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Steven Schmitt from the Bioprocess Lab of Sven Panke was awarded the BRIDGE Proof of Concept Fellowship to support his research on screening nature’s microorganisms for antibiotic producers. Together with Irene Wüthrich, Steven coheads the ambitious project SpheroBiotics with the aim to fight antimicrobial resistance.

Modifying the cell surface regulates the behaviour of the cell. Researchers around Professor Michael Nash from the D-BSSE / University of Basel now developed a genetically controlled system for selectively encapsulating single yeast cells inside of hydrogel shells. These capsules protect the cells from, for instance osmotic shock when introduced in lytic enzyme cocktails. The novel technique was published by Chemistry of Materials - and provided the cover for the March issue.

The German biotechnologist changed his career to become the lab manager of Martin Fussenegger’s Biotechnology and Bioengineering Group after 20 years of basic research, including a five-year stay at EMBL in Rome. He enjoys the very dynamic and international spirit at D-BSSE.

On 27 March, the Biotech Alumni Group is inviting D-BSSE students and staff to meet former alumni and learn about different biographies and career paths. Invited speakers include Noemie Kouassi, Trainee Patent Attorney at Roche; David Ausländer, Principal Scientist at Novartis; and the CEO of UniSieve Samuel Hess. Mark your agendas!

Cannabis and in particular, its hallmark constituents cannabinoids, have been studied extensively for their potential medical applications. Due to their structural complexity, chemical synthesis of cannabinoids is limited. Together with colleagues from the University of California Berkeley, Michael Reiter for the first time used synthetic biology techniques to transfer Cannabis genes into yeast cells to produce cannabinoids. Part of this Nature study was done as Reiter’s D-BSSE Master Thesis.

Are you a female scientist at the crossroad between university and industry? feminno offers career development for women scientists interested in innovation. Project partners of this programme include ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and the University of Basel. Application deadline is 20 April.

Together with the University of Basel, D-BSSE is co-leading two research projects from the third call in 2018 in the area of personalised medicine. One project focuses on translating network modelling to leukaemia; the other project uses a personalised medicine approach to study the physiology and degeneration of human dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease.

ETH Zurich has thousands of ambassadors around the world. Scattered all across the globe, the university’s graduates work in a broad range of professions and positions, regularly achieving truly remarkable things. The March issue of Globe focuses on the 150th anniversary of the ETH Alumni Association and presents a variety of individuals, all of whom - in their own personal ways - are helping to shape the future of Switzerland and the world.

If the federal popular initiative for a ban on animal testing succeeds, drug development in Switzerland would become virtually impossible, ETH Vice President Detlef Günther believes.

ETH Zurich has submitted a request to the ETH Board to terminate the employment relationship with a professor in the former Institute for Astronomy. To avoid as far as possible similar cases from escalating in future, ETH Zurich is adapting its structures and processes and is launching a comprehensive package of measures to improve the quality of leadership and supervision at the university.