Author Archives: Elsa Sigle
Finding the genome’s blind spot
A long-missing genetic explanation for inherited vision loss Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic eye disorder affecting around one in 5,000 people worldwide. It typically begins with night blindness in youth and progresses to tunnel vision as daylight-sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina gradually die, potentially leading to blindness over…
Karolina Kaminska receives Early Career Award at the ESHG 2024
We are thrilled to announce Karolina Kaminska has been honored with the Early Career Award for outstanding research by young scientists at the ESHG 2024 conference in Berlin. This prestigious award was presented in recognition of her spoken contribution entitled “Mutations in COQ8B are a novel cause of recessive non-syndromic…
Botond Roska and José-Alain Sahel win the Wolf Prize 2024 in the field of medicine
The Wolf Prize, considered one of the most prestigious international awards, recognizes outstanding achievements in various fields including medicine. Botond Roska, Director at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) and Professor at the University of Basel, and José-Alain Sahel, Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh…
A zoo of features: Thalamic interneurons have different views – new insights into how the brain integrates visual information
All sensory stimuli—with the exception of smell—pass through the thalamus before reaching the cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain that governs cognition. A small part of the thalamus, the dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), mediates image perception. The dLGN contains two different neuron types, one of them being…
IOB Group Leader Dr. Andreas Keller appointed Associate Professor at the University of Basel
We are proud to announce that our esteemed group leader, Dr. Andreas Keller, has been appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel, effective August 1, 2024. This appointment is a testament to Keller’s exceptional contributions to neuroscience and visual research. Andreas Keller, who has…
Career milestone: Postdoctoral fellow Martin Munz to lead early cortical circuits research as a professor in Canada
“I want to understand how the brain is built,” says Martin Munz, a post-doctoral scientist in the laboratory of Botond Roska at IOB. Munz and his colleagues investigate the assembly of circuits in the cortex–which is the part of the brain that governs sensory perception, cognition, and other higher-order functions.
Swiss National MD-PhD grants to two IOB scientists
Jay Zoellin’s research project aims to address a critical gap in current medical care: Researchers at IOB recently discovered that a previously overlooked mutation is potentially the most common genetic defect in inherited retinal diseases. However, despite the high prevalence of this condition, both disease models and therapeutic options for…
IOB’s first spinout: RhyGaze AG
RhyGaze AG, a Spinout from the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB), to advance groundbreaking gene therapy for treating blindness RhyGaze AG, a spinout from IOB, is developing a novel gene therapy that targets cone cells to restore vision in patients suffering from diseases causing blindness BGV and Novartis…
Two IOB scientists receive the Swiss OpthAward 2024
The Swiss OphthAward recognizes young researchers for their contributions to ophthalmology and related fields. Fiona Müllner received the Swiss OphthAward in the category “Best Experimental Paper” for her work on thalamic inhibitory interneurons and their role in processing visual features published in Neuron this year. Mathieu Quinodoz received the Swiss OphthAward in…
IOB researchers discover new gene linked to inherited blindness
In a groundbreaking study published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, the research team led by Carlo Rivolta has identified a new gene associated with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary form of blindness. The scientists discovered that mutations in the COQ8B gene can lead to non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa. This finding is…