
ETH Zurich: “Insight into the world of designer DNA drugs”
October 8, 2018
The ETH Zurich Foundation has published an article highlighting NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Don W. Cleveland’s lecture at ETH Zurich on Oct. 3, 2018. The talk, which was part of the NOMIS event celebrating the 2018 Distinguished Scientist awardees, addressed aspects of Cleveland’s work, including his gene-silencing therapies, also known as designer DNA drugs, which can block the activity of the gene whose mutation causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s or Alzheimer’s disease.
The NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award is enabling Cleveland and his team to identify a previously unknown mechanism for cell entry in the mammalian nervous system, develop gene editing/gene suppression approaches, and identify the underlying basis for liquid-liquid de-mixing and its contribution to neurodegenerative disease.
The ETH story also highlights other partnerships between NOMIS and ETH, including the Professorship of Genome Biology and the Professorship of Cryo-Electron Microscopy.
A German version of the article has also been published: “Einblick in die Welt der Designer DNA drugs.”

Don W. Cleveland
Professor and department chair, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
UC San Diego – School of Medicine
NOMIS professorships at ETH Zurich
NOMIS PARTNERSHIP
Professorship of Cryo-Electron Microscopy, ETH Zurich
NOMIS RESEARCH PROJECT
Professorship of Genome Biology, ETH Zurich
NOMIS RESEARCH PROJECT
Mechanisms of Gene Silencing and Liquid-Liquid De-mixing in the Nervous System
NOMIS RESEARCH PROJECT