The International Day of Women and Girls in Science will take place on 11 February. To mark this day, physicists from the University of Basel are hosting a public panel discussion with guests from industry and research. The aim is to discuss strategies for increasing gender balance in science. The program also features an exhibition on famous female scientists and demonstration experiments aimed at capturing the interest of schoolgirls in particular. In the run-up to the event, UniNews spoke to the two women behind it.
When choosing between multiple alternatives, people usually focus their attention on the two most promising options. The quicker we do that, the faster we make the decision, as report Psychologists from the University of Basel.
An interdisciplinary team from the University of Basel has succeeded in creating a direct path for artificial nanocontainers to enter into the nucleus of living cells. To this end, they produced biocompatible polymer vesicles that can pass through the pores that decorate the membrane of the cell nucleus. In this way, it might be possible to transport drugs directly into the cell’s control center.
What can be reused and what can be disposed of? Cells also face this tricky task. Researchers from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have now discovered a cellular machine, called FERARI, that sorts out usable proteins for recycling. In Nature Cell Biology, they explain how FERARI works and why it is so special.
Information about an artwork has no effect on the aesthetic experience of museum visitors. The characteristics of the artwork itself have a much stronger impact on observers. Psychologists from the University of Basel reached these conclusions in a new study.
The sex life of hermaphroditic animals is determined by one fundamental question: Who assumes the female role and produces the costly eggs? Hamlets avoid this dilemma by engaging in reciprocal egg trading. Scientists have now used microeconomic models to analyze the circumstances required for this complex system of trading to work. Their results have been published in The American Naturalist.
Researchers at the University of Basel have developped molecular factories that mimic nature. To achieve this they loaded artificial organelles inside micrometer-sized natural blisters (vesicles) produced by cells.
The simultaneous use of antibodies based on two differing mechanisms of action leads to a more effective destruction of tumors. Patients who do not respond to current immunotherapy options could benefit most from this new treatment.
Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University have demonstrated how bacteria coordinate cell division with the replication of their genetic material. In an interdisciplinary study they explain why the current concept of the bacterial cell cycle has to be rewritten. The results were published in eLife.
