News by Subject Biology

Clinicians most often monitor antibodies because these small proteins attach to antigens, or foreign substances, we face every day. Most biomolecules, however, have complicated charge characteristics, and the sensor response from conventional carbon nanotube systems can be erratic. A team in Japan recently revealed how these systems work and proposed changes to dramatically improve biomolecule detection. They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.

For ants and robots operating in confined spaces like tunnels, having more workers does not necessarily mean getting more work done. Just as too many cooks in a kitchen get in each other's way, having too many robots in tunnels creates clogs that can bring the work to a grinding halt.

Researchers from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently developed an emulsion interfacial polymerization approach to synthesize polymer particles with hydrophilic-hydrophobic heterostructured surfaces and two-dimensional Janus film actuators.

Discoveries by two HHMI investigators show how proteins that organize into liquid droplets inside cells make certain biological functions possible.

Scientists have used light patterns to control the swimming speed of bacteria and direct them to form different shapes.

Rice University researchers have developed mathematical models to predict the performance of multi-input synthetic biological circuits that can be used to engineer bacteria and other organisms to regulate cellular systems or perform functions they wouldn't in nature. Applications include biological sensing, chemical production and therapeutics such as probiotics to alter gut bacteria.