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Writing and running code, managing, processing and analysing ever growing amount of scientific data - this is nowadays a daily bread of a modern scientists. ETH Scientific IT Services (SIS) holds a monthly Code and Data Clinic in the D-BSSE Science Lounge to give advice that might help both in solving your individual scientific computing problems as well as in planning of your future projects. The next Code & Data Clinic is on 3 December, 2PM in the Science Lounge.

Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is supporting the D-BSSE spin-off BioVersys with $8.92 Million to help the company develop first-in-class anti-virulence small molecule drugs designed to disarm bacteria, opening the door for a paradigm shift in the treatment of drug resistant bacterial infections. CARB-X is a global non-profit partnership dedicated to accelerating antibacterial research to tackle the global rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria.

0n 28 October, the grand opening of microTAS 2019, the 23rd International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, took place at the Basel Congress Centre. Organized by D-BSSE Professors Petra Dittrich and Andreas Hierlemann, together with Emmanuel Delamarche from IBM research, the conference brought together some 1’330 experts to discuss advances in microfluidics and miniaturized technologies for life science and chemistry.

On 18 October, 26 master graduates and their families and friends celebrated the successful completion of their D-BSSE studies in Biotechnology or in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. In total, 47 graduates had completed their MSc. studies since the last graduation ceremony.

Research projects in the area of personalised medicine can now be submitted until 8 November 2019. The extended call is open for joint projects between members of the D-BSSE and the University of Basel. Launched in previous years, eight such projects are currently underway. Find more information on the D-BSSE website.

D-BSSE meets industry is organising yet another site visit: on 21 November, 9 AM - 12 PM, D-BSSE members have the opportunity to visit the Novartis campus. Registration is required.  

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), and the D-BSSE present new insights into the development of the human brain and differences in this process compared to other great apes in a study published in Nature this week. The study reveals features of brain development that are unique to humans, and outlines how these processes have diverged from those in other primates.

ETH President Joël Mesot announced a restructuring of the Executive Board last June. In the Town Hall forum on 8 October, he provided an update on the status of the "rETHink” project and, together with his fellow board members, answered questions from ETH members.

Hana Parízková, D-BSSE Musterstudent in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, was nominated to represent ETH Zurich at the Global Young Scientists Summit 2020 in Singapore. "I am very happy and grateful that I was given this opportunity. I believe that as a researcher-beginner I will profit from this meeting with many excellent scientists not only by broadening my horizons, but also by learning about their stories and life journeys, about both their successes and failures", says Hana.

Under the auspices of D-BSSE Professors Kobi Benenson, Jörg Stelling and Sven Panke, this year’s ETH team has worked on a new method to tackle antibiotic resistances. Using a novel bioreactor, the project T007- Licence to lyse developed a method for the formation of phage libraries which could be the basis for the personalized treatment of bacterial infections. The team will present its innovation on 2 November at the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition in Boston, USA.