Cell Biology News

September 25, 2016

Genetic Wiring of Cellular Life Revealed

Secrets of Nocturnal Singing Fish Revealed

Swarms of Magnetic Bacteria to Deliver Drugs?

Known Viruses in World's Oceans Tripled

Latest Headlines

updated 1:26am EDT

Peeling Back the Layers: Scientists Use New Techniques to Uncover Hidden Secrets of Plant Stem Development

Sep. 22, 2016 — Innovative new cell imaging techniques have now been pioneered to shed light on cells hidden deep inside the meristem. This ... read more

Environmental DNA Provides Early Detection of Invasive Crayfish

Sep. 20, 2016 — Every plant and animal has a unique genetic composition, which makes a lake like a bowl of DNA soup—every spoonful contains the combined DNA of the lake’s inhabitants. Scientists have only ... read more

To Produce Biopharmaceuticals on Demand, Just Add Water

Sep. 23, 2016 — Researchers have created tiny freeze-dried pellets that include all of the molecular machinery needed to translate DNA into proteins, which could form the basis for on-demand production of drugs and ... read more

Alternative Oxidase from a Marine Animal Works in Mammals, Combats Bacterial Sepsis

Sep. 23, 2016 — Mitochondrial alternative oxidase from a sea-squirt works as a safety valve for stressed mitochondria. This property enables it to stop the runaway ... read more

New Model Could Point Way to Microbiome Forecasting in the Ocean

Sep. 22, 2016 — A new mathematical model integrates environmental and molecular sequence information to better explain how microbial networks drive nutrient and energy cycling in ... read more

Computers Learn to Spot Deadly Bacteria

Sep. 21, 2016 — Machine learning can predict strains of bacteria likely to cause food poisoning outbreaks, research has found. The study -- which focused on harmful strains of E. coli bacteria -- could help public ... read more

Researcher Finds Gene That Reduces Female Mosquitoes

Sep. 22, 2016 — Placing a particular Y chromosome gene on the autosomes of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes — a species responsible for transmitting malaria — killed off 100 percent of all female embryos that ... read more

Popeye Was Right: There’s Energy in That Spinach

Sep. 22, 2016 — Using a simple membrane extract from spinach leaves, researchers have developed a cell that produces electricity and hydrogen from water using sunlight. Based on photosynthesis, and technology paves ... read more

Bright Idea for Detecting Harmful Bacteria in Food Products

Sep. 20, 2016 — Scientists looking for traces of E. coli O157:H7 contamination in foods soon could have a new detection method on their hands -- turning off the lights to see if the bacteria glow in the ... read more

Quality, Not Quantity, of Diet Is Key to Health of Baby Birds

Sep. 21, 2016 — In a new study that upends the way ornithologists think about a young bird's diet -- but won't shock parents used to scanning the nutritional profile of their children's food ... read more

Healing Horses With Stem Cells

NASA's DNA Sequencer Could Be A 'Game Changer' For Long-Term Missions

Say Hello to Heirs of Dolly

Pomegranates May Help Reverse Muscle Aging, Say Researchers

Lipid Receptor Fosters Infection of the Uterus in Bitches

Sep. 23, 2016 — In the female dog, cells of the uterus can accumulate lipid droplets to form so-called foamy epithelial cells during late metoestrus. These cells produce a hormone that is involved in the ... read more

Fish Oil May Help Improve Mood in Veterans

Sep. 22, 2016 — Low concentration of fish oil in the blood and lack of physical activity may contribute to the high levels of depressed mood among soldiers returning from combat, according to ... read more

Researchers Describe Key Protein Structure and a Drug Prototype That Could Assist Therapeutic Development

Sep. 21, 2016 — The three-dimensional, atomic structure of an important cell receptor molecule linked to the development of several diseases has now been described in a new ... read more

Feeding a Mars Mission: The Challenges of Growing Plants in Space

Sep. 21, 2016 — Plants will play a critical role in the survival of human beings on long-duration space missions, such as a mission to Mars. However, as a new paper shows, many challenges need to be addressed if ... read more

New Insights Into 'Plant Memories'

