News and Events

As antimicrobial resistance increases globally, infections with resistant bacteria pose a major public health threat. In a new study in Nature Catalysis, a team of researchers led by Adrian Bunzel from the Bioprocess Laboratory at D-BSSE and Christopher Frohlich from the Arctic University of Norway revealed a novel mechanism for how resistances can emerge alarmingly fast. The discovery may help create antibiotics that are less prone to resistance and guide personalized health care.

Many aspects of how cells organise in a tissue are still a mystery. Researchers from the Computational Biology group of Dagmar Iber use computer modelling to unravel the cellular organisation that gives rise to tissue shape and function in development and disease. A new powerful computer programme presented in Nature Computational Science is a big leap forward. The team hopes to be able to dig much deeper into the biophysics of the fundamental building blocks of life than was possible before.

Organoids grown from human stem cells can help provide answers to important medical questions. In a partnership that looks set to profit both sides, D-BSSE professor Barbara Treutlein has teamed up with pharma giant Roche to advance research in this area.

Yaakov Benenson, Professor of Synthetic Biology, leaves the D-BSSE at the end of March to become a full-time entrepreneur at a biotech startup.

The latest issue of the GLOBE magazine of ETH Zurich has a focus on the D-BSSE and its connections and cooperations with institutions in Basel and beyond. Featuring numerous examples of cutting-edge research, the magazine reveals the department’s unique strengths in combining life sciences and data-driven engineering to target key medical challenges. A truly inspiring read!

Bioengineer Randall Platt engineers bacteria that can assess the state of our guts. It is hoped this non-​invasive technique could eventually be used to develop more effective interventions against malnutrition among children in the Global South.

On 18 April, 3-5pm, the next ‘Bench meets Bedside’ seminar of the Engineering Translational Medicine initiative will take place at the new D-BSSE building. Consult the website for the programme and the registration link (closing on 15 April).

Today, we are hosting the Personalised Health Conference with an excellent lineup of keynote speakers: Adrian Egli, Director of the UZH-Institute of Medical Microbiology, Emma Slack, ETH-Professor for Mucosal Immunology, and Jacques Fellay, EPFL-Professor of Genomics and Precision Medicine. Scientists from the D-BSSE and the EU-funded network Machine Learning Frontiers in Precision Medicine also share their latest findings and perspectives on translational research and personalised health.

The idea of ETH Zurich establishing a Department of Biosystems in Basel once seemed unachievable. Today, the department occupies a new building where the dividing lines between biology, computer science and engineering are blurred – and researchers increasingly focus on medical applications.