People today tend not to fall anymore for the unhealthy practice of organisations providing misleading information by about their societal and environmental responsibilities. Greenwashing techniques, which were first noticed in the 1960s, are in fact easier to identify and organisations are urged to 'come clean'.

On 13 February 2022, Swiss citizens will be asked to vote on a popular initiative calling for a complete ban on all animal and human experimentation in Switzerland. The initiative also calls for a ban, from 2024, on all new drugs and medical treatments that have been tested on animals or humans, anywhere in the world. Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and the Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC) recommend voters to reject this initiave (i.e. to vote NO), which would have serious consequences for the quality of research and patient care.

Vaccinated people can also contract covid-19 although less frequently than those who are vaccinated and usually tend to develop a mild form of the disease. Why does a person vaccinated against covid-19 get infected and what happens in that person's body? This episode explains why vaccination helps prevent severe forms of covid-19.

The  European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) has selected Roger Geiger , group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, affiliated to USI Università della Svizzera italiana), to the EMBO Young Investigator Programme in recognition of his scientific excellence. Geiger is the second IRB life scientist to join EMBO in 2021, after group leader Petr Cejka was elected full member in June. 

The term vaccine breakthrough is used to describe a coronavirus infection in people who have completed the vaccine cycle for at least 15 days. This topic is explored in this new episode. No vaccination offers 100 percent protection. So the fact that vaccinated people can still get infected is nothing new or unusual. This episode talks about why with the delta variant, the number of infections has increased despite the vaccination campaign.

Registration is now open for the National Scientific Image Competition 2022, sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The competition is aimed at scientists active at a Swiss university or research institute.

In the fight against tumours, how the key driver mutations related to disease progression and metastatic spread regulate gene expression to promote ultimately tumor progression and cancer cell adaptation to therapies have remained largely elusive. Using the gene expression fingerprint of cancer cells, researchers at the Istitute of Oncology Research (IOR, affiliated to USI Università della Svizzera italiana) in Bellinzona have now developed a novel method to track precisely prostate cancer progression in an unprecedented manner. Nature Communications published these findings in early December.

Even after two doses of the vaccine, it is possible to be infected with covid-19. No vaccination offers complete protection against an infection. This episode discusses why this is the case and why protection against the virus decreases over time especially in the elderly.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the Leonardo Foundation has decided to make a contribution to scientific research performed at the new biomedical research centre in Bellinzona with an important donation for the purchase of a new FACS Symphony S6 cell analyser, a fundamental device for research in the field of immunology and also for the study of tumours.

Does vaccination also protect against new coronavirus mutations or is it ineffective against them? In this episode we discuss the relationship between vaccination and new variants of the coronavirus and how, in any case, it protects us better than a previous infection.

Life, work, travel. At confronti 2021, which took place at the LAC Lugano on November 16, researchers, practitioners and the public discussed these topics from different viewpoints and disciplines, consistent with the recent developments of scientific research. Prof. Barbara Antonioli Mantegazzini, deputy director of the USI Institute for Economic Research (IRE), provides a summary of the discussions.

Explore the main themes of sustainability in one minute. In collaboration with USI's L'ideatorio, Caritas Ticino offers a series of short videos on the challenges of sustainable development. Joining us on this journey through knowledge is Giovanni Pellegri, Head of USI's L'ideatorio and professor of sustainable development at USI Faculty of Economics.