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Science and technology have the potential to stop future epidemics in their tracks, says Tanja Stadler. But this requires better collaboration between scientists and the authorities.

Open Innovation in Life Sciences 2018 is a first-of-its-kind premier life science conference with two back-to-back meetings connecting young professionals across academia, industry and decision-makers in science. Life Science PostDoc Day 2018 will take place at ETH Zurich on 14 September, Life Science Innovation Day on 15 September. Abstract submission deadline is 20 August.

Many community- and hospital-acquired bacterial infections are caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. One of those pathogens is the methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus, a major cause of severe blood poisoning. Researchers around D-BSSE Professor Fussenegger together with colleagues from the University Basel and the University Hospital in Basel developed designer cells which successfully combat bacterial infections.

What are the mechanisms of vision, and where do visual diseases lead to? To understand how the retinal output channels represent the visual world, a team of scientists around Botond Roska from the Friedrich Miescher Institute and Andreas Hierlemann from D-BSSE together with colleagues perturbed a specific retinal circuit element while studying how this perturbation changes the functional properties of the different retinal output channels.

A genetic circuit designed to regulate blood glucose levels, which is activated by the caffeine found in coffee, is demonstrated in a mouse model of diabetes. The findings are reported by the group around D-BSSE Professor Martin Fussenegger and colleagues in Nature Communications this week.

Sometimes viruses and bacteria undergo genetic changes that alter their properties and eventually make them more dangerous to humans. Tanja Stadler's mathematical models shed light on how fast they can mutate and spread.

Flow cytometrist Verena Jäggin is a passionate climber in the Swiss alps. Whenever she is not working in the Single Cell Facility of D-BSSE she is on tour. For thirty years, Verena served as president of the association Rendez-vous Hautes Montagnes (RHM) - and keeps inspiring the next generation in ice climbing and mountaineering. Find article in the magazine of the Swiss Alpine Club (in German).

The team of the Bio-Engineering Laboratory builds spherical 3D-microtissue systems on chips that closely recapitulate organ behaviour and functions. These microtissue arrangements make it possible to study interactions between different tissue types and to test pharmacological agents. In the Swiss radio broadcast SRF, Andreas Hierlemann explains how these “organs-on-a-chip” work - and what the future might bring with respect to drug development and personalized medicine (in German).

The conversion of cells into living therapeutics has already had a revolutionary impact on regenerative medicine and blood transfusion therapies. The discipline that deals with cell engineering is synthetic biology: biological functionalities are modified in order to perform certain applications. In an article published by Nature Reviews, Mingqi Xie and Martin Fussenegger from the Biotechnology and Bioengineering group provide an overview on knowledge, devices and design strategies in synthetic biology.

Rajib Schubert and Gotthold Fläschner from the Biophysics Group of Professor Daniel Müller received the 2018 Swiss Nanotechnology PhD Award. The prize is offered to doctoral students who achieved excellent scientific first-author publications in the field of nanotechnology and nanoscience.