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Infectious diseases like the plague, leprosy and syphilis have made history and shaped humanity over a long period of time – are still doing so today. The paleogeneticist Verena Schünemann explores the evolution of pathogens and the question of why they have been able to survive for so long.
UZH Magazin, August 2024
Inheriting the Ability to Adapt
Genetic diversity enables plants to adapt. Research conducted by plant geneticist Ueli Grossniklaus on the epigenetic inheritance of traits is opening up new opportunities for breeding crops.
UZH Magazin, July 2024
According to evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner, nature tirelessly produces new variations, many of which are not utilized. But when environmental conditions change, these dormant new talents spring into action.
UZH Magazin, July 2024
“UZH is a leader in evolutionary biology research”
How do organisms and pathogens evolve and adapt to the environment? This was the question that the URPP Evolution in Action sought to address. The program allowed UZH to put its considerable research competence in evolutionary biology to excellent use, says the initiator and former co-director Beat Keller.
UZH News, June 2024
The ancestors of the Mapuche people settled in South America more than 5,000 years ago. For a long time, they lived in relative isolation and in defiance of the Incas and Spanish. A notable study aids our understanding of their genetic history, and that of South America.
UZH News, May 2024
AI increases Precision in Plant Observation
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help plant scientists collect and analyze unprecedented volumes of data, which would not be possible using conventional methods. Researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have now used big data, machine learning and field observations in the university’s experimental garden to show how plants respond to changes in the environment.
UZH Press Release, September 2023
Tracing Chile’s Indigenous Roots Through Genetics and Linguistics
How do today’s indigenous communities of South America trace back to the history of human migration and contact in the continent? An international team has worked to reconstruct the legacy of Chile’s largest indigenous community, the Mapuche, in a quest to strengthen their representation in the history of the continent. It appears the Mapuche long lived in relative isolation but do bear some influences from other populations of the Central Andes and the far south of Chile.
UZH Press Release, June 2023
Does the history of our languages match the history of our genes? A team of scientists at the University of Zurich and the Max-Planck-Institute have revealed a large number of matches – but also widespread mismatches in around 20 percent of cases, including in Malta, Hungary and Namibia.
UZH Press Release, 22 Nov 2022
Threatened Aldabra Giant Tortoise Genome Decoded
They can live for more than 100 years and weigh up to 250 kilograms – Aldabra giant tortoises. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now decoded the genome of Aldabrachelys gigantea, one of only two remaining giant tortoise species worldwide. The findings will help to ensure the long-term survival of the threatened species.
UZH Press Release, 12 Oct 2022
Im alten Ägypten wurden die Organe der Toten separat in speziellen Gefässen einbalsamiert. Wissenschafter haben erstmals genetisches Material daraus gewonnen. Sie hoffen so zum Beispiel herauszufinden, welche Krankheitserreger die Menschen in sich trugen.
NZZ, 18.08.2022
Frogs Use Brains or Camouflage to Evade Predators
How do frogs protect themselves from predators? Some species rely on cognitive predator evasion, using their large brains and strong hind legs. For species exposed to high predation pressure, however, this strategy takes too much energy, and effective camouflage to avoid being detected in the first place may be preferable. Evolutionary biologists at the University of Zurich now reveal how these different survival strategies evolved in frogs.
UZH News, 18 Aug 2022
Die Sommer werden heisser. Kommen Tiere, Pflanzen und Mikroorganismen damit klar?
Neue Untersuchungen deuten darauf hin, dass ihnen dies weniger gut gelingt als erhofft.
NZZ am Sonntag, 13.08.2022
Global Spread of Powdery Mildew through Migration and Trade
The worldwide distribution of one of the most important cereal pathogens is the result of human activity. Researchers at the University of Zurich have traced the history and spread of wheat powdery mildew along wheat trade routes and found that mixing of genetic ancestries of related powdery mildew species played a central role in the evolution and adaptation of the pathogen.
UZH Press Release, 3 August 2022
Green genetic engineering will help secure our food supply, believes plant biologist Beat Keller. One possible approach involves genetically modifying wheat to make it more resistant to powdery mildew.
UZH News, 12 Juli 2022
In the Beginning Was the Popcorn
Genetically modified crops could contribute to making agriculture more sustainable and productive, says Ueli Grossniklaus. This new green genetic engineering has so far met with skepticism – but the challenges of climate change and the global grain crisis may change people’s views.
