News by Subject Biology

For decades, researchers have chased ways to study biological machines. Every mechanical movement--from contracting a muscle to replicating DNA--relies on molecular motors that take near-undetectable steps. Trying to see them move is like trying to watch a soccer game taking place on the moon. Now, with DNA origami helicopters, researchers have captured the first recorded rotational steps of a molecular motor as it moved from one DNA base pair to another.

Scientists at the University Würzburg and University Hospital of Würzburg found that megakaryocytes act as 'bouncers' and thus modulate bone marrow niche properties and cell migration dynamics. The study was published in July in the journal Haematologica.

Ángel R. Nebreda's team (IRB Barcelona) publishes a study in the journal Nature Communications addressing the role of the p38 protein in angiogenesis--the formation of new blood vessels--a critical process that fuels tumour cells and allows them to grow and eventually develop metastases. A greater understanding of how new blood vessel formation is regulated could help to improve chemotherapy treatments for cancer, as well as to develop more efficient angiogenic therapies for other diseases.

Gene identified in worms controls how resources are allocated for stress resilience, longevity and fertility.

Ant-acacia plants attract ants by offering specialized food and hollow thorns in which the ants live, while the ant colony in turn defends its acacia against herbivores. This mutualistic relationship only occurs in older plants. New findings from University of Pennsylvania plant biologists, identify the genetic pathway that appears to regulate the timing of the acacia's ant-sustaining arsenal.

Rutgers researchers have created a device that can determine whether targeted chemotherapy drugs are working on individual cancer patients. The portable device, which uses artificial intelligence and biosensors, is up to 95.9% accurate in counting live cancer cells when they pass through electrodes, according to a study in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.