Swiss National Science Foundation

Addiction

Believers consume fewer drugs than atheists

Young Swiss men who say that they believe in God are less likely to smoke cigarettes or pot or take ecstasy pills than Swiss men of the same age group who describe themselves as atheists. Belief is a protective factor against ...

Oncology & Cancer

Why asbestos is so dangerous

The fact that asbestos causes cancer has been largely undisputed for nearly 50 years. Now, researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have discovered why the fibres cause such damage to the body. ...

Medical research

Decision time predicts the risk of depression relapse

In a study supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, researchers have shown that it is possible to predict the risk of relapsing into depression after stopping antidepressant medication. People who relapse take ...

Health

Caffeine consumption slows down brain development

Humans and other mammals show particularly intensive sleeping patterns during puberty. The brain also matures fastest in this period. But when pubescent rats are administered caffeine, the maturing processes in their brains ...

Neuroscience

Speeding up genetic diagnosis of Huntington's disease

Elongated segments of DNA cause Huntington's disease and certain other disorders of the brain. Researchers funded by the SNSF have developed a method to determine the length of the mutated genes quickly and easily.

Health

The therapeutic potential of health data

In the future, doctors won't be concerned about treating just a diseased organ – they'll be using a mass of data to get a holistic view of the state of their patients." This is how the Swiss Centre for Technology Assessment ...

Immunology

Anti-viral rapid reaction force

After host cells have been attacked by a virus, they present parts of the pathogen on their surface. Thanks to these virus components, the killer cells patrolling in the body (CD8+ T lymphocytes) can recognise the infected ...

Oncology & Cancer

Cancer: More targeted use of immunotherapy

Doctors are increasingly fighting cancer by stimulating patients' immune systems. SNSF-supported researchers have now discovered a method for predicting the likelihood of treatment success.

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