Investigating molecular mechanisms of Healthy aging

By 2030 almost every fourth person will be 65 or older in Switzerland, Europe, and USA. Since old age is the main risk factor for developing cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, as well as other age-related pathologies, the growing elderly population poses an immense social and financial challenge. [read more] [pdf]

Using C. elegans as a pioneering system to model the aging process because of its ease for genetic manipulation, high evolutionary conservation of genes implicated in human diseases, and short lifespan (3 weeks). Importantly, using C. elegans lifespan assays as a read-out for extension of healthspan is a tractable and fast approach for discovering novel mechanisms that confer healthy aging. Several fundamental mechanisms discovered in C. elegans have been shown to delay age-related pathologies in higher organisms, such as mice, and these mechanisms have major implications for humans aging. Hence, by using C. elegans to model the aging process we could rapidly identify strategies to improve human healthspan.

Our recent work has shown that many health- and longevity-promoting interventions re-activate the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes during aging (Ewald et al., Nature 2015, PMID:25517099). This ECM enhancement is required and sufficient for extending the lifespan of C. elegans. Our research efforts are focusing on exploring the mechanism(s) of how prolonged ECM homeostasis promotes healthy aging. [read more] [pdf]

Our core competencies are:

1. Aging research
2. Extracellular matrix biology, matrisome, and matreotype
3. Drug discovery, molecular biology, genetics, systems biology, and neuroscience

Our technical expertise with using the model organism C. elegans are:

• Automated lifespan assessment using the lifespan machine.
• High-throughput screening with genetic manipulations and chemical compounds for aging research.
• Neuronal plasticity (learning) assays.

• No animal safety or ethical issues: For FSVO, C. elegans not defined as an animal
• 60-80% of genes conserved with humans
• multicellular and eukaryotic
• C. elegans ages similar to humans, but faster (lifespan of 3 weeks)
• scalable for high-throughput genetic and drug screens
• (and because of: Brenner-->worms-->transgenics-->coffee-->biofuel--> future: watch this https://youtu.be/76W7lriuo1o)

Wir alle werden älter und mit jedem zusätzlichen Jahr steigt das Risiko für den
Ausbruch einer altersbedingten Krankheit wie Krebs, Diabetes, Alzheimer oder
Herzkreislaufprobleme. [weiter lesen] [pdf]

Kapitelauszug über unsere Forschung geschrieben von Alejandra Garcia Lanz (Schülerin der Gewerblich-Industrielle Berufsschule Bern; Vertiefungsarbeit ABU, 7.3.2019)

[Gestern, heute und morgen - Langlebigkeit.pdf]

Wenn Sie mehr wissen wollen, meine Einführungsvorlesung an der ETH Zürich gibt eine gute Übersicht über unsere Forschung.

Videolink zur Einführungsvorlesung

Auf den Link klicken und die Vorlesung: "Molekulare Mechanismen des gesunden Alterns (Collin Ewald)" kommen.

Kann man das Altern verlangsamen? Fadenwürmer im Fokus der Altersforschung. EwaldLab Interview by Patrick Bardelli Galaxus Hintergrund, Sport, Gesundheit. 12.05.2022
https://www.galaxus.ch/de/page/fadenwuermer-im-fokus-der-altersforschung-23588

Labor Journal: Nur nicht bescheiden sein. 12.05.2022

Wer als Forscher mit einem Start-up erfolgreich sein will, muss einiges beachten. 

Life Science Get2Gether #LSG2G by #ChristianSoschner
Episode #69: Prof. Collin Ewald - Molecular Mechanisms of Healthy Ageing

Feb 26th 2022

https://youtu.be/7uH3m6spb_g

#longevity #extracellularmatrix

#Age is just a number. Flipping a genetic switch, even at #old age, can #rejuvenate #elderly worms. Episode 78. January 2022. Start 30min. Interviewed by @DrChrisSmith @nakedscientists.

https://elifesciences.org/podcast/episode78#1828

Research Article by Richard Venz et al. @elife.

Live Longer World interview: Dr. Collin Ewald | Collagen Protein & Extracellular Matrix During Aging. January 18th 2022

https://youtu.be/r1Y5wGSqKWA

Longevity Technology (#Innovation): Increased lifespan? Make mine a double!

