Living Cells News and Research

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Study suggests modulation of "enhancer-directed RNAs" can alter gene expression in living cells

In a pair of distinct but complementary papers, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues illuminate the functional importance of a relatively new class of RNA molecules.

5 Jun 2013

New TGT method helps detect and measure mechanics of single-molecule interaction

Cells in the human body do not function in isolation. Living cells rely on communication with their environment-neighboring cells and the surrounding matrix-to activate a wide range of cellular functions, including reproduction of new cells, differentiation of stem cells into distinct cell types, cell adhesion, and migration of white blood cells to fight bodily infections.

24 May 2013

UT Arlington physicist develops new tool to map, track interactions between neurons inside the brain

A new tool being developed by UT Arlington assistant professor of physics could help scientists map and track the interactions between neurons inside different areas of the brain.

17 May 2013

Researchers show a model of how cells' regulatory systems work

How cells regulate their own function by "accelerating and braking" is important basic knowledge when new intelligent medicines are being developed, or when plant cells are tweaked to produce more bioenergy.

16 May 2013

Researchers show how cells are driven mainly by water power

Water gives life. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden now show how the cells in our bodies are driven mainly by water power - a discovery that in the long run opens the way for a new strategy in cancer therapy.

14 May 2013

New hope for patients with myotonic dystrophy

There's hope for patients with myotonic dystrophy. A new small molecule developed by researchers at the University of Illinois has been shown to break up the protein-RNA clusters that cause the disease in living human cells, an important first step toward developing a pharmaceutical treatment for the as-yet untreatable disease.

2 May 2013

University of Utah researchers develop novel technique to identify RNA cytosine methyltransferases

Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have developed a novel and powerful technique to identify the targets for a group of enzymes called RNA cytosine methyltransferases in human RNA.

23 Apr 2013

Bioengineered kidneys transplanted into living rats produce urine

Bioengineered rat kidneys developed by Massachusetts General Hospital investigators successfully produced urine both in a laboratory apparatus and after being transplanted into living animals.

16 Apr 2013

Genetic analysis of H7N9 portrays that virus evolves to adapt to human cells

A genetic analysis of the avian flu virus responsible for at least nine human deaths in China portrays a virus evolving to adapt to human cells, raising concern about its potential to spark a new global flu pandemic.

15 Apr 2013

Researchers unravel dual role of tumor necrosis factor in TB

Tumor necrosis factor - normally an infection-fighting substance produced by the body- can actually heighten susceptibility to tuberculosis if its levels are too high.

12 Apr 2013

Researchers show how Src kinase influences inner workings of cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have "rationally rewired" some of the cell's smallest components to create proteins that can be switched on or off by command.

12 Apr 2013

Salk neuroscientist applauds launch of BRAIN Initiative

Salk neuroscientist Terrence J. Sejnowski joined President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2013, at the launch of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative-a major Administration neuroscience effort that advances and builds upon collaborative scientific work by leading brain researchers such as Salk's own Sejnowski.

3 Apr 2013

Researchers focus on understanding mechanistic, physiological aspects of conflicts in living cells

Bacteria appear to speed up their evolution by positioning specific genes along the route of expected traffic jams in DNA encoding. Certain genes are in prime collision paths for the moving molecular machineries that read the DNA code, as University of Washington scientists explain in this week's edition of Nature.

30 Mar 2013

Living cells and cell fragments move in response to electric fields, scientists find

Like tiny crawling compass needles, whole living cells and cell fragments orient and move in response to electric fields - but in opposite directions, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found. Their results, published April 8 in the journal Current Biology, could ultimately lead to new ways to heal wounds and deliver stem cell therapies.

30 Mar 2013

AACR recognizes scientists whose contributions to cancer field have extraordinary impact

Five University of California, San Diego scientists and professors are among the first class of the Fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, created to recognize researchers whose scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer.

29 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Two views of Medicare equipment bidding changes; High Court case may impact FDA approval process

In 2010, Medicare spent more than $14 billion on oxygen devices, mobility scooters, diabetes test strips and other "durable medical equipment" and supplies that patients use at home.

19 Mar 2013

Researchers develop new plug-and-play method to assemble complex cell microenvironments

Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a new "plug-and-play" method to assemble complex cell microenvironments that is a scalable, highly precise way to fabricate tissues with any spatial organization or interest—such as those found in the heart or skeleton or vasculature.

12 Mar 2013

Study shows how pseudogenes can regulate activity of PTEN cancer-related gene

Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk" DNA.

25 Feb 2013

Researchers use 3D printing and injectable gels to create bioengineered ears

Physicians at Weill Cornell Medical College and biomedical engineers at Cornell University have succeeded in building a facsimile of a living human ear that looks and acts like a natural ear. Researchers believe their bioengineering method will finally succeed in the long quest by scientists and physicians to provide normal looking "new" ears to thousands of children born with a congenital ear deformity.

22 Feb 2013

Scientists create new strain of polio to protect vaccine factory workers

"Scientists have created new strains of polio intended to protect workers in factories that make polio vaccine," the New York Times reports.

20 Feb 2013