Group:

and/or year:

Structural insights into Fe-S protein biogenesis

The cytosolic iron sulfur assembly (CIA) pathway is required for the insertion of Fe-S clusters into proteins, including many DNA replication and repair factors. Despite its essential cellular function, this pathway remains enigmatic. A new integrative structural and biochemical ...

Jun 22, 2020

Building corticocerebellar neural circuits

In a comprehensive study, researchers from the Rijli group found that a single Hox transcription factor expressed in a group of neurons of the pontine nucleus - the cerebral cortex most important brainstem relay to the cerebellum - determines the wiring onto these neurons of spec...

Jun 11, 2020

How transcription factors recognize binding motifs on chromatin

In a video (5’35’’) combining interviews and figures, the team behind the latest collaboration from the Thomä and Schübeler labs - Alicia Michael, Ralph Grand and Luke Isbel - explain how they developed an assay identifying where the preferable sites f...

Jun 02, 2020

A genome-scale map of DNA methylation kinetics

While the first genome-wide DNA methylation map in mammalian cells was established over 10 years ago, such maps only provide snapshots and do not inform about the actual dynamics of this epigenetic mark. Researchers from the Schübeler group now quantified actual rates of met...

May 12, 2020

A novel pathway ensuring chromosome stability in early mice embryo

The Peters group studies chromatin formation and regulation in mammalian germ cells and during early embryonic development. Now researchers from the group identified a novel pathway that is essential for maintaining the integrity of heterochromatin, and therefore for securing chr...

Apr 28, 2020

Silvia Arber elected to the American National Academy of Sciences

FMI group leader Silvia Arber is among the 26 international members elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this year. Members are elected to the NAS in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted ...

Apr 24, 2020

RNA degradation contributes to heterochromatic gene silencing in higher eukaryotes

The Gasser group discovered that silencing of heterochromatic regions - and more specifically of hundreds of Polycomb-target genes enriched for H3K27me3 - can occur through selective RNA degradation, and not only through transcriptional repression. The study links the epigenetics...

Apr 15, 2020

Dirk Schübeler appointed as new FMI Director

Professor Dirk Schübeler has been appointed as the next Director of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research. Schübeler has been a group leader at the FMI since 2003 and is an internationally renowned scientific leader in the field of gene regulation. He...

Apr 08, 2020

The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research turns 50

On April 8, 1970, the founding charter of the FMI was signed. For 50 years, the FMI has stayed true to its initial mission: To promote basic research in the fields of biochemistry and medicine, and to train young scientists. Today, with over 340 associates, the Basel-based resear...

Apr 05, 2020

The circuitous path to adulthood

Genes that time the transition to adulthood are well-studied in the roundworm C. elegans, and at least partially conserved in mammals, where they regulate the onset of puberty. Juvenile worms turn into adults when a protein called LIN-29 accumulates in sufficient amounts. By stud...

Mar 31, 2020

ERC Advanced Grants for Dirk Schübeler and Nicolas Thomä

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the recipients of this year's ERC Advanced Grants. We are delighted that two FMI group leaders are among the grantees: Dirk Schübeler will receive funding for his project "Overcoming chromatin restricted DNA access", and so w...

Mar 24, 2020

Research group of Andreas Lüthi receives Swiss Brain League Research Prize 2020

This year, the biennial Swiss Brain League Research Prize, which is endowed with 20,000 CHF, is awarded to the research group of Andreas Lüthi from the FMI and Jan Gründemann. The researchers have investigated how "internal states" such as anxiety, stress, hun...

Mar 19, 2020

Coronavirus – measures at the FMI

In light of the increased spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the FMI put in place strict measures in an effort to slow down the infection rate and to protect the health and safety of our associates. These measures reduce ongoing research activities, but ensure essential operat...

Mar 16, 2020

The importance of gene position for muscle development and integrity

Mutations in the nuclear structural protein lamin A produce rare, tissue-specific diseases called laminopathies. To study these diseases, researchers from the Gasser group introduced a mutation inducing a human laminopathy in C. elegans and monitored its effect on chroma...

Mar 03, 2020

A glitch in the Matrix: Using virtual reality to understand how fish predict the future

Scientists from the Friedrich group have developed a new virtual reality system that allows them to manipulate the sensory environment of adult zebrafish at will, while simultaneously analyzing neural activity. This approach can be used to explore how the brain processes complex ...

Feb 25, 2020

FMI ranks first in success rates for ERC grant applications

The selection of research projects to be funded by the European Research Council (ERC) is highly competitive; therefore, the funding of a project by the ERC is a key indicator for research excellence. In the latest data provided by the ERC covering the years 2014-2018, the FMI ac...

Feb 11, 2020

Connecting two important processes in gene expression

RNA decay plays a fundamental role in gene expression by controlling the quality and quantity of messenger RNAs. However, it has proved difficult to study and is still shrouded in mystery. Scientists from the Bühler group now uncovered key targets, components and functions o...

Jan 21, 2020

Reconstructing structure and function of a neuronal circuit

The function of neuronal circuits is thought to be determined largely by specific connections between neurons. But this assumption has been difficult to test because the reconstruction of the synaptic connectivity of a neuronal circuit - its "wiring diagram" - is a major challeng...

Jan 09, 2020

The Computational Biology platform - Data scientists at the FMI

Michael Stadler has been leading the FMI Computational Biology technology platform since 2008. In an interview, he explains how the platform is set up and how it supports the FMI research groups, he shares what he likes most about his job, and he talks about the future of computa...

To see news from previous/other years, please go to the top of this page and select the year and/or the group.