October 29, 2021

https://www.longevity.technology/increased-lifespan-make-mine-a-double/

Mindset 2021: Bernegger, Marc P.; Gushchina, Julia; Branford, Jason; Rochel, Johan. 30.09.2021

Mentioning Ewald Lab at 34min 29sec.

https://oc-vp-distribution04.ethz.ch/mh_default_org/oaipmh-mmp/2ecafd17-6f18-4b65-807e-ec2a406c7946/a2a16b40-7b17-460c-8725-45df2cd5717f/20210921_HGF3_Mindset_2021.mp4

Maximon: the Longevity Company Builder: Clubhouse The Longevity Biotech Show 8.4.2021

https://youtu.be/QhtXxsBK3oc

«Covidisierung» der Forschung verzögert andere Projekte: Echo der Zeit @SRF2 10.01.2021

https://www.srf.ch/play/radio/popupaudioplayer?id=b75fdf5c-8108-4966-8047-cd0e651e0830

Full: https://www.srf.ch/audio/echo-der-zeit/schicksalstage-fuer-italiens-regierung?id=11911208

Gesundes Altern - Fit wie Joe Biden

Danke für den schön geschrieben Artikel von Alexandra Bröhm @sonntagszeitung und das Interview mit mir über #Gesund ins hohe #Alter- wie Joe Biden. #healthy #aging #extrazelluläreMatrix #ewaldlab @ETH.

https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/fit-wie-joe-biden-wie-bleibt-man-im-alter-lange-gesund-704858203320

Altersforschung und Anti-Aging Interview mit Prof. Dr. Collin Ewald

Ein Altersforscher in Zürich erprobt am Fadenwurm, welche Gene unsere Zellen altern lassen und was Anti-Aging-Medikamente bewirken.

BR Fernsehen Gut zu wissen | Wissensmagazin. 21.03.2020, 19:00 Uhr.

Fast-forward to minute 21.

https://www.br.de/mediathek/video/gut-zu-wissen-wissensmagazin-schutz-gegen-corona-impfstoff-gegen-covid-19-immunsystem-staerken-im-bauernhofkindergarten-altersforschung-und-anti-aging-av:5e73670f4c56f6001308060a

(Also broadcasted by Arte, Wissenschaft, Xenius: Alternsforschung. Our part after 3 min: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/092139-033-A/xenius-altersforschung/)

Superhighway Of Our Cells: Extracellular Matrix with Prof. Collin Ewald- Ira Pastor, ideaXme longevity and aging ambassador and Founder of Bioquark, interviews Prof. Dr. Collin Ewald, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, at ETH Zurich (The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich), Founder of Swiss Society for Aging Research and Vice President Swiss Society for Matrix Biology.

https://youtu.be/j8_6iBP6hqM

@IraSamuelPastor

https://radioideaxme.com/2019/09/10/dr-collin-ewald-ecm/

Dem Alter auf der Spur: Jung bleiben bis ins hohe Alter: Das sagt die Forschung - SRF Kultur

«Warum altern wir? @sciencezoe sprach mit ETH-Forscher @CollinEwald, der dieses Rätsel mit Hilfe winziger Würmer lösen will.

Alumni Spotlight Graduate Center of the City University of New York

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/science-alumni-spotlight-collin-ewald

Time: As long as you live. TVB News (Hong Kong)

See starting after 1:34 and 2:28. #EwaldLab

http://news.tvb.com/programmes/aslongasyouliveii/5becbeb3e60383c70be8f5c9

Who is Who in Medical Research: A compendium of Hochschulmedizin Zurich (1st edition 2017) compiles all the information of nearly 200 research groups at the level of professorships relevant for collaboration in the medical field.

https://www.hochschulmedizin.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ae0c5e9b-dbd0-439e-aa49-c4c15476166e/HMZ_WhoIsWho_2017.pdf

Welcome to the (Extracellular) Matrix: An interview with Dr. Collin Ewald - Geroscience

Ep. 3 - Prof. Collin Ewald talks getting old and feeling young - Part 1 | Simplifyd

Ep. 3 - Prof. Collin Ewald talks the cost of Alzheimer's and "mega cancer"- Part 2 | Simplifyd

An almost forgotten pioneer - UNI NOVA

Social Media

ETH/EPFL Influencer World Ranking

https://ranking.influencer.world/en/set/eth-epfl

Collin Ewald (@CollinEwald) (Ranked 16th, 30.09.20)

#Alternsforschung: Ein Bericht über unsere Forschung #EwaldLab @ETH  ausgestrahlt von @SRF

Nano (8.9.2020). Siehe Link und bitte vorspulen auf 10min 42sec.

@cyril_statzer @VenzRichard @Alincaro_T @JongsmaE

https://srf.ch/play/tv/nano/video/nano?urn=urn:srf:video:e2c27d79-b6af-438a-b2ba-f53c9326ab3e

If you want to see the latest research coming out of the Ewald lab.

