Protein team produces molecular barrels
Researchers show that two protein machineries collaborate on the development of barrel structures in the mitochondria.
Aug 5th, 2013
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Mechanism that allows bacteria to infect plants may inspire cure for eye disease
By borrowing a tool from bacteria that infect plants, scientists have developed a new approach to eliminate mutated DNA inside mitochondria - the energy factories within cells. Doctors might someday use the approach to treat a variety of mitochondrial diseases, including the degenerative eye disease Leber hereditary optic neuropathy.
Aug 4th, 2013
Read moreFly study finds 2 new drivers of RNA editing
A new study finds that RNA editing is not only regulated by sequences and structures near the editing sites but also by ones found much farther away. One newly discovered structure gives an editing enzyme an alternate docking site. The other appears to throttle competing splicing activity.
Aug 1st, 2013
Read moreCells reprogrammed on the computer
Scientists have developed a model that makes predictions from which differentiated cells - for instance skin cells - can be very efficiently changed into completely different cell types - such as nerve cells, for example. This can be done entirely without stem cells.
Jul 31st, 2013
Read moreMicrofluidic breakthrough in biotechnology
Chemical flasks and inconvenient chemostats for cultivation of bacteria are likely soon to be discarded. Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw were first to construct a microfluidic system allowing for merging, transporting and splitting of microdroplets.
Jul 31st, 2013
Read more3D molecular syringes
Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhoea - these symptoms could point to an infection with the bacterium Yersinia. The bacterium's pathogenic potential is based on a syringe-like injection apparatus called injectisome. For the first time, researchers have unraveled this molecular syringe's spatial conformation.
Jul 31st, 2013
Read moreReprogramming patients' cells offers powerful new tool for studying, treating blood diseases
First produced only in the past decade, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of developing into many or even all human cell types. In new research, scientists reprogrammed skin cells from patients with rare blood disorders into iPSCs, highlighting the great promise of these cells in advancing understanding of those challenging diseases - and eventually in treating them.
Jul 30th, 2013
Read moreTooth generated from stem cells
Chinese scientists have successfully grown tooth-like structures from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said.
Jul 30th, 2013
Read moreBreakthrough in detecting DNA mutations could help treat tuberculosis, cancer
Researchers have developed a new method that can look at a specific segment of DNA and pinpoint a single mutation, which could help diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis. These small changes can be the root of a disease or the reason some infectious diseases resist certain antibiotics.
Jul 28th, 2013
Read moreWater molecules control inactivation and recovery of potassium channels
Just 12 molecules of water cause the long post-activation recovery period required by potassium ion channels before they can function again.
Jul 28th, 2013
Read morePolymer ribbons for better healing
Researchers develop hydrogels for tissue regeneration that can be fine-tuned to fit any body part.
Jul 26th, 2013
Read moreBroad-scale genome tinkering with help of an RNA guide
Researchers have devised a way to quickly and easily target and tinker with any gene in the human genome. The new tool, which builds on an RNA-guided enzyme they borrowed from bacteria, is being made freely available to researchers who may now apply it to the next round of genome discovery.
Jul 25th, 2013
Read moreMolecular monkey arranges X-chromosome activation
Protein moulds RNA to ensure that activating factors can hold on to it.
Jul 25th, 2013
Read moreSeeing photosynthesis from space: Scientists use satellites to measure plant health (w/video)
NASA scientists have established a new way to use satellites to measure what's occurring inside plants at a cellular level.
Jul 24th, 2013
Read moreArtificial muscle contracts and expands with changes in humidity
A small plastic strip can do 'weight training' to effortlessly lifts many times its own weight, driven by cyclic changes in the humidity of the surrounding air. This strong 'artificial arm' is based on the interaction between microgels and a layer of polycations that shrinks as it dries.
Jul 24th, 2013
Read morePressurized virus blasts its infectious DNA into human cells
The virus that causes those painful lip blisters known as cold sores has an internal pressure eight times higher than a car tire, and uses it to literally blast its infectious DNA into human cells, scientists are reporting in a new study.
Jul 24th, 2013
Read moreResearchers unravel secrets of mussels' clinginess
Understanding the strength of the shellfish's underwater attachments could enable better glues and biomedical interfaces.
Jul 23rd, 2013
Read moreResearchers develop hydrogel for studying deadly brain cancer
Human glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most common, aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer, is notoriously difficult to study. Now a team of engineers has developed a three-dimensional hydrogel that more closely mimics conditions in the brain than other platforms used to study brain cancer. In a paper in the journal Biomaterials, the researchers describe the new material and their approach, which allows them to selectively tune up or down the malignancy of the cancer cells they study.
Jul 23rd, 2013
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