03 April 2013

The image of an object, when projected into the eyes, may take on the most diverse shapes depending on the chosen point of view, as this can change its distance, perspective and so on, yet generally we have no difficulty in recognizing said object. This is a well-known notion that concerns humans and primates, yet now Alireza Alemi-Neissi, Federica Rosselli and Davide Zoccolan of SISSA (the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste) have shown that also rats possess such a sophisticated visual recognition ability, and that their brain employs complex strategies. The study has been just published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

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Monday April 8th at 11.30 am 
SISSA - Lecture Room 128

A special encounter has been held at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste featuring Charles Sabine, journalist and "future" Huntington's chorea patient. Sabine gave the audience his unique personal account and addressed the importance of genetic research in fighting neurodegenerative diseases, the type of research carried out at SISSA. The event was organized by the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Advanced Studies (LISNU) and the PHD course in Structural and Functional Genomics.

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29 march 2013

A chromosome is rarely found in the shape we are used to seeing in biology books, that is to say the typical double rod shape (the X pattern, to put it simply). It is usually "diluted" in the nucleus and creates a bundle that under the microscope appears as a messy tangle. In the last few years such chaos, however, has been "measured" and scientists have unveiled their secret: the genes in the tangle are actually arranged in regions that may perform a functional role. A research coordinated by the scientists at SISSA of Trieste has now developed and studied a numeric model of the chromosome that supports the experimental data and provides a hypothesis on the bundle's function.

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28 marzo 2013

Quattordici "cervelli in fuga" rientrati in Italia, fra cui due ricercatori della Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste, hanno inviato una lettera aperta al ministro Francesco Profumo per chiedere razionalità e tempi certi nelle procedure per continuare a fare ricerca nel nostro Paese. I vizi burocratici e la lentezza nei processi di valutazione, infatti, rischiano di lasciarli senza lavoro e costringerli a tornare all'estero.

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