Living Cells News and Research

RSS

New fluorescence microscopy approach improves image resolution by merging three views into one

Researchers have developed a new fluorescence microscopy approach that significantly improves image resolution by acquiring three views of a sample at the same time. Their new method is particularly useful for watching the dynamics of biological processes, which can provide insights into how healthy cells work and what goes wrong when diseases occur.

11 Aug 2016

New bioinspired device could diagnose formation of blood clots

When in dysfunction, the vascular endothelium -- the tissue that lines the blood vessels throughout our body's entire circulatory system -- plays a big role in the development of many human diseases, including diabetes, stroke, heart disease, viral infections and cancer.

9 Aug 2016

Generic biologic drugs appear to be as effective as brand-name versions

Generic forms of a biologic drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis appear to be as safe and effective as their brand-name counterparts, a new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analysis suggests.

2 Aug 2016

New research elucidates details about architecture of synaptic transmission

For more than a century, neuroscientists have known that nerve cells talk to one another across the small gaps between them, a process known as synaptic transmission.

28 Jul 2016

Study shows continuous dehydration kills cells during dry preservation

A new finding in experiments studying the dry preservation of living cells -- a potentially revolutionary alternative to cryopreservation - has defined a clear limit where continuing dehydration kills cells.

17 Jul 2016

Researchers develop new screening system to measure protein aggregates

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University have developed a system capable of quickly screening millions of yeast cells to measure protein aggregates.

15 Jul 2016

Inability to turn off genes in the brain can affect learning and memory

Every time you play a game of basketball, make a cup of coffee or flick on a light switch, you are turning on genes in your brain. These same genes typically are turned off when the activity ceases - but when that doesn't happen, damaging consequences can occur.

14 Jul 2016

Innovative computer HIV capsid model provides real insight into virus maturation process

From a virus's point of view, invading our cells is a matter of survival. The virus makes a living by highjacking cellular processes to produce more of the proteins that make it up.

16 Jun 2016

Penn researchers help identify unique characteristics of reserve stem cells

Adult stem cells represent a sort of blank clay from which a myriad of different cell and tissue types are molded and as such are of critical importance to health, aging and disease.

16 Jun 2016

TSRI scientists develop novel technique for finding drug candidates

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have developed a powerful new method for finding drug candidates that bind to specific proteins.

16 Jun 2016

NCMC develops national roadmap for large-scale manufacturing of cell-based therapeutics

An industry-driven consortium has developed a national roadmap designed to chart the path to large-scale manufacturing of cell-based therapeutics for use in a broad range of illnesses including cancer, neuro-degenerative diseases, blood and vision disorders and organ regeneration and repair.

15 Jun 2016

New study may help unveil structure and behavior of neurotoxic oligomers in Alzheimer's disease

Much of the research on Alzheimer's disease has focused on the amyloid beta protein, which clumps together into sticky fibrils that form deposits in the brains of people with the disease.

13 Jun 2016

New effort in biomedical engineering may improve heart repair

Jianyi "Jay" Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., brought his biomedical engineering expertise to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to fix hearts.

9 Jun 2016

LIGR-Seq tool opens door to developing new understanding of ncRNA function

What used to be dismissed by many as "junk DNA" is back with a vengeance as growing data points to the importance of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) -- genome's messages that do not code for proteins -- in development and disease.

21 May 2016

Scientists develop new technology that helps visualize translation of mRNA into proteins

For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have developed a technology allowing them to "see" single molecules of messenger RNA as they are translated into proteins in living mammalian cells. Initial findings using this technology that may shed light on neurological diseases as well as cancer were published online today in Science.

9 May 2016

MIT researchers develop innovative paper-based test to diagnose Zika virus

A new paper-based test developed at MIT and other institutions can diagnose Zika virus infection within a few hours. The test, which distinguishes Zika from the very similar dengue virus, can be stored at room temperature and read with a simple electronic reader, making it potentially practical for widespread use.

9 May 2016

Controlling cholesterol metabolism could help reduce pancreatic cancer spread

Researchers have shown how controlling cholesterol metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells reduces metastasis, pointing to a potential new treatment using drugs previously developed for atherosclerosis.

4 May 2016

Cells have ability to perceive their own shapes, new study shows

Can a cell sense its own shape? Working in the Marine Biological Laboratory's Whitman Center, scientists from Dartmouth College developed an ingenious experiment to ask this question. Their conclusion - Yes - is detailed in a recent paper in the Journal of Cell Biology.

29 Apr 2016

New miniaturized microscope offers unprecedented insight into nervous system function

A microscope about the size of a penny is giving scientists a new window into the everyday activity of cells within the spinal cord. The innovative technology revealed that astrocytes--cells in the nervous system that do not conduct electrical signals and were traditionally viewed as merely supportive--unexpectedly react to intense sensation.

28 Apr 2016

Scientists develop CRISPRainbow to study genome structure in real time

CRISPRainbow, a new technology using CRISPR/Cas9 developed by scientists at UMass Medical School, allows researchers to tag and track up to seven different genomic locations in live cells. This labeling system, details of which were published in Nature Biotechnology, will be an invaluable tool for studying the structure of the genome in real time.

21 Apr 2016