UZH News, 22 June 2022
Wundersaft Sperma: Ein Teelöffel Erbinformation (ab 29:30)
Sperma - der Stoff, aus dem Leben entsteht. Das Ejakulat, ein Protein-Shake. Im Wundersaft tummeln sich bis zu 600 Millionen Samenzellen. Gut 1,5 Gigabyte an Erbinformation enthalten Spermien.
3sat, Wissenschaftsdoku, 13.1.2022
Delta, Omikron & Co: Wie werden neue Virus-Varianten entdeckt?
Das Coronavirus hat unser Leben noch immer fest im Griff. Doch was ist eine Virus-Variante? Wie wird eine Veränderung im Virus entdeckt?
SRF Kinder News, 11.12.2021
Do languages and genes share cultural evolutionary history?
Languages and genes tell stories about the past but statistical analysis reveals that these are not always the same.
Science Advances, 6 Oct 2021
Die Grammatik steckt in unseren Genen
Wie ist Sprache entstanden? Und wie hat sie sich entwickelt? Sprachwissenschaftler blicken immer weiter zurück in die Vergangenheit der Menschheit – dank neuer Methoden.
SRF, 24.08.2021
Evolution passiert hier, jetzt und schnell
Evolution ist kein langsamer Prozess, sondern geschieht tagtäglich. Das zeigt die Ausstellung «evolution happens!» im Zoologischen Museum unter anderem am Beispiel der Antibiotikaresistenz.
SRF, 16.06.2021
Evolution geschieht hier und jetzt / Evolution Happens, Here and Now
Eine neue Sonderausstellung im Zoologischen Museum der Universität Zürich macht mit Beispielen aus Medizin, Landwirtschaft und Naturschutz die Evolution und ihre Konsequenzen in unserem Alltag sicht- und greifbar. Die Ausstellungsinhalte wurden in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Universitären Forschungsschwerpunkt (UFSP) «Evolution in Aktion: Vom Genom zum Ökosystem» erarbeitet.
A new special exhibition at the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich shines the spotlight on evolution and its consequences in our everyday lives. The exhibition, which uses examples from medicine, agriculture and nature conservation, was developed in collaboration with the University Research Priority Program (URPP) Evolution in Action: From Genomes to Ecosystems.
UZH Medienmitteilung / Press Release, 14.6.2021
Wissenschafter an der Universität Irchel können erkennen, wo sich die Covid-19-Varianten aus England und Südafrika bei uns verbreiten.
NZZ, 3.3.2021
Ernährung, Stress, soziales Engagement: All das beeinflusst nicht nur uns, sondern im Zweifel auch unsere Kinder und Enkel, sagt Isabelle Mansuy.
taz, 25.1.2021
According to Isabelle Mansuy’s research, the epigenome – which can switch our genes on and off – can be modified, positively or negatively, by our lifestyle choices. At least some of these modifications are passed down through the generations.
UZH News, 30 Nov 2020
Covid-19 ist ein Weckruf: Wir sind nicht allein auf diesem Planeten
Was richten Pandemien mit einer Gesellschaft an? Verena Schünemann ist Paläogenetikerin und erforscht alte Krankheiten von Menschen, Tieren und Pflanzen, um daraus für die Gegenwart und die Zukunft zu lernen.
Podcast 'Im Gespräch', Republik, 13.11.2020
Host Genetic Factors Shape Composition of Virus Communities
Plants can be infected by multiple viruses at once. However, the composition of the pathogen community varies, even if individuals belong to the same species and the same population. Ecologists at the University of Zurich have now shown that these differences are primarily due to genetic variation among the hosts. The loss of genetic diversity could thus render species more vulnerable to infections and extinction.
UZH Press Release, 5 November 2020
Evolutionary biologist Kentaro Shimizu gathers flowers from a Swiss alpine meadow and cultivates Japanese wheat in a garden on UZH’s Irchel Campus. He wants to find out how plants are adapting to climate change.
UZH News, 22 Oct 2020
Krankheiten als Erbe der Evolution
Warum wird der Mensch krank? Der Homo sapiens ist aus Sicht der Evolutionsbiologie eine Mängelkonstruktion - seit jeher anfällig für Leiden aller Art. Krankheit ist Erbe unserer Evolution.
