The determining factors of cell shape examined

A European team is investigating the role of the bacterial cell wall and the cytoskeleton in mediating cell shape. Results are expected to have broader implications for cell biology.

Scientists construct synthetic proteins that sustain life

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a groundbreaking achievement that could help scientists "build" new biological systems, Princeton University scientists have constructed for the first time artificial proteins that enable the growth of ...

Electric charge disorder: A key to biological order?

Theoretical physicist Ali Naji from the IPM in Tehran and the University of Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues have shown how small random patches of disordered, frozen electric charges can make a difference when they are ...

Organic carbon from Mars, but not biological

(Phys.org) -- Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen--the building blocks of all life on Earth--have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day. While these molecules have previously ...

NASA selects eight physical science research proposals

NASA's Physical Science Research Program will fund eight proposals to help investigate how complex fluids and macromolecules behave in microgravity. The investigations will be conducted aboard the International Space Station.

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