http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Choosing the right cell type is particularly important in genetic studies. This is apparent from research published on 16 October in PLoS Genetics. Dutch researcher Alice Gerrits has shown how variations in the genome can influence the activity of genes. This effect was found to be strongly dependent on the cell type in which these genes were active. http://www.physorg.com/news176575057.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:30:03 EST news176575057 Mammalian skin requires constant maintenance, but how do skin cells know when to proliferate and at what rate? In the March 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Nguan Soon Tan and colleagues reveal that skin fibroblasts use a protein called PPARβ/δ to make sure overlying epithelial cells don't proliferate too quickly. Their results highlight how communications between different cell types are critical to maintain the skin as a barrier against the outside world. http://www.physorg.com/news157051543.html Biology Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:26:08 EST news157051543 Researchers reporting in the March 6th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have developed a new way to produce human embryonic-like stem cells that are free of the viruses used to insert the key ingredients. They showed they could make those embryonic-like cells by reprogramming cells taken from people with unexplained (or idiopathic) Parkinson's disease. http://www.physorg.com/news155480031.html Biology Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:54:33 EST news155480031 (PhysOrg.com) -- A pioneering Cornell and University of Bonn study has isolated and purified mouse heart stem cells, settling a debate over whether such cells exist. http://www.physorg.com/news154890995.html Biology Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:17:26 EST news154890995 Scientists at the Universities of Bath and Leeds have discovered a chemical that stops stem cells from turning into other cell types, allowing researchers to use these cells to develop new medical treatments more easily. http://www.physorg.com/news152878026.html Biology Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:07:46 EST news152878026 (PhysOrg.com) -- Yale researchers have published a cellular atlas of genetic activity in rice, documenting with unprecedented detail how and when genes are turned off and on within cells of a living organism. http://www.physorg.com/news150389890.html Biology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:58:10 EST news150389890 (PhysOrg.com) -- Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack. While decimating one cadre of cells, diseases will inexplicably spare a seemingly identical group of neighbors. What makes cells vulnerable or not depends largely on the kinds and amounts of proteins they produce - their `translational profile,` in the lingo of molecular biology. For this reason, scientists have struggled to parse the subtle molecular differences among the hundreds of specialized cell types that are tangled together in tissues like the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news145889320.html Biology Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:48:40 EST news145889320 Like skilled assassins, many diseases seem to know exactly what types of cells to attack. While decimating one cadre of cells, diseases will inexplicably spare a seemingly identical group of neighbors. What makes cells vulnerable or not depends largely on the kinds and amounts of proteins they produce - their "translational profile," in the lingo of molecular biology. For this reason, scientists have struggled to parse the subtle molecular differences among the hundreds of specialized cell types that are tangled together in tissues like the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news145799797.html Medicine & Health Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:56:37 EST news145799797 In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganized. http://www.physorg.com/news142876340.html Biology Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:52:20 EST news142876340 A research team at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal (IRCM), funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness - Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), discovered a novel mechanism that regulates how neural stem cells of the retina generate the appropriate cell type at the right time during normal development. These findings, published today in the renowned journal Neuron, could influence the development of future cell replacement therapies for genetic eye diseases that cause blindness. http://www.physorg.com/news142686115.html Biology Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:01:55 EST news142686115 Stem cell research is the next great leap in medicine. In the future, new tissue grown in a laboratory could replace a failing heart, or new cells take the place of damaged cells in the brain. Rather than using stem cells from embryonic sources, which opens difficult ethical and complicated scientific issues, scientists have been looking to adult human stem cells, culled from a person's own body. Adult stem cells are now being cultivated from various tissues in the body -- from skin, bones and even wisdom teeth. http://www.physorg.com/news139743539.html Biology Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:38:59 EST news139743539