Cell biology is a branch of biological sciences that investigates the structure, function, dynamics, and regulation of cells as the fundamental units of life. It encompasses the study of cellular organelles, membranes, cytoskeleton, intracellular trafficking, signal transduction, cell cycle control, cell division, differentiation, and cell death. Using approaches from molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, microscopy, and biophysics, cell biology analyzes how macromolecular assemblies and biochemical networks give rise to cellular behaviors. It also examines cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, and provides a mechanistic framework for understanding development, physiology, and pathologies such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and infectious diseases.
Life's instructions are written in DNA, but it is the enzyme RNA polymerase II (Pol II) that reads the script, transcribing RNA in eukaryotic cells and eventually giving rise to proteins. Scientists know that Pol II must ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 27, 2025
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113
Only two weeks after fertilization, the first sign of the formation of the three axes of the human body (head/tail, ventral/dorsal, and right/left) begins to appear. At this stage, known as gastrulation, a flat and featureless ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 20, 2025
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43
After fertilization, embryos race through rapid cell divisions before slowing down to build specialized cells that will carry out distinct functions in the developing body—but the signals that trigger this shift have remained ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 20, 2025
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23
Proteins are often called the building blocks of cells, but even those building blocks need to be built. One of the most important steps in the process of building proteins is glycosylation, when sugar molecules (glycans) ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 19, 2025
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38
In most developing tissues, signals called morphogens act like lighthouses, guiding nearby cells toward their fate and telling them what to become. Each cell relies on such signals for organized structures like organs and ...
Evolution
Nov 18, 2025
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24
Cell division is a process of remarkable precision: during each cycle, the genetic material must be evenly distributed between the two daughter cells. To achieve this, duplicated chromosomes, known as sister chromatids, are ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 13, 2025
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26
Janelia researchers have uncovered a novel way that two of the structures inside cells—the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and lysosomes—coordinate the production of proteins, highlighting how interactions between organelles are ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 10, 2025
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43
A research team from the University of Osaka, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has uncovered a new molecular mechanism underlying chromosome alignment during cell division. The study, published ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 10, 2025
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64
Every cell in the body has the same DNA, but different cell types—such as muscle or brain cells—use different parts of it. Transcription factors help cells activate specific genes by reading certain DNA sequences, but since ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 4, 2025
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191
Ribosomes are the cell's protein factories, which read the genetic code and assemble the proteins that every organism needs to live. But as far as how ribosomes themselves were formed, tantalizingly little was known.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 29, 2025
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