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A tool to identify all the receptors activated by a specific smell, in species ranging from mice to flies, was developed at UNIGE.

Jan Pawlowski is the coordinator of an international project funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies

In a paper recently published in PLOS ONE, the laboratory of Prof. Michel Milinkovitch reports on R2OBBIE-3D, a robotic integrated system that generates accurate 3D models of biological objects

Recently, results of biophysical analyses performed by the group of Prof Michel Milinkovitch made the buzz as the researchers discovered that chameleons shift colour through active tuning of a lattice of guanine nanocrystals within specialised skin cells rather that by dispersion/aggregation of pigments.

The biological clockwork of human beings and flies is comparable

Many chameleons have the remarkable ability to exhibit complex and rapid color changes during social interactions. A collaboration between the teams led by professors Michel Milinkovitch and Dirk van der Marel, unveils the mechanisms that regulate this phenomenon.

Reproductive barriers between species can sometimes be overcome in nature, producing hybrids that may be fertile. This process results in demographic interactions between species and, in some cases, is accompanied by genetic introgression. However, human introduction of invasive species increases the occurrence of this phenomenon, potentially threatening native species.

Life in a group entails a major risk: that of being exposed to contagious pathogens. To counter this danger, different strategies have evolved in social species. In the case of rodents, specific olfactory signals emitted by sick individuals induce avoidance behavior among their peers.

During the development of mammals, the growth and organization of digits are orchestrated by Hox genes, which are activated very early in precise regions of the embryo. These “architect genes” are themselves regulated by a large piece of adjacent DNA. A study led by Denis Duboule, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, reveals that this same DNA regulatory sequence also controls the architect genes during the development of the external genitals.

Parkinson’s disease is a common age-related disorder that progressively affects movements. The patients present slowness of movements, stiffness, tremor, loss of balance in early stages that can be manageable by medications. But in advanced stages, patients suffer from the debilitating degree of motor dysfunctions in combination with non-motor symptoms such as cognitive dysfunctions, hallucination and delusion, unable to live alone. Although it has been known that these symptoms mainly arise from the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain substantia nigra, the underlying mechanism is unknown.