Collin Ewald | Aging & The Extracellular Matrix, Foresight Institute. Nov 10th 2022

https://foresight.org/summary/collin-ewald-aging-the-extracellular-matrix/

https://youtu.be/ohd3bwjySlU

Collin Ewald presents at ARDD 2021: Extracellular matrix remodeling during longevity. https://youtu.be/dVnH7wKV3G4

#69: Prof. Collin Ewald - Molecular Mechanisms of Healthy Ageing, Feb 26th 2022, Beginner's Mind

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OufIAYhBwUh8VYdGOF7sP

#10 Dr. Collin Ewald, Collagen Protein & Extracellular Matrix during Aging- Jan 18th 2022, Live Longer World

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6m0bR6EeogWVFr9uWzsXyB

#008: Marc Bernegger, Tobias Reichmuth, Collin Ewald- April 8th 2021, The Longevity Biotech

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fWyKl5LlSQA7cqvGJK1FB​

Ewald Lab Logo designed by Felix Marbet: http://felixmarbet.strikingly.com​

www.ssfar.ch

www.ssmb.ch

We are a member of the GENiE network that connects young research labs across Europe that work with the model organism C. elegans. Link to our GENiE profile.

We are a member of the Molecular Life Science PhD program at the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich Life Science Zurich Graduate School.

We use Benchling. Ewald Lab profile on Benchling. Our protocol on Benchling.

C. elegans

Sydney Brenner (1974) The Genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Corsi, A.K., et al. 2015. A Transparent Window into Biology: A Primer on Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 2015 Jun;200(2):387-407. doi: 10.1534/genetics.115.176099.

Jorgensen, E.M. & Mango, S.E., 2002. The art and design of genetic screens: Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Reviews Genetics, 3(5), pp.356–369.

Aging Research

Kenyon, C.J. et al., 1993. A C. elegans mutant that lives twice as long as wild type. Nature, 366(6454), pp.461–464.

Herndon, L.A. et. al., 2002. Stochastic and genetic factors influence tissue-specific decline in ageing C. elegans. Nature. 24;419(6909):808-14.

Gidalevitz, T. et al., 2006. Progressive disruption of cellular protein folding in models of polyglutamine diseases. Science (New York, NY), 311(5766), pp.1471–1474.

Kenyon, C.J., 2010. The genetics of ageing. Nature, 464(7288), pp.504–512.

López-Otín, C. et al., 2013. The hallmarks of aging. Cell, 153(6), pp.1194–1217.

Taylor, R.C. et al., 2014. Systemic stress signalling: understanding the cell non-autonomous control of proteostasis. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 15(3), pp.211–217.

Mannick, J.B. et al., 2014. mTOR inhibition improves immune function in the elderly. Science translational medicine, 6(268), pp.268ra179–268ra179.

Scott, C.T., 2015. Selling long life. Nat Biotechnol. 2015 Jan;33(1):31-40. doi: 10.1038/nbt.3108.

Advice for young researchers

Kahn, C.R., 1994. Picking a research problem. The critical decision. The New England journal of medicine, 330(21), pp.1530–1533.

Alon, U., 2009. How to choose a good scientific problem. Molecular cell, 35(6), pp.726–728.

Yanai, I., Lercher, M. What is the question?. Genome Biol 20, 289 (2019) doi:10.1186/s13059-019-1902-1

Lindquist, S., 2010. Three quite different things that matter to me. Molecular biology of the cell, 21(22), pp.3804–3804.

Martin Chalfie. 2014. The Secret to Getting the Postdoc You Want

Peter Walter: On Careers and 42

Richard Axel. 2018, Neuron, 99(6), pp.1110–1112. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.09.003

van Dijk, D., Manor, O. & Carey, L.B., 2014. Publication metrics and success on the academic job market. Current biology : CB, 24(11), pp.R516–7.

Night science. Itai Yanai & Martin Lercher
Genome Biology volume 20, Article number: 179 (2019)

Writing tips

Mensh, B. & Kording, K., 2017. Ten simple rules for structuring papers. PLoS Computational Biology, 13(9), p.e1005619.

Marder, E., 2019. Love writing. eLife, 8:e45734 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.45734

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/six-things-to-do-before-writing-your-manuscript

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/11-steps-to-structuring-a-science-paper-editors-will-take-seriously

https://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-14053993/118519636#bookContentViewAreaDivID

Novelist Cormac McCarthy’s tips on how to write a great science paper

Hide Editor Panel. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02918-5

Beautifully presented papers

Yip, Z.C. & Heiman, M.G., 2016. Duplication of a Single Neuron in C. elegans Reveals a Pathway for Dendrite Tiling by Mutual Repulsion. Cell reports, 15(10), pp.2109–2117.

Additional Resources:

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.

WormAtlas

WormBook

C. elegans II, 2nd edition

The Worm Breeder's Gazette

WormBase

WormClassroom

ApE- A plasmid Editor

The illustrated guide to a Ph.D.

Is It Real? Can We Win? Is It Worth Doing?: Managing Risk and Reward in an Innovation Portfolio