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Biology

2 March 2021
teaser

Watching receptor proteins changing shape

Research Using Synchrotron Light SwissFEL Biology Human Health

In our bodies, G protein-coupled receptors mediate countless processes. PSI researcher Ramon Guixà talks about how he brings those receptor molecules to life on the computer screen.

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4 February 2021
teaser

"Ultimately, we aim to understand how diseases start in single cells"

Biology Human Health Medical Science Proton Therapy

Imaging and sequencing techniques combined with machine learning offer researchers countless opportunities to look inside cells with greater precision than ever before. G.V. Shivashankar, lab head at PSI, describes how such information can be used to find answers to pressing questions.

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26 November 2020
20-11-25_zlotnikov_copyright-ronald-seidel-igor-zlotnikov_teaser.jpg

Scientists determine the structure of glass-shaping protein in sponges

Research Using Synchrotron Light Biology Matter and Material

Measurements at the Swiss Light Source SLS have helped to understand how the only known natural protein-mineral crystal is formed. It is part of the fascinating glass skeleton of sponges.

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5 November 2020
Teaser ERC Grant

A new generation of optogenetic tools for research and medicine

Media Releases Biology

The European Research Council (ERC) is funding an interdisciplinary collaborative project with 10 million euros for the structural and biophysical analysis of selected photoreceptors and their development into "OptoGPCRs", light-controlled molecular switches with a wide range of applications in biology and medicine.

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19 October 2020
Teaser Proteinkristalle

Wait and see, and grow crystals

Research Using Synchrotron Light Biology Human Health Medical Science

At PSI, researchers decipher the structure of the proteins in bacteria and viruses. This knowledge can aid, for example, in the development of drugs against infectious diseases. But before the investigation can begin, an extremely tricky problem has to be solved: the crystallisation of the molecules.

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12 October 2020
Strahllinien-Wissenschaftler Vincent Olieric montiert eine Proteinkristallprobe, um sie an der SLS zu vermessen.

Measurements at PSI enabled detailed understanding of genetic scissors

Research Using Synchrotron Light Biology User experiments

PSI congratulates Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna on winning this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Experiments at the Swiss Light Source SLS in 2013 made it possible to elucidate the structure of the protein complex CRISPR-Cas9.

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30 September 2020
Teaser 5232 3/2020

Mites in the spotlight

Biology Human Health Medical Science

The world of microbes and viruses is extremely old and exceedingly diverse. With the large research facilities at PSI, researchers are peering deep inside this alien cosmos and investigating, above all, the proteins of these exotic beings.

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31 August 2020
May Sharpe

A question of binding

Research Using Synchrotron Light Large Research Facilities Biology Human Health

At PSI, researchers are screening molecule fragments to see if these bind to important proteins of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and thus have the potential to disable it. They are hoping the many individual pieces of information will yield an answer as to what an effective drug might look like.

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6 August 2020
Prevot

Coronavirus advice: Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate!

Biology Human Health

SARS-CoV-2 might be transmitted via aerosols, that is, through the air. Researchers point this out in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. André Prévôt from PSI co-signed the publication. In this interview, he explains which precautionary measures he recommends.

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30 July 2020
Dr. May Elizabeth Sharpe

Covid-19 research: Anti-viral strategy with double effect

Research Using Synchrotron Light Biology Human Health

Frankfurt scientists identify a possible weakness of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They carried out part of their measurements at PSI's Swiss Light Source SLS. The research results are published this week in the scientific journal Nature.

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20 May 2020
Petr Skopintsev (links), Jörg Standfuss (Mitte) und Christopher Milne (rechts) an der Experimentierstation Alvra am Freie-Elektronen-Röntgenlaser SwissFEL

Elucidating the mechanism of a light-driven sodium pump

Media Releases SwissFEL Biology

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have succeeded for the first time in recording a light-driven sodium pump from bacterial cells in action. The findings promise progress in developing new methods in neurobiology. The researchers used the new X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL for their investigations.

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16 January 2020
Teaser Interview Adelmann

Simulation: The third pillar of science

Biology Matter and Material Large Research Facilities

PSI researchers simulate and model large research facilities as well as experiments, for example, in the materials and biological sciences. Andreas Adelmann, head of PSI's Laboratory for Scientific Computing and Modelling, explains how they do it.

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23 December 2019
Dr. Andreas Adelmann

Modelling and simulation pay off

Biology Matter and Material Nuclear Power Plant Safety Large Research Facilities

Researchers in PSI's Laboratory for Scientific Computing and Modelling solve the most complex problems through a combination of theory, modelling, and high-performance computing. With powerful computers, they simulate the smallest molecules or large research facilities.

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26 November 2019
Teaser Medikamente mit Strahlkraft

Brilliant medicines

Biology Human Health Radiopharmacy Medical Science

In the service of health, scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI work with radionuclides and develop agents to treat cancer and to detect tumours. Their research provides support to hospitals and is of great interest to Swiss industry.

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31 October 2019
Teaser zur Infografik Feuer frei auf Tumore

Open fire on tumours

Biology Human Health Proton Therapy Medical Science

At the treatment stations of the Centre for Proton Therapy at PSI, tumours can be precisely irradiated from any direction. An interactive graphic explains how the protons get from the source to the body in order to trigger the elimination of tumour tissue.

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22 August 2019
Teaser Chemokin-Rezeptor

Preventing tumour metastasis

Media Releases Biology Human Health Medical Science Research Using Synchrotron Light

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, together with colleagues from the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, have taken an important step towards the development of an active substance against the metastasis of certain cancers. Using the Swiss Light Source SLS, they deciphered the structure of a receptor that plays a crucial role in the migration of cancer cells.

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4 July 2019
Teaser Molekulare Energiemaschine als Filmstar

Molecular energy machine as a movie star

Media Releases Biology SwissFEL Large Research Facilities Research Using Synchrotron Light

Using the Swiss Light Source SLS, PSI researchers have recorded a molecular energy machine in action and thus revealed how energy production at cell membranes works. For this purpose, they developed a new investigative method that could make the analysis of cellular processes significantly more effective than before.

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24 June 2019
Teaser Choi Steinmetz

Molecular scissors stabilise the cell's cytoskeleton

Media Releases Biology Human Health Medical Science

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have an important part of the regulatory cycle that is involved in the formation and degradation of the cytoskeleton. Among other things, they have watched molecular scissors at work.

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26 April 2019
teaser adenylate cyclase

Bringing information into the cell

Media Releases Biology Human Health Medical Science

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have elucidated an important part of a siganalling pathway that transmits information through the cell membrane into the interior of a cell. This exists in all mammals and plays an important role, among other things, in the regulation of the heartbeat. The new findings could lead to new therapies.

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10 October 2018

This time, it's all bio: SwissFEL makes protein structures visible

Media Releases Biology Human Health SwissFEL

For the development of new medicinal agents, accurate knowledge of proteins is crucial. In a pilot experiment, researchers have now, for the first time, used the X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL of PSI for the examination of protein crystals.

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5232 01/2021

5232 — Das Magazin des Paul Scherrer Instituts

01/2021
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