3sat, scobel, 22.10.2020
Languages and Genes Shed Light on pre-Incan Cultural Development in Central Andes
A recent study combines newly available analyses and methods from linguistics and genetics to tackle a long-standing topic in archaeological research, confirming the demographic and cultural elements of a north-south divide in the Central Andes.
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Press Release, October 21, 2020
Diese Pflanze blüht nur auf dem Urnerboden
Besondere Entdeckung im Hochtal - Die Evolution brauche Millionen Jahre, glauben wir. Eine Alpenblume belegt, dass sich neue Arten auch innert 150 Jahren entwickeln können.
Tagesanzeiger, 17.10.2020
Füchse in Zürich haben plötzlich Pfoten und Schädel wie Haustiere. Fische jagen Tauben. Insekten fliegen nicht mehr ins Licht. In kürzester Zeit passen sich Tiere und Pflanzen der Stadt an. Darwin wäre überrascht gewesen, wie schnell das geht. «Einstein» über erstaunlich flexible Stadtbewohner.
TV: SRF 1, Einstein, 1. Oktober 2020
The fly that conquered the world
Whether hot or cold, wet or dry: the fruit fly is comfortable just about everywhere. A European research network has been investigating how evolution helps it to adapt to new environments.
Horizons, 03/09/2020
Neues Verfahren revolutioniert Corona-Tests
Moderne Sequenziertechnologien analysieren innert Stunden Milliarden von DNA-Bausteinen. Eine Gruppe von Forschenden am Zentrum für funktionelle Genomik zeigt, wie die rasante Technologie für Corona-Reihentests nutzbar gemacht werden kann: Hunderttausende von Tests innert Tagen sind möglich.
UZH News, 12.06.2020
In a unique project, researchers from the University of Zurich have been observing a population of wild house mice for 17 years. They’re learning things they’d never see in the lab. We’ve gone on a field trip to visit them in their barn.
Horizons, 04/06/2020
Coronavirus: Wir sind noch immer Jäger und Sammler, zumindest ein bisschen
NZZ, 11 March 2020
Herbarium genomics - Opportunities and challenges
PlantScienceNews, No. 37, Spring 2020
Forscher der Uni Zürich entdecken riesiges Schildkröten-Fossil
Die Wissenschaftler haben einen sensationellen Fund gemacht. Nun muss der Stammbaum des Panzertiers überarbeitet werden.
Tagesanzeiger, 13 February 2020
Ausgezeichnete Medizinforschung
Vier Forscher der Universität Zürich und des Universitätsspitals Zürich wurden mit dem Pfizer Forschungspreis 2020 ausgezeichnet. Mit ihrer Forschung leisten sie Beiträge zur Bekämpfung von HIV-Infektionen und Multipler Sklerose.
UZH News, 10 February 2020
A new National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) will be based at the University of Zurich. Entitled “Evolving Language”, it will investigate the origins and future of language. UZH linguist Balthasar Bickel will serve as co-director of the research network alongside Anne-Lise Giraud from the University of Geneva. The national network includes numerous other universities and research institutes within Switzerland.
UZH News, 18 December 2019
Through heat, saline soil or aridity, the environment can directly influence the activity of genes. As the biologist Ueli Grossniklaus has demonstrated, in plants these epigenetic changes can sometimes be inherited.
UZH News, 20 October 2019
Frank Rühli is an evolutionary medicine expert who is conducting pioneering research on mummified entrails. He recently became the first person to study the Egyptian Museum’s collection of canopic jars from an interdisciplinary perspective.
UZH News, 9 October 2019
Menschheitsgeschichte in Südamerika vor der Kolonialzeit (in German)
Über das Leben und die Kulturen der Menschen in Südamerika vor der Kolonialzeit gibt es nur wenige Informationen. Eine Studie der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft und der Universität Zürich hat nun neue Erkenntnisse über die Menschheitsgeschichte auf dem Kontinent gewonnen. Interview mit Chiara Barbieri.
detektor.fm, 29 August 2019
The University of Zurich offers attractive research opportunities, including such for postdocs from abroad – this becomes clear by looking at some of the researchers who thanks to EU grants have been able to work in the lab of their choice.
UZH Journal, November 2018
Shraddha Karve is a postdoc at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies. She researches the stress resistance of bacteria and the evolution of proteins. She is currently organizing a conference to strengthen cooperation between researchers from India and UZH. We met with her to find out more.
UZH News, 5 September 2018
