News by Subject Biology

Scientists have uncovered a process in cells that prevents DNA from becoming tangled, which resembles a method used to control climbers' ropes.

Researchers at Tokyo Tech have revealed that an artificial receptor preferentially binds male steroid hormones from a mixture of male and female hormones in water. Based on their findings, they succeeded in the preparation of a prototype detection system for male hormones at the nanogram level. This achievement could lead to the development of ultrasensitive analytical devices for medical diagnostics and anti-doping testing in sports.

Professor Thomas Gervais of Polytechnique Montréal and his students Pierre-Alexandre Goyette and Étienne Boulais, in partnership with the team led by Professor David Juncker of McGill University, have developed a new microfluidic process aimed at automating protein detection by antibodies. This work, the topic of an article in Nature Communications, points to the arrival of new portable instruments to accelerate the screening process and molecule analysis in biological laboratories to accelerate research in cancer biology.

An international team of researchers at Institute for Molecular Science in Japan and Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Germany reveals an ion transport mechanism of sodium/proton antiporter by simulating its motion. Based on the simulations, they now design a faster transporter by making mutation on "gate" of the transporter.

Using a powerful X-ray-based technology, Brown University scientists tracked catfish as they caught and swallowed prey to develop a precise understanding of the complex set of motions required to create the suction necessary to eat. They found that many of the bones in the catfish skull work in a coordinated manner to catch food. However, the bones move more independently when the fish swallow.

A team that studies how biological structures such as cactus spines and mantis shrimp appendages puncture living tissue has turned its attention to viper fangs. Specifically, the scientists wanted to know, what physical characteristics contribute to fangs' sharpness and ability to puncture? They report their findings in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.