The Counterintuitive Behavior of the Cucumber Tendril
A new study from scientists at Harvard University describes the mechanism by which coiling occurs in the cucumber plant and suggests designs for biomimetic twistless…
Cell Biology News
Biologists Create Computational Model of Gene Networks
By translating their biological knowledge into very simple Boolean statements, biologists at the California Institute of Technology have created the first predictive computational model of…
New Techniques Yield New Info on Alcohol Related Birth Defects
Using new imaging tools with spatial resolution up to a million times higher than clinical magnetic resonance imaging and new techniques for 3D shape analysis,…
Researching the Link Between VEGF, Stem Cells and Osteoporosis
In what may lead to better treatments for osteoporosis, Harvard researchers discovered a new role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a common signaling protein…
First Ever Real-Time Footage of the Initial Seconds in the Life of Membrane Vesicles
A newly published study details how Harvard scientists used Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) to capture the first-ever real-time footage of the initial five…
Optogenetics Regulates Metabolic Activity in the Membranes of Cells
By using optogenetics, a new study from a team of scientists is one of the first to use light to regulate metabolic activity in the…
New Imaging Technique Reveals Possible Plan of Attack for Bacterial Diseases
By developing a new fluorescent labeling strategy and employing super-resolution light microscopy, researchers at UC Berkeley were able to examine the structure of bacterial biofilms…
Beige Fat May Have Therapeutic Potential for Treating Obesity
A team of researchers isolated and determined the unique genetic profile of beige fat for the first time, finding that beige fat is genetically distinct…
Ajuba Regulates Stem Cell Activity in the Heart
Using an animal model, scientists investigated the effects of a defective switch on cardiac development, finding that Ajuba plays a central role in regulating the…
The Mechanics of Cellular Wound Healing
A newly published study describes how a cell reorganizes its infrastructure to heal a wound, finding that for this process the cell uses formins, key…
Researchers Identify BAD as Key Seizure-Suppressing Protein
New research from the Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute examines why a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates can reduce…
DNA Jumps Directly From the Cell’s Chloroplasts Into Its Nucleus
By subjecting cells to high selection pressure in a laboratory setting, researchers at Max Planck Institute were able to fast-forward gene transfer from the chloroplasts…