Rapid, single-cell analysis of microbiotas now possible

A single-cell method developed by RIKEN biophysicists, that can rapidly classify hundreds of thousands of bacteria according to species, promises to be an invaluable tool for discovering how gut, skin, ocean and soil microbes ...

Phase separation found in immune response within cells

Protein complexes that play a critical role in launching an immune response assemble in droplets that form within the liquid environment in cells much like oil droplets in water, UT Southwestern scientists report in a new ...

Can oil and water mix?

Common experience tells us that oil and water do not mix. Yet, it turns out that they can mix when oil is dispersed as small droplets in water. This strange behavior has long vexed scientists because there is no explanation ...

Growing droplets in the matrix

The mechanism of molecular self-organization was assessed in a new model by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS). In their study, they simulated how environmental factors such ...

Scientists ID sterol essential for oil accumulation in plants

Scientists seeking to unravel the details of how plants produce and accumulate oil have identified a new essential component of the assembly line. They discovered a particular sterol—a molecule related to cholesterol—that ...

Researchers develop new way to study neurodegenerative diseases

Some proteins in cells can separate into small droplets like oil droplets in water, but faults in this process may underlie neurodegenerative diseases in the brains of older people. Now, Rutgers researchers have developed ...

On the line: Watching nanoparticles get in shape

Liquid structures—liquid droplets that maintain a specific shape—are useful for a variety of applications, from food processing to cosmetics, medicine, and even petroleum extraction, but researchers have yet to tap into ...

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