News by Subject Biology

Why does it take 200 million sperm to fertilize a single egg? Part of the reason is bombardment by the female immune system, which very few sperm survive. Researchers have discovered a molecular handshake between sperm and uterine cells that may help sperm evade this attack -- or may help the immune system target the weakest sperm.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have identified how differences in the genetic sequence of the two main strains of the cancer-associated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can alter the way the virus behaves when it infects white blood cells.

A stealthy new drug-delivery system disguises chemotherapeutics as fat in order to outsmart, penetrate and destroy tumors. Thinking the drugs are tasty fats, tumors invite the drug inside. Once there, the targeted drug activates, immediately suppressing tumor growth.

A team, led by researchers at the University of Washington, has discovered how the female mosquito brain integrates visual and olfactory signals to identify, track and hone in on a potential host for her next blood meal. They discovered that, after the mosquito's olfactory system detects certain chemical cues, the mosquito uses her visual system to scan her surroundings for certain shapes and fly toward them, presumably associating those shapes with potential hosts.

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have made a new material that is both liquid and magnetic, opening the door to a new area of science in magnetic soft matter. The new material could lead to a revolutionary class of printable liquid devices for a variety of applications from artificial cells that deliver targeted cancer therapies to flexible liquid robots that can change their shape to adapt to their surroundings.

Scientists at the University Würzburg and University Hospital of Würzburg found that megakaryocytes act as 'bouncers' and thus modulate bone marrow niche properties and cell migration dynamics. The study was published in July in the journal Haematologica.