Who were our earliest ancestors? The answer could lie in a special group of single-celled organisms with a cytoskeleton similar to that of complex organisms, such as animals and plants. ETH researchers made these findings in a new study.

An Aston University researcher has conducted the first experimental demonstration of intricate and previously theorised behaviours in the fundamental patterns that govern oscillatory systems in nature and technology.

In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose – a major constituent of all plant cell walls – a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers has captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production.

The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, reveals a dynamic process never seen before and may provide practical applications for everyday products derived from plants including enhanced textiles, biofuels, biodegradable plastics, and new medical products. The research also is expected to contribute to the fundamental knowledge – while providing a new understanding – of the formation of cell walls, the scientists said

Parasitic weeds are ruthless freeloaders, stealing nutrients from crops and devastating harvests. But what if farmers could trick these invaders into self-destructing? Scientists at UC Riverside think they’ve found a way.

Understanding and controlling how bacteria move through obstacle-filled environments has long been a challenge. A new model developed by a scientist at the Flatiron Institute can predict how bacteria will diffuse in crowded spaces, opening the door for strategies to control their spread.

Siegfried Musser, PhD, and his team in the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine have been investigating how molecules move through the pores of the double-membrane enveloping the nucleus quickly and efficiently without colliding or becoming congested. This month, Musser’s team published a study in Nature revealing new insights into molecular transport. Using an advanced imaging technique called MINFLUX, they tracked molecular movements in milliseconds and in 3D at an unprecedented scale: about 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Their findings show that import, the process of molecules entering the nucleus, and export, the process of molecules leaving, occur in overlapping highways within the nuclear pore complex. This challenges a previous hypothesis that these processes may take place in separate lanes.