New Light-Sensing Mechanism Found in Neurons
A UC Irvine research team led by Todd C. Holmes has discovered a second form of phototransduction light sensing in cells that is derived from vitamin B2. This discovery may reveal new information about cellular processes controlled by light.
New Microscope Produces Dazzling 3D Movies of Live Cells
A new microscope invented by scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus will let researchers use an exquisitely thin sheet of light — similar to that used in supermarket bar-code scanners — to peer inside single living cells, revealing the three-dimensional shapes of cellular landmarks in unprecedented detail. The microscopy technique images at high speed, so researchers can create dazzling movies that make biological processes, such as cell division, come alive.
Mighty Mice Regrow Organs
Mice discovered accidentally at the Wistar Institute in Pennsylvania have the seemingly miraculous ability to regenerate like a salamander, and even regrow vital organs.
Researchers systematically amputated digits and damaged various organs of the mice, including the heart, liver and brain, most of which grew back.
The results stunned scientists because if such regeneration is possible in this mammal, it might also be possible in humans.
The researchers also made a remarkable second discovery: When cells from the regenerative mice were injected into normal mice, the normal mice adopted the ability to regenerate. And when the special mice bred with normal mice, their offspring inherited souped-up regeneration capabilities.
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Three-Dimensional Maps of Brain Wiring
A team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology has developed a software tool that physicians can use to easily study the wiring of the brains of their patients. The tool converts MRI scans using special techniques to three-dimensional images. This now makes it possible to view a total picture of the winding roads and their contacts without having to operate. Researcher Vesna Prčkovska defended her PhD thesis on this subject last week.
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Scientists May Have Discovered a Cure for the Common Cold (and Lots of Other Viruses)
Any immunology textbook will tell you that once a virus enters a cell, the only way to knock that virus out is to kill the entire cell. But a new study from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge has shown a way to kill a virus from within the cell, leaving the virus defeated and the cell victorious and intact. This could be huge–not just a cure for the common cold, but for all kinds of other viruses as well.
The study, which will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tackles a fundamental of immunology. It has long been assumed that the body’s last chance to eliminate a virus is before it enters a cell–once it’s inside, it’s game over. You can kill the cell, but doing that too often is harmful to the body’s health. But this new study shows that the body actually has its own in-cell defense mechanism that can attack viruses once they’ve entered a cell–and they’re hopeful that this defense mechanism can be enhanced through external means, making the cells even stronger.
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