Cell biology (formerly cytology, from the Greek kytos, "contain") is a scientific 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 such as 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. Therefore, research in cell biology is closely related to genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, and developmental biology. Each type of protein is usually
Researchers identify new target to boost plant resistance to insects and pathogens
Plants can't swat a bug or run away from one, but that doesn't mean that plants can't fight back. Plants have evolved unique and sophisticated immune systems to defend themselves against insects and pathogens. ...
Team finds key to gene-silencing activity, opens door to new class of therapies
A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found how to boost or inhibit a gene-silencing mechanism that normally serves as a major controller of cells' activities. The discovery ...
Studies generate comprehensive list of genes required by innate system to defend sex cells
Two teams of investigators led by Professor Gregory Hannon of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) today publish studies revealing many previously unknown components of an innate system that defends sex cells – the carriers ...
New mechanism discovered in meiosis
Inactivated, but still active– how modification of an enzyme governs critical processes in sexual reproduction.
Revealing the secrets of motility in archaea
(Phys.org)—The protein structure of the motor that propels archaea has been characterized for the first time by a team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ...
Protein paves the way for correct stem cell differentiation
A single embryonic stem cell can develop into more than 200 specialized cell types that make up our body. This maturation process is called differentiation and is tightly regulated. If the regulation is lost, ...
Study shows stressed-out cells halt protein synthesis
(Phys.org)—Cells experience stress in multiple ways. Temperature shifts, mis-folded proteins and oxidative damage can all cause cellular stress. But whatever the form of the stress, all cells quickly stop ...
Photosynthesis: The last link in the chain
For almost 30 years, researchers have sought to identify a particular enzyme that is involved in regulating electron transport during photosynthesis. A team at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich has now found ...
Scientists show protein-making machinery can switch gears with a small structural change process
For the past several years, Min Guo, an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute, has focused on the intricate actions of an ancient family of catalytic enzymes that play a key role in translation, the process ...
Bacteria yield clues about why proteins go bad in ALS and Alzheimer's
(Phys.org)—Scientists are unsure why proteins form improperly and cluster together in bunches, a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's and Mad Cow Disease. In the ...
Examining trinucleotide repeats: Study cites implications for human disease
(Phys.org)—A study of more than 6,000 genes in a common species of yeast has identified the pathways that govern the instability of GAA/TTC repeats. In humans, the expansions of these repeats is known to ...
New insights to the function of molecular chaperones
(Phys.org)—Heidelberg molecular biologists have gained new insights into the function of so-called molecular chaperones in protein synthesis. The team headed by Dr. Günter Kramer and Prof. Dr. Bernd Bukau ...
Judging DNA by its cover
Stem cells hold great promise for the medicine of the future, but they can also be a cause of disease. When these self-renewing, unspecialized cells fail to differentiate into diverse cell types, they can start dividing uncontrollably, ...
Controlling inflammatory and immune responses
Researchers at the IRCM, led by geneticist Dr. Jacques Drouin, recently defined the interaction between two essential proteins that control inflammation. This important breakthrough will be published in tomorrow's print edition ...
Scientists discover how key enzyme involved in aging, cancer assembles
(Phys.org) -- UCLA biochemists have mapped the structure of a key proteinRNA complex that is required for the assembly of telomerase, an enzyme important in both cancer and aging.