Some cells are meant to live, and some are meant to die. The linker cell of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm that is a favored model organism for biologists, is among those destined for termination. This cell helps determine ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 8, 2016
2
461
Many animals gravitate towards heat, most often to regulate their own body temperatures. In rare cases, certain species—ticks, bedbugs, and some species of mosquitoes—seek out heat for food. For female mosquitoes, finding ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 15, 2015
0
22
It's impossible to hide from a female mosquito—she will hunt down any member of the human species by tracking our CO2 exhalations, body heat, and body odor. But some of us are distinct "mosquito magnets" who get more than ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 18, 2022
1
207
Antibodies, in charge of recognizing and homing in on molecular targets, are among the most useful tools in biology and medicine. Nanobodies – antibodies' tiny cousins – can do the same tasks, for example marking molecules ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 2, 2014
0
1
Cancer cells are resourceful survivors with plenty of tricks for staying alive. Researchers have uncovered one of these stratagems, showing how cells lacking the tumor suppressor BRCA1 can resume one form of DNA repair, sparing ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 21, 2013
0
0
Natural selection can be an agonizingly long process. Some organisms have a way of taking matters into their own hands, or—in the case of the ant species Cerapachys biroi—mandibles.
Plants & Animals
Feb 1, 2013
19
0
Inspired by viruses that attack and kill bacteria, researchers at The Rockefeller University have created an entirely new weapon against disease-causing bacteria that shows great promise for treating drug-resistant infections.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 17, 2017
0
651
For a stem cell, the future is wide open. It can divide infinitely to create more stem cells, or it can grow up into other kinds of cells, taking its place in the heart, brain, or other organs. But the stem cell loses something ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 30, 2018
0
129
In order to understand the brain, scientists must be able to see the brain—cell by cell, and moment by moment. However, because brains comprise billions of microscopic moving parts, faithfully recording their activity comes ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 12, 2019
0
249
Cells secure DNA within their nuclei like a secret code stashed in a vault. However, the tightly controlled borders of the nucleus create a challenge: In order for the cell to produce essential proteins, messages derived ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 11, 2016
0
701
