Biologists develop new record bright red fluorescent protein

To understand why a cell divides, secretes hormones or transmits a signal to another cell, biologists often use a trick. They attach colored lights to the proteins of interest, so that they can follow the movements and interactions ...

A new control switch could make RNA therapies easier to program

Using an RNA sensor, MIT engineers have designed a new way to trigger cells to turn on a synthetic gene. Their approach could make it possible to create targeted therapies for cancer and other diseases, by ensuring that synthetic ...

A novel biosensor to detect DNA damage in real time

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are a type of DNA damage where both strands of DNA break at the same location. They can adversely affect cell growth and functioning. Currently, DSBs are detected by immunostaining techniques, ...

Study uncovers aspect of how muscular dystrophies progress

A research study has shed new light on how congenital muscular dystrophies such as Walker-Warburg syndrome progress, bringing hope for better understanding, early diagnosis and treatments of these fatal disorders.

Major advance in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

Scientists led by Nobel Laureate Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg have developed a super-resolution microscope with a spatio-temporal precision of one nanometer per millisecond. An ...

Low-cost smartphone fluorescence microscope developed

A device that can convert a smartphone or tablet into a fluorescence microscope for less than US $50 is presented in a proof-of-principle study in Scientific Reports. The authors suggest that the device—which they have ...

Scientists reveal molecular structure of bacterial gas vesicles

Similar in function to ballast tanks in submarines or fish bladders, many water-based bacteria use gas vesicles to regulate their floatability. In a new publication in Cell, scientists from the Departments of Bionanoscience ...

Making engineered cells dance to ultrasound

Let's say you needed to move an individual cell from one place to another. How would you do it? Maybe some special tweezers? A really tiny shovel?

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