News by Subject Biology

Looking at cell metabolism instead of histology, EPFL scientists have identified new biomarkers that could help more accurately classify the two main subtypes of hepatoblastoma, a children's liver cancer.

The molecular mechanism behind root regeneration after root cutting in plants has been discovered. A finding which could lead to the development of new methods for regulating plant growth in agriculture and horticulture.

Researchers have developed new software that makes it possible to use low-cost, thermal cameras attached to mobile phones to track how fast a person is breathing. This type of mobile thermal imaging could be used for monitoring breathing problems in elderly people living alone, people suspected of having sleep apnea or babies at risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

In the largest transcriptome study to date, an international research team analyzed the RNA of transplanted hearts and discovered a number of new risk factors for dilated cardiomyopathy and other heart conditions which could thus be recognized more easily in future.

Taxanes inhibit cell division and make cancer cells sensitive to radiation therapy. A current study has investigated the underlying mechanisms of this action - and which biomarkers may be useful for predicting the success of therapy. The study, published in the journal Oncogene, was carried out within the framework of the Clinical Cooperation Group Personalized Radiotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer at Helmholtz Zentrum München and Munich University Hospital.

A 50-year-old lab technique is helping researchers better understand circular DNA, a lesser-known and poorly understood cousin of the linear version commonly associated with life's genetic blueprint. With the aid of a process called density gradient centrifugation, a research team recently published a study that for the first time characterizes all of the circular DNA in the worm C. elegans, as well as in three human cell types. 

Mice produce a remarkable repertoire of vocalizations across five octaves, which they emit during mating and other contexts. Analyses of mice song can provide important information about their social behavior and for research into neuropsychiatric disorders. But their songs are in the ultrasonic range and inaudible for humans. Researchers at Vetmeduni Vienna and the Acoustics Research Institute now developed a freely available method to automatically detect mouse vocalizations instead of manually.