possible to provide diagnostics and treatments that are more closely tailored to individual patients in the future

02-Jul-2024 - Oncologists use biopsy and imaging techniques to diagnose and monitor tumor diseases and assess treatment success. UZH and USZ researchers have now further developed an advanced method to analyze liquid biopsies of DNA fragments in the blood. It is fast and practical, without putting much of a ...

The Mechanism Behind Melanoma Resistance to Treatment

Findings could pave the way for more effective therapies

01-Jul-2024 - In many cases of malignant melanoma, the effect of targeted treatment is lost over time. A research team from UZH and USZ has now discovered that a factor secreted by tumor cells is responsible for the resistance. These findings could pave the way for more effective therapies. Malignant melanoma ...