As an embryo develops from a small cluster of stem cells, those once "blank slate" cells begin to take on more specialized roles like brain, liver or muscle cells and organize themselves into three-dimensional structures ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 16, 2026
0
30
Changes in our genes affect health risks from heart disease to cancer, but how those genes are turned on and off is just as crucial to health. What's more, almost all genes occur as two copies—one from each parent—that aren't ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 16, 2026
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26
Skeletal muscles grow and regenerate as individual precursor cells—called myoblasts—fuse into long fibers from which mature muscle fibers develop. How they coordinate this process and form functional muscles is not yet fully ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 16, 2026
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23
Every cell in the human body faces a chronic challenge: protecting its DNA. Whenever cells divide, their genetic material must be copied accurately. But DNA is continuously under attack, and when damage goes unrepaired, it ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 20, 2026
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23
Paired appendages—the pectoral and pelvic fins of fishes and the forelimbs and hindlimbs of tetrapods—were a major innovation in vertebrate evolution. Their emergence greatly expanded the ways vertebrates could move through ...
Evolution
Oct 19, 2026
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22
In the early 1980s, scientists observed an anomaly. Embedded within cell membranes, they identified ion channels with extraordinarily high conductance. These so-called "BK" (Big K, or Big Potassium) channels had roughly 10 ...
Evolution
Oct 21, 2026
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19
Viral infections can be difficult to treat because viruses evolve rapidly, allowing them to develop resistance to drugs designed to attack viral proteins directly.
Biotechnology
Oct 19, 2026
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17
In a new Nature Physics study, researchers found that fin regrowth in zebrafish is driven by a brief burst of growth signal at the fin tip, sized to the amount lost, which sets up gradients of Erk activity that guide the ...
Female mosquitoes need blood to produce eggs. While much research has focused on how these hungry mosquitoes find their targets, less is known about what happens after they land on skin. Yet, a better understanding may allow ...
The fusion of two cells is a decisive event in the sexual reproduction of many organisms. In fungi, cells must not only bring their membranes together and merge them, but also locally open their protective cell wall.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 19, 2026
0
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