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Researchers capture the electrical activity of a single sperm cell

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have, for the first time, captured the electrical activity of a single sperm cell. The technically difficult maneuver, reported in Nature, allows the first measurement of the currents that flow across the sperm's outer membrane.

14 Feb 2006

Common genetic variation increases SIDS risk in African Americans

About five percent of deaths from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) in African Americans can be traced to defects in one gene and half of those deaths result from a common genetic variation that increases an infant's risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm during times of environmental stress

13 Feb 2006

New DNA-based cell adhesion strategy

A new technique in which single strands of synthetic DNA are used to firmly fasten biological cells to non-biological surfaces has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley.

9 Feb 2006

Copper could help prevent the spread of flu infections

Copper could help prevent the spread of flu infections. Recent research at the University of Southampton shows that the Influenza A virus is virtually eradicated within six hours on copper surfaces.

2 Feb 2006

Chemical warfare agent detection technology used to treat lung disease

A new technique based on the same technology used to detect chemical warfare agents and explosives is being employed by scientists at The University of Manchester to treat hospital patients with lung disease.

From The University of Manchester 23 Jan 2006

New findings about messenger molecule raise hopes for new drug

Uppsala University scientists have developed a new method for measuring the concentration of the messenger substance for cells, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), in individual living cells.

18 Jan 2006

Scientists discover how to integrate new neurons into the brain

In experiments with mice, scientists from Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering have discovered the steps required to integrate new neurons into the brain's existing operations.

22 Dec 2005

Getting old? Slowing down? Blame inefficient mitochondria

In mitochondria, the fuel is oxidised and builds up a pressure of hydrogen ions (protons). These force through molecular turbines and enable the cell to generate ATP, an energy unit that can be used throughout the cell.

6 Dec 2005

Watch your step when the going gets rough

Placing your foot accurately is a complicated process. If something moves where you plan to place your foot then you can adjust your step while your foot is swinging through.

6 Dec 2005

Fibroblast research could lead to alternatives to implanted electronic pacemakers

In guinea pig experiments, Johns Hopkins scientists fused common connective tissue cells taken from lungs with heart muscle cells to create a safe and effective biological pacemaker whose cells can fire on their own and naturally regulate the muscle's rhythmic beat.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers detail mechanism of stroke

In the neural train wreck that is stroke, the cutoff of oxygen kills brain cells through a buildup of acid, as well as by overexciting receptors on the surface of brain cells.

5 Dec 2005

Feeling fat - it's all in the mind!

UK scientists believe they have identified the part of the brain that determines whether a person feels fat.

29 Nov 2005

Romania culls thousands of fowl to stop the spread of bird flu

A remote village outside the Danube delta has been quarantined after the discovery of an avian flu virus in a turkey.

28 Nov 2005

High blood pressure research advances efforts to tailor drugs to individual patients

Having high blood pressure and a particular genetic alteration dramatically increases the risk of heart attack, stroke or death, and may explain why some hypertensive patients fare worse than others - even if they take the same medication, University of Florida researchers announced.

26 Nov 2005

Nanogen issued patent relating to synthetic polymer hydrogels

Nanogen has announced it was issued Patent No. 6,960,298, "Mesoporous permeation layers for use on active electronic matrix devices" by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

8 Nov 2005

MIT speeds up robotic muscles

Robots, both large and micro, can potentially go wherever it's too hot, cold, dangerous, small or remote for people to perform any number of important tasks, from repairing leaking water mains to stitching blood vessels together.

7 Nov 2005

New high-resolution data on intact ribosome

A new, sharper picture of the nano-machine that translates our genetic program into proteins promises to help researchers explain how some types of antibiotics work and could lead to the design of better ones.

7 Nov 2005

Neuron finding could advance understanding of epilepsy and age-related memory loss

Neurons experience large-scale changes across their dendrites during learning, say neuroscientists at The University of Texas at Austin in a new study that highlights the important role that these cell regions may play in the processes of learning and memory.

3 Nov 2005

Important breakthrough in developing the drugs of the future

Their work on targeting individual genes for more effective and cheaper drug testing opens the way to treatments for a huge range of diseases including diabetes and atherosclerosis, which leads to strokes and heart attacks.

3 Nov 2005

Researchers discover the presence of functional ion channels in human embryonic stem cells

These ion channels act like electrical wires and permit ESCs, versatile cells that possess the unique ability to become all cell types of the body, to conduct and pass along electric currents.

20 Oct 2005