Come on in: Nuclear barrier less restrictive than expected in new cells
When it comes to the two basic types of cells, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, compartmentalization is everything. Prokaryotes are evolutionarily ancient cells that only have a membrane surrounding their...
View ArticleGenomic archeology reveals early evolution of sex chromosomes
A team from Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, is using genomics to shed light on the early evolutionary history of sex chromosomes. The research is published in the April 2011 Eukaryotic Cell.
View ArticleNew study finds titan cells protect Cryptococcus
Giant cells called "titan cells" protect the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection, according to two University of Minnesota researchers. Kirsten Nielsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the...
View ArticleThe role of H3K9 in bringing order to the nucleus
(Phys.org)—Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research have elucidated the histone modifications that lead to the sequestration of silent genes at the nuclear periphery. In...
View ArticleInternational collaboration seeks to develop noninvasive quantum electron...
Moving closer to creating a microscope that can peer through atoms and molecules without disturbing them, leading physics researchers have joined together with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore...
View ArticleSpanish breakthrough allows electroporation of cell cultures for less than...
Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have developed a technique that improves and cuts the cost of a technique called electroporation, which involves opening pores in cell membranes...
View ArticleResearchers shed light on ancient origin of life
(Phys.org) —University of Georgia researchers discovered important genetic clues about the history of microorganisms called archaea and the origins of life itself in the first ever study of its kind....
View ArticleScientists uncover the nuclear life of actin
A key building block of life, actin is one of the most abundant and highly conserved proteins in eukaryotic cells.
View ArticleTwo proteins that control nuclear DNA distribution also regulate development...
Cell biologists believe that gene expression in eukaryotic cells is partly controlled by the uneven distribution of DNA in the nucleus. Colin Stewart and Audrey Wang at the A*STAR Institute of Medical...
View ArticleWater droplets prefer the soft touch
(Phys.org) —Researchers have found a way to drive water droplets along a flat surface without applying heat, chemicals, electricity, or other forces: All that's required is varying the stiffness of the...
View ArticleLaser pulses reveal DNA repair mechanisms
A new straightforward method enables monitoring the response of nuclear proteins to DNA damage in time and space. The approach is based on nonlinear photoperturbation.
View ArticleA molecular delivery service
Tiny hair-like structures (cilia) are found on the surface of most cells. Cilia are responsible for the locomotion of cells (e.g. sperm cells), they process external signals and coordinate the correct...
View ArticleResearchers discover new organism: Finding will help scientists understand...
Researchers at the University of Arkansas have discovered and characterized a new organism that will help scientists understand the molecular mechanisms and ancestral genetic toolkit that enabled...
View ArticleFreeze! A protein group affecting lipid dynamics at cell membranes discovered
Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized by membranes, whose shape and dynamics are precisely regulated to maintain their correct functions. Consequently, many cellular processes such as endocytosis,...
View ArticlePandoravirus: Missing link discovered between viruses and cells
Researchers at IGS, the genomic and structural information laboratory (CNRS/Aix-Marseille University), working in association with the large-scale biology laboratory (CEA/Inserm/Grenoble Alpes...
View ArticleDiscovery of complex symbiotic system comprising the metabolic pathways of...
Researchers from AIST, in collaboration with the University of Montana (USA), the Open University of Japan, and others, have discovered that two types of bacteria with extremely reduced genomes...
View ArticleKinesin-5 structure opens cancer drug targets
The structure of a key part of the machinery that allows cells to divide has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis—opening new possibilities for throwing a wrench in the...
View ArticleScientists study how complexity developed from simple cell
(Phys.org) —Consider this a matter of scrambling down the family tree to its roots. Really old roots. Or perhaps it's more like blowing the dust off the family album—the human album—and opening to the...
View Article'Zombie' bacteria are nothing to be afraid of
A cell is not a soap bubble that can simply pinch in two to reproduce. The ability to faithfully copy genetic material and distribute it equally to daughter cells is fundamental to all forms of life....
View ArticleGreen light for clever algae
Phytoplankton not only constitutes the foundation of the food chain in the oceans, it also fixes carbon through photosynthesis and generates oxygen with the help of solar energy. A considerable part of...
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