Two Bronze Medals for Switzerland at the 43rd International Chemistry Olympiad in Ankara, Turkey

At the 2011 International Chemistry Olympiad in Ankara, with 71 participating countries, Switzerland achieved two bronze medals thanks to two outstanding students

The Yin-Yang of the Green Fluorescent Protein:Impact on Saccharomyces cerevisiae stress resistance

International audienceAlthough fluorescent proteins are widely used as biomarkers (Yin), no study focuses on their influence on the microbial stress response. Here, the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) was fused to two proteins of interest in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pab1p and Sur7p, respectively involved in stress granules structure and in Can1 membrane domains. These were chosen since questions remain regarding the understanding of the behavior of S. cerevisiae facing different heat kinetics or oxidative stresses. The main results showed that Pab1p-GFP fluorescent mutant displayed a higher resistance than that of the wild type under a heat shock. Moreover, fluorescent mutants exposed to oxidative stresses displayed changes in the cultivability compared to the wild type strain. In silico approaches showed that the presence of the GFP did not influence the structure and so the functionality of the tagged proteins meaning that changes in yeast resistance were certainly related to GFP ROS-scavenging ability (Yang)

Two Bronze Medals for Switzerland at the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad Held in Washington DC, USA

A team of four high school students from all over Switzerland represented their country at the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) held in July 2012 in Washington D.C., USA. The exceptional performances of Thanh Phong Lê and Nina Gämperli in both practical and theoretical chemistry were rewarded by two bronze medals, reflecting their efforts during the year-long preparation prior to the competition