Nerve cells of blind mice retain their visual function

Good news for retina implants

28-Nov-2024 - The retina is often referred to as an “outpost of the brain” – after all, important steps in visual signal processing do not take place in the cerebrum, but in the nerve cells in the eye. When light falls on the retina, sensor cells become active and send electrical signals to layers of nerve ...

The secret of stable dust

Findings open up new ways of treating sick children

28-Nov-2024 - For small children, it acts like a protective elixir against asthma and other allergies from birth: the dust from the traditional cowshed. Researchers are keenly interested in exactly what causes this effect. However, deciphering it in terms of allergy prevention is a lengthy process, but one ...

Cellular “power plants” control inflammation

Researchers discover how mitochondria not only produce energy but also influence inflammation

28-Nov-2024 - Whether cells in the human body survive or die under stress depends, among other things, on their mitochondria. Scientists at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg have now shown that a sudden stop in energy production in these cell “power plants” prevents normal cell death or ...

Exploring Life at Its Simplest: Scientists Create a "Minimal Cell Membrane" with Just Two Lipids

Surprising Effects of a Two-Lipid Diet

27-Nov-2024 - Lipids, or fats, are essential to life. They form the membranes around cells, protecting them from the outside. In nature, there is an enormous diversity of lipids, with each organism having its own unique combination. But what are the minimum lipid requirements for a cell to survive? A research ...

Cause of the yo-yo effect deciphered

Fat cells store memories of obesity in their cell nucleus

20-Nov-2024 - Anyone who has ever tried to get rid of a few extra kilos knows the frustration: the weight drops initially, only to be back within a matter of weeks – the yo-yo effect has struck. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now been able to show that this is all down to epigenetics. Epigenetics is the part ...

A Journey back in time to the origin of stem cells

Proteins that regulate animal stem cells are much older than animals themselves

20-Nov-2024 - A new study published in Nature Communications reveals that critical proteins involved in animal stem cell regulation are much older than previously thought, predating the origin of animals that likely evolved more than 700 million years ago. The international research team included scientists ...

How Immune Cells “Sniff Out” Pathogens

Researchers are using an innovative method to watch immune receptors go about their business

19-Nov-2024 - Immune cells are capable of detecting infections just like a sniffer dog, using special sensors known as Toll-like receptors, or TLRs for short. But what signals activate TLRs, and what is the relationship between the scale and nature of this activation and the substance being detected? In a ...

Markers in iPSC quality control – a new approach to enhance standardization

“Machine learning is an attractive tool to streamline processes”

12-Nov-2024 - Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have a great potential for scientific and medical applications. They are used in research laboratories to model human diseases, helping to uncover underlying mechanisms and developing new therapies. Additionally, they are being tested in clinical ...

Double strike against leukaemia: Inducing defective cell division could improve therapy

Targeting the powerhouses of the cell

06-Nov-2024 - Cell division is a pivotal moment in the life cycle of a cell: when things go wrong, the cell typically triggers growth arrest or its own self-destruction. Researchers in Austria and Italy have now discovered a previously unknown process that initiates cancer cell death in two distinct ways. This ...

Hematopoietic stem cells: Why don't pregnant women become anemic?

04-Nov-2024 - Not all genes in the body are permanently switched on; many remain dormant until they are activated by various processes. Triggers can be external influences such as lifestyle, but also diseases and their treatments. A current example is the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. They are ...