Sep. 21, 2016 — A special stretch of ribonucleic acid (RNA) called COOLAIR is revealing its inner structure and function to scientists, displaying a striking resemblance to an RNA molecular machine, territory ... read more

To Understand the Oceans' Microbes, Follow Function, Not Form

Sep. 21, 2016 — A mathematician may have discovered a key to understanding the constantly changing distribution of microbial species in the world’s oceans—classify microorganisms by their biochemical function, ... read more

A Protein in Mosquito Spit Can Keep Dengue Virus in Check

Sep. 20, 2016 — Mosquito saliva influences transmission of viruses to a bitten mammalian host. For example, it contains factors that dampen the host immune response and so facilitate infection. A study reports on a ... read more

Newly Discovered Algal Enzyme for More Efficient Photosynthesis, Better Crops

Sep. 20, 2016 — For plants and algae that carry on photosynthesis, light can be too much of a good thing. On a bright, sunny day, a plant might only be able to utilize 20 percent or less of absorbed sunlight. The ... read more

Demystifying the Resilience of Water Bears: Protein Protects Human Cultured Cells from Radiation Damage

Sep. 20, 2016 — A new water bear protein can protect the DNA of human cultured cells from otherwise lethal amounts of radiation damage, say a group of researchers, providing part of the answer to why tardigrades can ... read more

Scientists Discover Interplay of Yin-Yang Antagonists Vital for Cell Division

Sep. 20, 2016 — A pair of large enzyme complexes attack each other in turn to form a molecular switch, which is essential for cell division, a new study has ... read more

Listening to the Body: Study Examines the Effects of Fasting on Infections

Sep. 20, 2016 — When people get sick with viral or bacterial infections, they often lose their appetite or avoid certain foods. According to a new study, such sickness-related food preferences may correlate with the ... read more

Breakthrough in Salt-Tolerance in Plants Research

Sep. 20, 2016 — A breakthrough has been made in investigating salt tolerance in plants which could lead to new salt tolerant varieties of crops, and also answer unresolved questions in plant ... read more

Plants Take It All in to Deal With Bacteria

Sep. 19, 2016 — Plants have specialized immune receptor proteins on the surface of their cells, which detect specific molecular patterns, or ligands, on harmful bacteria. New research now reveals that these immune ... read more

How a Bacterial Virulence Factor Promotes Its Own Secretion

Sep. 18, 2016 — Many bacteria depend on their ability to attach, or adhere, to our cells for the ability to cause disease. When their survival means disease for us, we often turn to antibiotics, but his miracle ... read more

Scientists Enhance Ability of Antibiotics to Defeat Resistant Types of Bacteria Using Molecules Called PPMOs

Sep. 17, 2016 — Researchers have developed a strategy to overcome a key defense that drug-resistant bacteria use to fend off antibiotic attack. Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health problem; the ... read more

For Ants, 'Elite' Individuals Are Not Always So Effective

Sep. 16, 2016 — We all know that social insects, such as ants, often work together to achieve effective responses to environmental challenges. However, new research has now uncovered that the contributions of ... read more

Genes Essential to Life Found in Mouse Mutants Are Related to Many Human Disease Genes

Sep. 16, 2016 — Mutant traits have, for the first time, been identified in the mouse for 52 human disease genes. This significantly contributes to the understanding of the genetic bases for some human ... read more

Essential Mouse Genes Could Guide Human Precision Medicine

Sep. 16, 2016 — About one-third of 1751 genes studied in the first comprehensive survey of the mouse genome are essential to life, according to new research. Mutations of these genes cause death at the embryo stage. ... read more

Frogs and Grasshoppers: Why Do Legendary Leapers Have Different ‘spring’ Stiffness?

Sep. 16, 2016 — New research on grasshoppers and bullfrogs offers a conclusion about jumping: When an animal has less time to store energy for a jump, it needs a less stiff tendon than one that can take its ... read more

How Rattlesnakes Got, and Lost, Their Venom

Sep. 16, 2016 — Millions of years ago, the ancestor of modern rattlesnakes was endowed with a genetic arsenal of toxic weaponry. But in a relatively short period of evolutionary time, different types of snakes kept ... read more

Friday, September 23, 2016