Chronic infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii can make mice lose their innate, hard-wired fear of cats. This loss of their innate fear may persist after the parasite is no longer detectable in their brains, suggesting ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 18, 2013
2
0
Scientists know that physical and biochemical signals can guide cells to make, for example, muscle, blood vessels or bone. But the exact recipes to produce the desired tissues have proved elusive.
Biochemistry
Sep 18, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org) —Understanding what happens to a material as it undergoes phase transformations – changes from a solid to a liquid to a gas or a plasma – is of fundamental scientific interest and critical for optimizing ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 26, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org) —A Stanford University bioengineer has helped develop a technology that can tweak the control systems that regulate the inner workings of cells, pointing the way toward future medical interventions that could ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 16, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org) —By studying a gene in yeast, a team of scientists has found that modifications to histones—proteins associated with DNA—can control whether or not a gene is allowed to function and may be important in maintaining ...
Biotechnology
Aug 6, 2013
0
0
Long before humans understood the principles of genes and heritability, they were already shaping animal evolution through selective breeding. The various domesticated species we cultivate today are the product of a centuries-long ...
Biotechnology
Jun 7, 2013
0
0
Spinning-disk confocal microscopy is an optical imaging technique that can be used to generate detailed three-dimensional fluorescence images of living cells and their contents. Although a powerful tool for observing dynamic ...
General Physics
May 17, 2013
0
0
(Phys.org) —A new study by scientists in the U.S. and Taiwan has shown that birds have colorful and patterned feathers because of specific cellular interactions involving stem cells rather than through the direct involvement ...
Most of us are familiar with the "winter blues," the depression-like symptoms known as "seasonal affective disorder," or SAD, that occurs when the shorter days of winter limit our exposure to natural light and make us more ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 25, 2013
0
0
Many proteins undergo extensive modification after being synthesized, particularly those that are secreted or embedded in the cell membrane. This is achieved within the Golgi apparatus (see image), a cellular organelle consisting ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 24, 2013
0
0
