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A Toxin with a Useful Twist

Researchers from the SNI network have discovered a novel way to fuse lipid vesicles at neutral pH. By harnessing a fragment of the diphtheria toxin, the team achieved vesicle membrane fusion without the need for pre-treatment or harsh…

Illustration of the application of the new SQUID
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Ultrasensitive SQUID nanoprobes for high-resolution magnetic field images

Researchers from the SNI network have developed innovative, extremely small, and robust magnetic field probes that enable high-resolution images of nanoscale magnetic structures. The sensors are based on superconducting quantum interference…

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Fight for survival – Our contribution to the Global Science Film Festival 2025

Invisible to the naked eye, but omnipresent: bacteria live in the soil, in water – and even inside us. Many are essential to life, and some possess sophisticated weapons to fight microscopic rivals. In our short film, researchers from the…

 Illustration of an anchored metalloenzyme and membrane domains of different sizes
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Controlled phase separation in membranes

Cell membranes consist of a mixture of different lipids and proteins. These are not always evenly distributed. Under certain conditions, similar lipids and proteins can accumulate laterally in small areas within the membrane. This phase…

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ERC Grant for Tomasz Smoleński

Prof. Tomasz Smoleński is a new member of the SNI network, succeeding Prof. Christian Schönenberger, our former director. Smoleński recently became a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Basel…

Schematic illustration
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A smart accelerator for qubits

Researchers at the University of Basel have made a quantum bit faster and more robust at the same time. In the future, this could help in the development of quantum computers. 18 August 2025 | Oliver Morsch There are high hopes for…

microscopic images of cells
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Manipulating tiny things with sound

Manipulating microscopic objects with sound Researchers from the SNI network recently published their findings on using acoustic tweezers — devices that manipulate tiny objects using sound waves without solid contact— in a more efficient…

Illustration of the three different forms of the analyzed porphyrin derivate.
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Kagome network from a single molecular building block: Complex structure produced by self-assembly of porphyrin derivate

Researchers from the SNI network have shown that copies of a single molecular building block can spontaneously form a complex supramolecular structure on surfaces. Writing in the journal Communications Chemistry, the researchers describe…

Photo of the chip that was used for the experiments
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Rotated magnetic field for more stable qubits

Researchers from the SNI network have presented a method that allows them not only to control quantum states more easily but also to keep them stable for longer. To this end, they rotate the magnetic field in a semiconducting nanowire that…

[Translate to English:] Nanopartikel unter einem Elektronenmikroskop
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New spectroscopic methods for the quantitative detection of functional groups on the nanoparticles surface

The combination of nanoparticles with biologically active molecules such as antibodies offers promising applications in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. In order to design these so-called bioconjugated nanoparticles in a…

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