http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Sperm swim, lung cells sweep mucus away, and the cells in the female Fallopian tube move eggs from the ovary to the uterus. Underlying these phenomena are flagella – slender, hair-like structures extending from the surface of the cells, that bend, beat or wave rhythmically. In the latest issue of the journal Developmental Cell, scientists from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have dissected how sperm cells of the fruit fly build their flagella. These findings pave the way to further understand the molecules and processes that may trigger a variety of human diseases and disorders, including infertility, respiratory problems and hydrocephaly, known to be associated with defects in flagellar movements. http://phys.org/news264081273.html Biology Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:55:11 EST news264081273 Researchers at the University of Leeds are developing a way to 'barcode' viral diseases to rapidly test new outbreaks for potentially lethal mutations. http://phys.org/news256045636.html Biology Sun, 13 May 2012 19:00:01 EST news256045636 All the excitement about nanotechnology comes down to this: Structures of materials at the scale of billionths of a meter take on unusual properties. Technologists often focus on the happier among these newfound capabilities, but new research by an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Brown University finds that nanoparticles of nickel activate a cellular pathway that contributes to cancer in human lung cells. http://phys.org/news233315082.html Nanotechnology Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:44:52 EST news233315082 Researchers from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine have found that inhaled carbon black nanoparticles create a double source of inflammation in the lungs. http://phys.org/news224954115.html Nanotechnology Wed, 18 May 2011 16:15:30 EST news224954115 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fast-moving objects create blurry images in photography, and the same challenge exists when scientists observe cellular interactions within tissues constantly in motion, such as the breathing lung. In a recent UCSF-led study in mice, researchers developed a method to stabilize living lung tissue for imaging without disrupting the normal function of the organ. The method allowed the team to observe, for the first time, both the live interaction of living cells in the context of their environment and the unfolding of events in the immune response to lung injury. http://phys.org/news212080262.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:11:16 EST news212080262 An investigational drug targeting a defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis has been shown to improve lung function in a small study of CF patients, according to findings published Nov. 18, 2010, in the New England Journal of Medicine. The investigational drug, VX-770, appeared to improve function of what is known as CFTR--the faulty protein responsible for CF. It is among the first compounds being developed for CF that specifically targets the root cause of cystic fibrosis. http://phys.org/news209238724.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:00:01 EST news209238724 Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed a novel technology using quantum dots that is expected to have major implications for research and treatment of tuberculosis, as well as other inflammatory lung diseases. http://phys.org/news207850707.html Nanotechnology Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:10:08 EST news207850707 An experimental vaccine based on a virus that causes encephalitis in the wild appears to block tumor growth in some cases of advanced cancer, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center. Scientists say the vaccine is able to stimulate an immune response, even in the face of profound immune system suppression, a condition most patients with advanced cancer experience. http://phys.org/news199971730.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:00:02 EST news199971730 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in the US have grown lungs in their laboratory and transplanted them into rats. The transplanted lungs functioned for up to six hours. The current work follows independent research announced last month by Yale University, in which the first ever bioengineered lung tissue was transplanted into rats. In those experiments the tissue carried out gas exchange for only two hours. http://phys.org/news198390175.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:30:01 EST news198390175 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have created a device that mimics a living, breathing human lung on a microchip. The device, about the size of a rubber eraser, acts much like a lung in a human body and is made using human lung and blood vessel cells. http://phys.org/news196605796.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:00:18 EST news196605796 Canadian researchers have discovered a new way the body combats respiratory viral infections. In the prestigious journal PLoS Pathogens, scientists from the University of Montreal and the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center explain how the NOX2 molecule, an enzyme that generates a burst of highly reactive oxygen derivatives (or free radicals), activates defense genes and molecules when viruses invade lung cells. http://phys.org/news195829591.