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How did the company, Sadik Hafizovic co-founded, continuously innovate and adapt since entering the quantum-computing market? What were the greatest challenges and what advice would he give to someone thinking of starting a scientific instrumentation company? Read the amazing history of the ETH spin-off Zurich Instruments, founded in 2008 at D-BSSE, in PhysicsWorld.

Scientific IT Services (SIS) is offering an openBIS training on 24 September, 1-5 PM. The training is open to members of groups already using openBIS, but also to members of other groups who would like to learn more about this lab notebook-tool. You will learn how to manage the lab inventory and lab protocols as well as how to record experiments and analyze stored data. Please register before 20 September.

On the invitation of TWIST (Toward more Women In Science and Tech), D-BSSE meets Industry, FMI and Uni Basel, the executive director of Addgene, Joanne Kamens, will give a series of seminars and workshops on career development, communication and other relevant topics for young scientists. Check out the events on 9, 10 and 11 September and secure your seat!

Scientists from Basel including from the D-BSSE group headed by Dagmar Iber have investigated the activity of stem cells in the brain of mice and discovered a key mechanism that controls cell proliferation. According to the researchers, the gene regulator Id4 controls whether stem cells remain in a state of rest or enter cell division. The results were published in Cell Reports and may be relevant for treating neurodegenerative disease in human brains.

Taking first steps towards scientific independence and building up a small research team is the dream of every early-career scientist. The Ambizione Grant awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation is offering just that. Catherine Jutzeler from the Machine Learning and Computational Biology Lab headed by Karsten Borgwardt receives this grant worth 800'000 CHF, covering the costs for hiring a PhD student and Catherine's research in "precision medicine for neurological disorders".

Sophie Herzog, doctoral student from the group of Daniel Müller, qualified for the prestigious 2019 Ironman World Championship in Nice, France. The race will take place on 7 September 2019, including a 1.9km swimming race, a 90km bike discourse and a 21km run. At last year's Championship in South Africa Sophie was awarded the Bronze Medal. Hopp, Sophie, the D-BSSE keeps crossing fingers and wishes you a fantastic championship!

On 16 August, at the Locarno Film Festival, D-BSSE Professors Barbara Treutlein and Daniel Müller entered the public discourse on the ethical questions of manipulating cellular systems, tissues and even fully functional embryoids. How far do we want to go when growing miniature embryos in the lab? For whom do we develop the extremely costly therapeutics? How do we achieve an international agreement that regulates the ethics of engineering life? Watch the talk organised by NCCR MSE.

Researchers around D-BSSE Professor Randall Platt have refined the famous CRISPR-Cas method. Now, for the very first time, it is possible to modify dozens, if not hundreds, of genes in a cell simultaneously.

Join D-BSSE Professor Sai Reddy at the Festival of Biologics on 15-17 October 2019 in Basel. He will be a speaker at the European Antibody Congress discussing antibody engineering in mammalian cells by genome editing. The conference unites four congresses under one roof. Free and discount passes are available for conference delegates and for visitors to the exhibition.

Mid-July, a total of 28 research consortia submitted their research proposals in response to the first inaugural funding scheme of the Botnar Research Centre for Child Health. In an interview with D-BSSE, Georg Holländer and Sai Reddy, the Heads of the Centre, explain how they envision the implementation and evaluation of first activities.