Device extracts rare tumor cells using sound

A simple blood test may one day replace invasive biopsies thanks to a new device that uses sound waves to separate blood-borne cancer cells from white blood cells.

Molecular beacons shine light on how cells 'crawl'

Adherent cells, the kind that form the architecture of all multi-cellular organisms, are mechanically engineered with precise forces that allow them to move around and stick to things. Proteins called integrin receptors act ...

Microscopic "walkers" find their way across cell surfaces

Nature has developed a wide variety of methods for guiding particular cells, enzymes, and molecules to specific structures inside the body: White blood cells can find their way to the site of an infection, while scar-forming ...

New microchip sorts white blood cells from whole blood

Early in 2012, MIT scientists reported on the development of a postage stamp-sized microchip capable of sorting cells through a technique, known as cell rolling, that mimics a natural mechanism in the body. The device successfully ...

In a new microchip, cells separate by rolling away

Cell rolling is a common mechanism cells use to navigate through the body. During inflammation, for example, the endothelial cells that line blood vessels present certain molecules that attract white blood cells just enough ...

New level of genetic diversity in human RNA sequences uncovered

A detailed comparison of DNA and RNA in human cells has uncovered a surprising number of cases where the corresponding sequences are not, as has long been assumed, identical. The RNA-DNA differences generate proteins that ...

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