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:06:37 EST news195829591 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have solved the decade-old mystery of why human embryonic stem cells are so difficult to culture in the laboratory, providing scientists with useful new techniques and moving the field closer to the day when stem cells can be used for therapeutic purposes. http://phys.org/news190309887.html Biology Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:40:03 EST news190309887 How severely do smog, diesel exhaust and secondhand smoke damage the lungs? What do pollen or nanoparticles trigger when they infiltrate the human body through inhaling? At this year's BIO Convention in Chicago from May 3-6, Fraunhofer researchers will present a new test system that can be used to investigate these questions. http://phys.org/news189949545.html Technology Thu, 08 Apr 2010 13:10:01 EST news189949545 Stem cell researchers exploring a new approach for the care of respiratory diseases report that an experimental treatment involving transplantable lung cells was associated with improved outcomes in tests on mice with acute lung injury. The lung cells were derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Findings by investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are scheduled to appear in the March issue of Molecular Therapy. http://phys.org/news184415073.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:00:01 EST news184415073 Going back for a second dessert after your holiday meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets -- specifically in the form of restricted glucose -- help human cells live longer. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal could help lead to drugs and treatments that slow human aging and prevent cancer. http://phys.org/news180711805.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:00:02 EST news180711805 In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before the therapy can be tested in humans, the discovery opens the door to a new class of therapies for this and a host of other chronic diseases. http://phys.org/news179328978.html Chemistry Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:37:24 EST news179328978 Real-life particles released by car brake pads can harm lung cells in vitro. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology found that heavy braking, as in an emergency stop, caused the most damage, but normal breaking and even close proximity to a disengaged brake resulted in potentially dangerous cellular stress. http://phys.org/news177918969.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:30:01 EST news177918969 A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has developed a method that dramatically improves the efficiency of creating stem cells from human adult tissue, without the use of embryonic cells. The research makes great strides in addressing a major practical challenge in the development of stem-cell-based medicine. http://phys.org/news175091787.html Biology Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:36:57 EST news175091787 Researchers from The University of Arizona Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine are teaming up to try to invent a novel non-invasive lung test for cystic fibrosis sufferers. http://phys.org/news171807753.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:40:05 EST news171807753 In 1989 scientists identified the gene mutation that causes cystic fibrosis (CF), which led to the hope that CF lung disease could be 'cured' using gene therapy. The premise of gene therapy is that modified viruses or other gene-based systems could be used to deliver a corrected version of a gene into affected tissues. However, the projected cure has been hampered by the natural ability of the lung to limit the introduction of foreign genes into its cells. http://phys.org/news167375993.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:40:01 EST news167375993 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new Northwestern University-led study of human colon, pancreatic and lung cells is the first to report that cancer cells and their non-cancerous cell neighbors, although quite different under the microscope, share very similar structural abnormalities on the nanoscale level. http://phys.org/news166192501.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:35:47 EST news166192501 Research published today in Science Express from the journal Science demonstrates the first definitive link between mutations in the gene DICER1 and cancer. By studying the patterns of DNA from 11 families with an unusual predisposition to the rare childhood lung cancer pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) investigators found that children with the cancer carried a mutation in one of their two DICER1 gene copies. http://phys.org/news165168698.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:20:01 EST news165168698 Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a fluorescent substance that glows bright green when exposed to even minute amounts of ozone in the air and in biological samples such as human lung cells. A molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms, ozone is at once a harmful pollutant and lung irritant, and a possible natural weapon that certain research suggests the human body employs against infections. http://phys.org/news164901335.html Chemistry Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:57:04 EST news164901335 Estrogen may be a new postnatal therapy to improve lung function and other outcomes in preterm infants, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study. http://phys.org/news156060657.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:11:28 EST news156060657 A University of Iowa study is apparently the first to make a connection between a rare, hereditary premature aging disease and cell damage that comes from smoking. The study results point to possible therapeutic targets for smoking-related diseases. http://phys.org/news153129248.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:54:43 EST news153129248