Scientific Highlights and News

nanobodies

Nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2

In a study published in EMBO Journal, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany, developed nanobodies that efficiently block the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. The high resolution structural characterization was performed at the X10SA crystallography beamline at the Swiss Light Source.

toc fig nno

Creating novel quantum phases via the heterostructure engineering

Within this synergetic collaboration, PSI scientists have investigated the correlation between magnetic and electronic ordering in NdNiO3 by tuning its properties through proximity to a ferromagnetic manganite layer. The main outcome is that the stray magnetic field from the manganite layer causes a novel ferromagnetic-metallic (FM-M) phase in NNO. This work demonstrates the utilization of heterostructure engineering for creating novel quantum phases.

Thorsten Schmitt
•Technologies d’avenir
•7 min

Comprendre la physique à l’œuvre dans certains matériaux innovants

Recherche sur les matériaux SLS

Une équipe internationale réunissant des chercheurs du PSI et leurs collègues pourrait avoir réussi à rendre utilisables certains matériaux fortement corrélés pour une application dans les domaines de la supraconductivité, du traitement des données ou encore des calculateurs quantiques.

synchrotronmovies

Synchrotron movies

Prof Philip Willmott, the author of the book 'Introduction to Synchrotron Radiation: techniques and applications' (second edition, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 2019. ISBN: 9781119280392), makes the scripts for the simulations and animations available to the public.

electron
•8 min

How ethane-consuming archaea pick up their favorite dish

Scientists decode the structure of the enzyme responsible for the ethane fixation by – beside others – using the SLS.

(Photo:Shutterstock.com)
•Innovation santé
•16 min

PSI: constants progrès dans la lutte contre le coronavirus

Médecine

Analyses de structures cristallines, modèles informatiques, cultures cellulaires: dans ses recherches sur Sars-CoV-2, le PSI emprunte de nombreuses voies. Aperçu.

SARS-CoV-2_orf9b

Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 Orf9b in complex with human TOM70 suggests unusual virus-host interactions

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at the NHC Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens in Beijing, China, in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institut characterize the interactions of SARS-CoV-2 orf9b and human TOM70 biochemically, and they determine the 2.2 Å crystal structure of the TOM70 cytosolic domain with a bound SARS-CoV-2 orf9b peptide.

actacrysta teaser

Application of synchrotron-XRPD to protein powders

Breakthrough applications of high-resolution and high-counting statistics synchrotron X-Ray Powder Diffraction to protein powders leading to the determination of a 1.8 structural model of the pharmaceutical peptide "octreotide" - the highest resolution ever achieved for a peptide of this complexity using X-ray powder diffraction and crystallographic methods.

SAS tensor tomography

Quantifying oriented myelin in mouse and human brain

Myelin 'insulates' our neurons enabling fast signal transduction in our brain. Myelin levels, integrity, and neuron orientations are important determinants of brain development and disease. Small-angle X-ray scattering tensor tomography (SAXS-TT) is a promising technique for non-destructive, stain-free imaging of brain samples, enabling quantitative studies of myelination and neuron orientations, i.e. of nano-scale properties imaged over centimeter-sized samples.

Luc Patthey
•8 min

Une recherche qui ne plane pas sur un nuage rose

SwissFEL

La lumière est essentielle à la vie. Pour les chercheurs, c’est aussi un merveilleux instrument qui leur permet de mieux comprendre la structure des matériaux.

Teaser Remdesivir
•Innovation santé
•5 min

Mode d’action du remdesivir contre le coronavirus

Médecine

En coopération avec le PSI, des chercheurs de l’Université Goethe de Francfort ont probablement découvert un nouveau mécanisme d’action inconnu du remdesivir.

Virtual model of the jaw of a shark ancesto

Deep evolutionary origins of the human smile

Detailed characterization of the tooth and jaw structure and development among shark ancestors by synchrotron based X-ray tomographic microscopy at TOMCAT led an international team of researchers from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and the University of Bristol to the discovery that while teeth evolved once, complex dentitions have been gained and lost many times in evolutionary history.

Rüegg und Aeppli
•7 min

«L’objectif est un calculateur quantique expérimental dans le canton d’Argovie»

Recherche quantique

L’ETH Zurich et l’Institut Paul Scherrer PSI ouvrent conjointement le Quantum Computing Hub. Gabriel Aeppli et Christian Rüegg évoquent ce nouveau centre de recherche.

Redox

New class of substances for REDOX chemistry

The compounds known as ‘pyrazinacenes’ are simple, stable compounds that consist of a series of connected nitrogen-containing carbon rings. They are suitable for applications in electrochemistry or synthesis, as the researchers describe in the science journal Communications Chemistry. They were first designed, synthesized and chemically characterized in solution by the Hill team and carefully investigated by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Surface Chemical Analysis. The compounds have been shown to reversibly release and accept electrons and arrange themselves differently depending on the oxidation state. Interestingly, the oxidation and reduction reactions of the pyrazinacenes are not only affected by a chemical impulse, but can also be stimulated by light so they can be considered photo-redox active.

 

Hercules teaser

HERCULES SCHOOL 2021 AT PSI

During the week of March 15 – 19, we had the pleasure to welcome 20 international PhD students, PostDocs and assistant professors at PSI, taking part in the first virtual HERCULES SCHOOL on Neutrons & Synchrotron Radiation.

Pazyryk carpet fibre

Insights into the world’s oldest pile carpet

High-resolution XRF imaging of the specific metal distribution within wool fibers at the PHOENIX beamline gives insights into traditional oriental dyeing procedures.

Teaser covid research
•2 min

Forschung zu Covid-19 am Paul Scherrer Institut

Während viele Bereiche des Lebens eingeschränkt sind, bleiben wichtige Forschungsanlagen am PSI in Betrieb. 

Manuel Grimm
•Technologies d’avenir
•5 min

Nouveau plan de construction pour des ordinateurs quantiques plus stables

Recherche quantique

Des chercheurs du PSI ont montré comment des bits quantiques plus rapides et plus précis peuvent être créés. Leurs idée centrale est d'introduire de manière ciblée des atomes magnétiques de la classe des terres rares dans le réseau cristallin d’un matériau.