Microbiology

What Makes Epithelial Cells Change Their Identity?

During development and during pathological processes in the adult, cells are constantly changing their function. One, well-characterized, cellular transition that occurs during development, as well as during wound healing, tissue fibrosis, and tumor metast ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 11 2007 - 10:54pm

Human Stem Cell Transplants Repair Rat Spinal Cords

Human nerve stem cells transplanted into rats' damaged spinal cords have survived, grown and in some cases connected with the rats' own spinal cord cells in a Johns Hopkins laboratory, overturning the long-held notion that spinal cords won' ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 18 2007 - 1:06pm

Instruction Manual For Creating A Molecular Nose

An artificial nose could be a real benefit at times: this kind of biosensor could sniff out poisons, explosives or drugs, for instance. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry recently reve ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 14 2007 - 10:57am

OR Genes And Axonal Projections In Zebrafish

Thanks to Buck and Axel and colleagues, most neuroscientists are aware of the precise topographical map of the mouse olfactory nerve projection in which each olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) expresses a single odorant receptor (OR), and OSNs expressing a gi ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 14 2007 - 11:06am

Proteasome Activator Enhances Survival Of Huntington's Disease Neuronal Model Cells

To function, each living cell needs both to build new and to degrade old or damaged proteins. To accomplish that, a number of intracellular systems work in concert to keep the cell healthy and from clogging up with damaged proteins. When proteins or pepti ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 24 2007 - 7:20pm

The Plasticity Of The Young Brain

Among the central mysteries of neurobiology is what properties of the young brain enable it to so adeptly wire itself to adapt to experience—a quality known as plasticity. The extraordinary plasticity of the young brain occurs only during a narrow window ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 28 2007 - 1:19pm

Fast And Slow-- How The Spinal Cord Controls The Speed Of Movement

Using a state-of-the-art technique to map neurons in the spinal cord of a larval zebrafish, Cornell University scientists have found a surprising pattern of activity that regulates the speed of the fish’s movement. The research may have long-term implicat ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 28 2007 - 1:37pm

Genome Sequence Shows What Makes Bacteria Dangerous For Troops In Iraq

Researchers at Yale have identified multiple pathogenic "alien islands" in the genome of the A. baumannii, bacteria that has been responsible for new and highly drug-resistant infections in combat troops in the Middle East, according to a report ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 1 2007 - 2:51am

Whole Body Regeneration From A Blood Vessel

For a lucky subset of vertebrates, losing an appendage is no big deal. As many an inquisitive child knows, salamanders can regenerate lost limbs or tails; and as lab investigators know, zebrafish can regrow lost fins. Of course, humans and other "hig ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2011 - 10:17pm

Researchers Discover Gene Essential To Cerebellum Formation

Scientists have identified a molecular switch that causes the differentiation of neurons in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that helps to regulate motor functions. A study published this week in the scientific journal PNAS provides new information on ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 6 2007 - 2:21pm