2020

Researchers from the University Hospital Basel and ETH Zurich analysed the determinants of SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the pandemic’s first wave in Basel. The combination of whole genome sequencing with epidemiological, mobility and socioeconomic data revealed the transmission patterns. “Through simulated scenarios, our analysis explores potential vaccination strategies in a city”, says first-author Sarah Brüningk from the group of Karsten Borgwardt.

At the press conference on the COVID-19 situation in Switzerland, held on 22 December by the Federal Council of Switzerland, Tanja Stadler informs the public about the state of knowledge on the new coronavirus variant originating from Great Britain and South Africa. Tanja is a member of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force.

The D-BSSE spin-off company develops cell imaging systems that reveal the function of neuronal networks in a dish. By raising Series A financing, the company will further industrialise and scale-up the production of its so called multiwell high-density microelectrode array (HD-MEA) plates. These devices enable customers in the pharmaceutical industry to run functional drug screenings at a higher throughput and ultimately contribute to an acceleration in the development of drugs targeting the brain.

As one amongst seven researchers at ETH Zurich, Tanja Stadler, head of the D-BSSE Computational Evolution Group, receives generous funding from the European Research Council. She will investigate the fundamental rules of population dynamic processes, in particular in the field of developmental biology. Congratulations, Tanja!

An extraordinary year is coming to an end. To celebrate this occasion, D-BSSE members are invited to our next Townhall meeting dedicated to a review of 2020 and an outlook for 2021 on Thursday, 10 December, 1 PM. See you then!

For the past 10 years, the ETH spinoff InSphero and the Bio Engineering Laboratory, led by Andreas Hierlemann, closely collaborated on the development of multicellular 3D micro-tissues and organ-on-a-chip devices for drug and chemical-compound testing. This public-private partnership was highlighted as case study in a workshop organised by D-BSSE meets Industry and BaselArea Business & Innovation.

On 10 December, 9AM, principal investigator Andreas Moor and alumna & scientist-​​in-​industry Juliane Siebourg will share their inspiring bios with us and respond to questions on career choices, lessons learned, pitfalls and opportunities you must grasp. For D-​BSSE community members only!

The D-BSSE groups led by Karsten Borgwardt, Petra Dittrich, and Andreas Hierlemann are key partners in the National Competence Centre for Research “AntiResist”, which is centered around developing new approaches to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Novel analysis methods, improved tissue-culture models and innovative computational methods will be used to realistically reproduce infection scenarios and find new antibiotic drugs.

Based on the genome sequences of the influenza virus collected across Basel during the 2016/17 influenza season, analyses led by Nicola Müller and Tanja Stadler from the Computational Evolution group at D-BSSE, and colleagues, show that the Basel influenza epidemic was driven by repeated introductions and that age is an important factor underlying the spread within local transmission networks. The study was published in PLOS Pathogens.

ETH Zurich supports art in construction, and, as part of a project competition, has selected art projects by Maya Rochat and Yves Netzhammer that take an innovative approach to reflecting on teaching and research in the two ETH buildings BSS in Basel and ML-​FHK. Implementation is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2021.