Cartilage cells from the nasal septum can not only help repair cartilage injuries in the knee – according to researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel, they can also withstand the chronic inflammatory tissue environment in osteoarthritis and even counteract the inflammation.
The cichlids of Lake Tanganyika in Africa are highly diverse – including with regard to sex chromosomes. These have changed extremely frequently in the course of the evolution of these fish and, depending on the species, can be of the type XY or ZW. This has been reported by a research team from the University of Basel and the Research Museum Koenig in Bonn in the scientific journal Science Advances.
Viruses do not always kill the cells they infect. Researchers at the University of Basel have discovered in experiments with mice that cells have the power to self-heal and eliminate viruses. However, these cells undergo long-term changes. The findings may provide a hint as to why cured hepatitis C patients are more susceptible to liver cancer for years after.
The cell’s cholesterol level is decisive for fat regulation and therefore for the lipid metabolism of the entire organism. This has now been demonstrated by a research team at the University of Basel. The team discovered that a specific receptor controls the cholesterol level in the cell and thus the organismal fat metabolism.
Breath instead of blood: researchers from the University of Basel have developed a new test method to measure treatment success in epilepsy patients. They hope that this will enable doctors to react more precisely when treating the disease.
University of Basel researchers have reached an important milestone in their quest to produce more sustainable luminescent materials and catalysts for converting sunlight into other forms of energy. Based on the cheap metal manganese, they have developed a new class of compounds with promising properties that until now have primarily been found in noble metal compounds.
Many scientific experiments require highly precise time measurements with the help of a clearly defined frequency. Now, a new approach allows the direct comparison of frequency measurements in the lab with the atomic clock in Bern, Switzerland.
For decades, a key brain area has been thought to merely regulate locomotion. Now, a research group in Basel has shown that the region is involved in much more than walking, as it contains distinct populations of neurons that control different body movements. The findings could help to improve certain therapies for Parkinson’s disease.
The electronic properties of graphene can be specifically modified by stretching the material evenly, say researchers at the University of Basel. These results open the door to the development of new types of electronic components.