From the Sun to biomedicine and back, thanks to Innosuisse

People sometimes ask: what is the point of fundamental scientific research? It is interesting, but wouldn't it be better to invest more capital in developing new technologies that have greater practical utility? The question is legitimate, but it is shortsighted to consider the impact of basic science on the technological progress and everyday life. As in the case of chirality.

The right and left hands mirror shapes of each other: they can be superimposed but not replaced. The same thing happens in chemistry: many molecules have this “handness” property, called chirality. The difference is crucial, especially in medicine. Two molecules that are identical in atomic composition, and therefore have the same chemical formula, but are mirror images of each other in shape, can have drastically different effects on the human body: one version could be a drug, while its mirror twin could be ineffective or even harmful. Therefore, being able to distinguish between them accurately is essential for pharmaceutical research.

To identify differences without destroying the sample, a laser-based technique called Raman Optical Activity (ROA) is used, which analyses the polarisation of light scattered by molecules. Exactly, polarisation: a phenomenon researched in Switzerland by the Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL) in Locarno, affiliated with the Università della Svizzera italiana. IRSOL researchers use polarisation to reconstruct the magnetic field structure of our star, using ZIMPOL. Designed by ETH Zürich and IRSOL, and then further developed and maintained by IRSOL with the Institute of Systems and Applied Electronics (ISEA) at SUPSI, ZIMPOL is currently the best in the world polarimeter in its class: a cutting-edge instrument for studying the Sun. But what does the Sun have to do with medicine?

It has a lot to do with it, according to Enantios AG, a start-up founded at the ETH Zürich and specialising in the production of high-performance ROA systems. Until now, Enantios has been using the ZIMPOL system, which has already made it possible to apply a technology developed for astrophysics to pharmacological research. Now, however, Enantios, IRSOL and SUPSI want to go even further.

Thanks to the support of the Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse), a new, ambitious project has been launched. The consortium, formed by SUPSI-ISEA, IRSOL and Enantios, will work to design and develop a completely new polarimeter, with new-generation sensors specifically designed to capture light with superior sensitivity and maximise performance in polarisation measurement. In this project, the planned development will be primarily benefitial for applications in biomedicine, but it will open a new horizon in opportunities to advance our knowledge of the Sun.