Microbiology

Leishmaniasis Now On Film- The Inner Workings Of The Immune System

For the first time in Australia, scientists at Sydney's Centenary Institute have filmed an immune cell becoming infected by a parasite and followed the infection as it begins to spread throughout the body.  Professor Wolfgang Weninger, head of the Imm ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 7 2008 - 10:47am

Hormone Neurokinin B- The Key To Regulation Of Puberty

A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Cukurova in Turkey have taken a major step to understanding how the brain controls the onset of puberty.  The research, published in this week's Nature Genetics, identified th ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 10 2009 - 11:26pm

Get Ready, Get Set... Meiosis!

Meiosis, the process of halving a germ cell’s chromosomes in preparation for egg or sperm production, has been one of the most studied areas of cell biology. But in mammals, the field has been divided over the question of whether meiosis is triggered by a ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 14 2008 - 12:20pm

Magnetic Crystals Are A 'Bacterial Compass', Say Researchers

Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh say they have shown that tiny crystals found inside bacteria provide a magnetic compass to help them navigate through sediment to find the best food and it provides fresh clues to expl ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 16 2008 - 9:47pm

Bacteria, Archaea And Microbial 'Ropes' Found In Underground Cave Lake

Deep inside the Frasassi cave system in Italy and more than 1,600 feet below the Earth's surface, divers found filamentous ropes of microbes growing in the cold water, according to a team of Penn State researchers.  The Frasassi cave system is located ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 20 2008 - 12:23pm

Discovery- The Trigger That Pulls Together X Chromosomes In Female Cells

Scientists say they have discovered the trigger that pulls together X chromosomes in female cells at a crucial stage of embryo development. Their discovery could also provide new insights into how other similar chromosomes spontaneously recognize each othe ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 26 2008 - 10:06pm

Identified- Clockwork That Starts Powerful Virus 'Engines'

Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers writing in Cell have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor.   Bonus:  Because of the motor's strength- to scale, it is twice that of an automobile- the new findings could a ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 30 2008 - 2:04pm

Molecule Implicated In Leukemia Also Important In Muscle Repair

Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that a molecule implicated in leukemia and lung cancer is also important in muscle repair and in a muscle cancer that strikes mainly children.  The study shows that immatu ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 30 2008 - 2:14pm

Hybrid Cells Fused For Better Stem Cell Programming

Researchers have developed a new, highly efficient way to pair up cells so they can be fused together into a hybrid cell.   The new technique should make it much easier for scientists to study what happens when two cells are combined. For example, fusing a ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 4 2009 - 9:12pm

Antibodies- 'Evolutionary Leaps' To Fight Microbes, Says Report

With cold and flu season in full swing, the fact that viruses and bacteria rapidly 'evolve' is apparent with every sneeze, sniffle, and cough. A new report in The FASEB Journal seeks to explain how humans keep up with microbes by rearranging the ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 5 2009 - 10:52am