Developmental Biology News and Research

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Study reveals new epigenetic mechanism underlying progression of cancer tumors

Aggressive cancer growth and alterations in gene activity without changes in DNA sequence (epigenetics) are associated with mutant p53 proteins, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

3 Sep 2015

Studies using yeast genetics provide new insights into cell-division cycle

Studies using yeast genetics have provided new, fundamental insights into the cell-division cycle, researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute report.

2 Sep 2015

UC Santa Barbara neuroscientists uncover mechanism of Alzheimer's progression

Medical research has yet to discover an Alzheimer's treatment that effectively slows the disease's progression, but neuroscientists at UC Santa Barbara may have uncovered a mechanism by which onset can be delayed by as much as 10 years.

2 Sep 2015

Research: Mechanisms behind bacterial warfare could be harnessed to target pathogenic bacteria

Two UC Santa Barbara graduate students have demonstrated how certain microbes exploit proteins in nearby bacteria to deliver toxins and kill them.

28 Aug 2015

Adaptive immune system plays active role in guiding development of mammary glands

In experiments with mouse tissue, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered that the adaptive immune system, generally associated with fighting bacterial and viral infections, plays an active role in guiding the normal development of mammary glands, the only organs--in female humans as well as mice--that develop predominately after birth, beginning at puberty.

28 Aug 2015

Trojan horse strategy may elucidate why antibiotics ineffective in some patients

Bacteria are pretty wily creatures. Take for example, an organism such as Salmonella, which which are killed by antibiotics in lab tests, but can become highly resistant in the body.

21 Aug 2015

Elsevier announces Gray's Anatomy Art Contest winners

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, and publisher of Gray's Anatomy, the world's most famous anatomical reference, has selected Amanda Lilleston of Ann Arbor, Mich., as the winner of the Gray's Anatomy Art Contest. Christopher Smith of Silver Springs, Md., was named runner-up.

18 Aug 2015

Tumor cells associated with pancreatic cancer work with each other to increase tumor spread

Tumor cells associated with pancreatic cancer often behave like communities by working with each other to increase tumor spread and growth to different organs. Groups of these cancer cells are better than single cancer cells in driving tumor spread, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published in Cancer Discovery online in advance of the print issue.

13 Aug 2015

Researcher study potential biomarker to determine patients at risk for aggressive breast cancer

Biomarkers are an important part in detecting certain cancers such as the BRCA gene in breast cancer and the PSA antigen in prostate cancer. They are easy to identify in a blood test and can help in diagnosing and giving a prognosis.

12 Aug 2015

Researchers develop new technology to track DNA-protein binding in live cells

Researchers have developed a new technology that precisely marks where groups of regulatory proteins called transcription factors bind DNA in the nuclei of live cells.

7 Aug 2015

Pitt researchers figure out how to quantify beating action of cilia

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have figured out how to objectively quantify the beating action of cilia, the tiny, hair-like projections on cells that line nasal passages, the lungs and almost every other body tissue, according to a study published online today in Science Translational Medicine.

6 Aug 2015

Reducing incorrect gene expression can extend lifespan of cells

Working with yeast and worms, researchers found that incorrect gene expression is a hallmark of aged cells and that reducing such "noise" extends lifespan in these organisms. The team published their findings this month in Genes & Development.

31 Jul 2015

New synthetic gene drives could one day improve human health and the environment

Gene drives are genetic elements - found naturally in the genomes of most of the world's organisms - that increase the chance of the gene they carry being passed on to all offspring, and thus, they can quickly spread through populations. Looking to these natural systems, researchers around the world, including some Wyss Institute scientists, are developing synthetic gene drives that could one day be leveraged by humans to purposefully alter the traits of wild populations of organisms to prevent disease transmission and eradicate invasive species.

31 Jul 2015

Researchers develop dynamic functional mouse model for lung injury repair

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and The Saban Research Institute of CHLA have created a dynamic functional mouse model for lung injury repair, a tool that will help scientists explain the origins of lung disease and provide a system by which new therapies can be identified and tested.

29 Jul 2015

New study contributes to understanding of inner ear development

Unlike birds and amphibians, mammals can't recover lost hearing. In people, the cells of the inner ear responsible for detecting sound and transmitting those signals to the brain form during early stages of development and can't be replaced if lost due to illness, injury or aging.

17 Jul 2015

Leica DM2500 LED Microscope for clinical laboratories and research applications launched by Leica Microsystems

With the launch of the Leica DM2500 LED, Leica Microsystems completes its Leica DM1000 to 3000 series of microscopes. All the models in this series are now available with LED illumination. The Leica DM2500 LED is suitable for demanding tasks in clinical laboratories as well as for research applications in microbiology, developmental biology, cytology, zoology, botany, and more.

From Leica Microsystems GmbH 6 Jul 2015

New imaging technique helps pinpoint significant event that leads to age-related chromosomal errors

When egg cells form with an incorrect number of chromosomes--a problem that increases with age--the result is usually a miscarriage or a genetic disease such as Down syndrome.

2 Jul 2015

Scientists identify mechanism that reveals why stem cells undergo self-renewing divisions

UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists collaborating with University of Michigan researchers have found a previously unidentified mechanism that helps explain why stem cells undergo self-renewing divisions but their offspring do not.

2 Jul 2015

Dietary fat intake could potentially ease mitochondrial disease, shows research

Mice that have a genetic version of mitochondrial disease can easily be mistaken for much older animals by the time they are nine months old: they have thinning grey hair, osteoporosis, poor hearing, infertility, heart problems and have lost weight. Despite having this disease at birth, these mice have a "secret weapon" in their youth that staves off signs of aging for a time.

1 Jul 2015

Penn Medicine scientists identify stem-like 'progenitor' cell that produces heart muscle cells

Future therapies for failing hearts are likely to include stem-like cells and associated growth factors that regenerate heart muscle. Scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have just taken an important step towards that future by identifying a stem-like "progenitor" cell that produces only heart muscle cells.

26 Jun 2015