Malaria parasites form vortices

The disease of malaria is triggered by single-celled parasites that accumulate in large groups in the salivary glands of mosquitoes before transmission to human beings. The limited space there prevents them from actually ...

Microscaffolds: A new strategy in tissue engineering

Until now, there have been two completely different approaches to producing artificial tissue. At TU Wien, a third approach has now been developed that combines the advantages of both.

A promising new approach to rebuild bone tissue

Over the last 30 years, the scientific community has been working to develop a synthetic alternative to bone grafts for repairing diseased or damaged bone. McGill University researchers used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) ...

'Feeling' the living cell's life cycle using optical tweezers

Living cells are the basic building blocks of all organisms. We, as humans, are essentially a collection of trillions of living cells: and all these cells emerge from a single fertilized egg. This means that "mitosis" (or ...

First artificial scaffolds for studying plant cell growth

As a baby seedling emerges from the depths of the soil, it faces a challenge: gravity's downward push. To succeed, the plant must sense the force, then push upward with an even greater force. Visible growth is proof that ...

How quantum dots can 'talk' to each other

So-called quantum dots are a new class of materials with many applications. Quantum dots are realized by tiny semiconductor crystals with dimensions in the nanometre range. The optical and electrical properties can be controlled ...

Researchers seek deeper understanding of how cells operate

Cells sense and respond to the mechanical properties of the cellular microenvironment in the body. Changes in these properties, which occur in a number of human pathologies, including cancer, can elicit abnormal responses ...

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