Cell biology
hideCell biology (formerly cytology, from the Greek kytos, "container") is an academic discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level. Cell biology research encompasses both the great diversity of single-celled organisms like bacteria and protozoa, as well as the many specialized cells in multicellular organisms like humans.
Knowing the components of cells and how cells work is fundamental to all biological sciences. Appreciating the similarities and differences between cell types is particularly important to the fields of cell and molecular biology as well as to biomedical fields such as cancer research and developmental biology. These fundamental similarities and differences provide a unifying theme, sometimes allowing the principles learned from studying one cell type to be extrapolated and generalized to other cell types. Hence, research in cell biology is closely related to genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology and developmental biology.
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News tagged with cell biology
Research spawns new discoveries showing how crops survive drought
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Breakthrough research done earlier this year by a plant cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside has greatly accelerated scientists' knowledge on how plants and crops can ...
Cross-country runabouts -- immune cells on the move
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In order to effectively fight pathogens, even at remote areas of the human body, immune cells have to move quickly and in a flexible manner.
Study shows that some malignant tumors can be shut down after all
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Oncologists have had their hands tied because more than half of all human cancers have mutations that disable a protein called p53. As a critical anti-cancer watchdog, p53 masterminds several cancer-fighting operations within ...
Spinal cord regeneration enabled by stabilizing, improving delivery of scar-degrading enzyme
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Researchers have developed an improved version of an enzyme that degrades the dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged. By digesting the tissue that blocks re-growth of damaged ...
Chemosensitivity of cancer cells depends on their protein dependency
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Two different anti-apoptotic proteins support cancer cell survival via an identical mechanism, yet differ in their sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, report Brunelle et al. The study will be published ...
The book of life can now literally be written on paper
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An insight from the labs of Harvard chemist George Whitesides and cell biologist Don Ingber is likely to make a fundamental shift in how biologists grow and study cells - and it's as cheap ...
Researchers reveal mechanism for neuron self-preservation
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Tsuruta et al. find that a lipid kinase directs a voltage-gated calcium channel's degradation to save neurons from a lethal dose of overexcitement. The study appears in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Journal of ...
Gene mutation may reveal clues for treating lung diseases
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A genetic mutation found in four children born with multiple abnormalities may provide insight into potential treatments for newborn lung distress and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Cell death occurs in the same way in plants, animals and humans
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. Now an international constellation of research teams, including one at the Swedish University of ...
Researchers find triggers in cells' transition from colitis to cancer
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Florida researchers have grown tumors in mice using cells from inflamed but noncancerous colon tissue taken from human patients, a finding that sheds new light on colon cancer ...
Study May Explain How A Well-Known Epilepsy and Pain Drug Works
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Duke University Medical Center researcher who spent years looking for the signals that prompt the brain to form new connections between neurons has found one that may explain precisely how a well-known ...
Researchers pave the way for effective liver treatments
Oct 09, 2009 |
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A combination of bioengineering and medical research at the University of California, San Diego has led to a new discovery that could pave the way for more effective treatments for liver disease.
Researcher solves mystery about proteins that package the genome
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to ...
Researchers identify gene that regulates breast cancer metastasis
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Researchers at The Wistar Institute have identified a key gene (KLF17) involved in the spread of breast cancer throughout the body. They also demonstrated that expression of KLF17 together with another gene (Id1) known to ...
'Natural killer' cells keep immune system in balance
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Natural killer, or NK cells, are part of our innate immune system. A healthy body produces them to respond early during infection. They are activated and they kill cells infected with a given virus.
