Related topics: cells · genes · muscle · stem cells · nerve cells

Building human muscle genes in the DNA of baker's yeast

Biotechnologist Pascale Daran-Lapujade and her group at Delft University of Technology managed to build human muscle genes in the DNA of baker's yeast. This is the first time researchers have successfully placed such a vital ...

How the zebrafish repairs a broken heart

An MDC research team led by Jan Philipp Junker and Daniela Panáková has found that zebrafish can regenerate heart tissue after injury. Connective tissue cells play an important role in the process by temporarily entering ...

Hibernating insects regrow muscles on demand

Even as gas prices soar, most people don't destroy their car's engine just to save energy—and that's one luxury certain insects have that those humans don't.

How egg cells choose their best powerhouses to pass on

Developing egg cells conduct tests to select the healthiest of their energy-making machines to be passed to the next generation. A new study in fruit flies, published online May 15 in Nature, shows how the testing is done.

'Nanofiber yarn' makes for stretchy, protective artificial tissue

The human body is held together by an intricate cable system of tendons and muscles, engineered by nature to be tough and highly stretchable. An injury to any of these tissues, particularly in a major joint like the shoulder ...

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Muscle

Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse") is the contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to produce force and cause motion. Muscles can cause either locomotion of the organism itself or movement of internal organs. Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction occurs without conscious thought and is necessary for survival. Examples are the contraction of the heart and peristalsis which pushes food through the digestive system. Voluntary contraction of the skeletal muscles is used to move the body and can be finely controlled. Examples are movements of the eye, or gross movements like the quadriceps muscle of the thigh. There are two broad types of voluntary muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers contract for long periods of time but with little force while fast twitch fibers contract quickly and powerfully but fatigue very rapidly.

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