What are the bare essentials of life, the indispensable ingredients required to produce a cell that can survive on its own? Can we describe the molecular anatomy of a cell, and understand how an entire organism functions as a system? Researchers are providing the first comprehensive picture of a minimal cell, based on an extensive [...]
Continue reading about First-ever blueprint of ‘minimal cell’ is more complex than expected
Scientists have discovered that a precursor to nerve growth factor (pro-NGF) may play a pathogenic role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Electronic devices can’t work well unless all of the transistors, or switches, within them allow electrical current to flow easily when they are turned on. Engineers have now determined why some transistors made of organic crystals don’t perform well, yielding ideas about how to make them work better.
Continue reading about Overcoming barriers for organic electronics
The community-associated strain of the deadly superbug MRSA — an infection-causing bacteria resistant to most common antibiotics — poses a far greater health threat than previously known and is making its way into hospitals, according to a new study.
New research presents strong evidence that the “synergistic” effect of early-life exposure to both outdoor traffic-related pollution and indoor endotoxin causes more harm to developing lungs than one or the other exposure alone.
It is relatively common for listeners to “hear” sounds that are not really there. In fact, it is the brain’s ability to reconstruct fragmented sounds that allows us to successfully carry on a conversation in a noisy room.
Scientists have demonstrated that stem cells protect and repair the lungs of newborn rats. The study finds that rats treated with stem cells ran twice as far, and had better survival rates. Currently, there is no treatment for the lungs of babies born too early. Scientists predict these results will lead to a new treatment [...]
Researchers are developing a new device that detects cancerous skin tumors, including melanomas that aren’t visible to the naked eye. The OSPI instrument (Optical Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging) revealed new textures of lesions that have never been seen before. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons typically diagnose skin tumors by their appearance with the naked eye and only rarely [...]
Continue reading about New device enables early detection of cancerous skin tumors
The first genetic historical map of the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic population in the world, as they migrated from south to north over evolutionary time.
Cell fragments called platelets are essential to promote blood clotting. Researchers have now discovered novel molecular interactions at the surface of platelets that control blood clotting.
Continue reading about Control of blood clotting by platelets described; provides medical promise