Cell & Microbiology news

BBS proteins shown to run an export business that protects cilia

BBS proteins shown to run an export business that protects cilia

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A protein complex mutated in human disease removes excess signaling molecules to prevent them from damaging cilia, say researchers from UMass Medical School. The study will be published in the December 28 ...


Scientists identify protein that keeps stem cells poised for action

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Like a child awaiting the arrival of Christmas, embryonic stem cells exist in a state of permanent anticipation. They must balance the ability to quickly become more specialized cell types with the cellular chaos that could ...


Citrus

Citrus surprise: Vitamin C boosts the reprogramming of adult cells into stem cells

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 24, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (27) | comments 4

Famous for its antioxidant properties and role in tissue repair, vitamin C is touted as beneficial for illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer and perhaps even for slowing the aging process. Now, ...


Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA)

First volume of microbial encyclopedia published

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

The Earth is estimated to have about a nonillion (1030) microbes in, on, around, and under it, comprised of an unknown but very large number of distinct species. Despite the widespread availability of microbi ...


Mystery solved: Scientists now know how smallpox kills

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (10) | comments 0

A team of researchers working in a high containment laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA, have solved a fundamental mystery about smallpox that has puzzled scientists long after the ...


How flu succeeds: Investigators identify host factors that help multiple influenza strains thrive

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (Mount Sinai), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation ...


New compounds may control deadly fungal infections

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

An estimated 25,000 Americans develop severe fungal infections each year, leading to 10,000 deaths despite the use of anti-fungal drugs. The associated cost to the U.S. health care system has been estimated at $1 billion ...


Study shows immune system protein involved in reprogramming adult cells to express stem cell genes

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a protein required to quickly and efficiently reprogram human skin cells to express embryonic stem cell genes.


IKK may act as both inhibitor and promoter of Huntington's disease

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The kinase IKK phosphorylates the protein mutated in Huntington's disease to promote its removal and neuron survival, but IKK may be a double-edged sword that increases neurotoxicity in later stages of the disease. The study, ...


Scientists take a step towards uncovering the histone code

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have determined the structures of two enzymes that customize histones, the spool-like proteins around which DNA coils inside the cell.


Taming the flu: Researchers create map of interactions between flu virus and its human host

Taming the flu: Researchers create map of interactions between flu virus and its human host

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- There is no lack of worry this season over the flu, both the seasonal and H1N1 varieties, but there is a critical lack of understanding of the viruses that cause these illnesses. For years, ...


Researchers discover new ways to treat chronic infections

Researchers discover new ways to treat chronic infections

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have identified three key regulators required for the formation and development of biofilms. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating ...


Heme channel found

Heme channel found

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In some ways a cell in your body or an organelle in that cell is like an ancient walled town. Life inside either depends critically on the intelligence of the gatekeepers.


Large-scale sequencing: The future of genomic sciences?

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists can gain insights into new ways to use microorganisms in medicine and manufacturing through a coordinated large-scale effort to sequence the genomes of not just individual microorganisms but entire ecosystems, ...


Researchers revise long-held theory of fruit-fly development

Researchers revise long-held theory of fruit-fly development

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

For decades, science texts have told a simple and straightforward story about a particular protein—a transcription factor—that helps the embryo of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, pattern tissues in a m ...