NCCR Chemical Biology (2010–2022)

Home institutions: University of Geneva; EPF Lausanne

Research of the NCCR

The NCCR “Chemical Biology – Visualisation and Control of Biological Processes Using Chemistry” employed the tools of chemistry and biophysics to visualise and control biological processes to further our understanding of life. Until now, few technologies could characterise in detail the countless biochemical activities that constitute a living cell. By systematically funding collaborative interdisciplinary projects, scientists from both chemistry and biology were encouraged to go beyond their traditional lines of research and develop new chemical tools based on small molecules and proteins. Their aim was to obtain new information about cellular processes.

Scientific impact

This interdisciplinary approach led to the development of numerous technologies. One that stands out is the solution to the notoriously difficult problem of how to measure the membrane tension in living cells. NCCR researchers made this possible (development of Flipper-TR® probes) and these tools are not just accessible to scientific teams worldwide, but also to researchers in the private sector. The accomplished research and newly developed technologies led to numerous impactful publications, some of which rank among the most referenced 1% in the field.

Legacy

The NCCR created and reoriented a number of professorships, which in turn helped to build up chemical biology as a new area of research and teaching at both the University of Geneva and EPFL. As a result, the institutions of the Lemanic Arc form a centre of international repute in this field. To provide researchers in both academia and industry with access to the developed technologies, the ACCESS screening platform at EPFL was established. It contains the largest chemical library in Switzerland in the areas of chemical biology, systems biology and drug discovery. Furthermore, the ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations between biologists and chemists led to the implementation of a much-needed master’s degree programme in chemical biology.