People of the Neolithic age around 6,000 years ago were closely connected both in life and death. This became evident in a detailed archaeological and anthropological of a collective grave containing 50 bodies near Burgos, northern Spain.
With increasing age, the propensity to take physical, social, legal or financial risks decreases. Researchers from the University of Basel and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin were able to show how factors such as poverty and income equality play a role.
The Thalamus not only relays visual signals from the eye to the visual cortex as previously thought, but also conveys additional, contextual information. Integrating these different signals is essential to understand and interpret what we see in the world around us.
For a long time it has been known that the protein TOR – Target of Rapamycin – controls cell growth and is involved in the development of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum together with scientists from ETH Zurich have now examined the structure of mammalian TOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in more detail. The scientists have revealed its unique architecture in their latest publication in “Science”.
Basel Biologists hope to develop a new drug to combat bacterial biofilms in the lungs of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. The Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) is funding the project “Therapeptix” at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel with 350,000 Swiss francs. Two more Biozentrum researchers are therefore heading towards professional independence and the establishment of a spin-off.
Researchers at the University of Basel took a close look at a signaling pathway present in most organisms and found that it suppresses the formation of specific types of brain tumor.
Mice that spent time running on wheels developed twice the normal number of new brain cells and increased their ability to distinguish new objects from familiar objects compared to inactive mice, reports a new study by researcher of the University of Basel.
To more efficiently treat breast cancer, scientists have been researching molecules that selectively bind to cancer cells and deliver a substance that can kill the tumor cells, for several years. Researchers from the University and University Hospital Basel have now for the first time successfully combined such an antibody-drug conjugate with a therapy that stimulates the immune system to attack tumor cells.
The BK polyomavirus often causes complications after kidney transplantation. A research group from the Department of Biomedicine at the University and the University Hospital of Basel has now been able to show, that the immunosuppressive drug Tacrolimus directly activates the replication of the virus and could thus be responsible for these complications.