Scientists discover an unexpected influence on dividing stem cells' fate
When most cells divide, they simply make more of themselves. But stem cells, which are responsible for repairing or making new tissue, have a choice: They can generate more stem cells or differentiate...
View ArticleCells divide by 'bricklaying on moving scaffolding'
It is the most crucial mechanism in life - the division of cells. For 25 years, it has been known that bacteria split into two by forming a Z ring at their centre. They use this to cut themselves into...
View ArticleRainbow dyes add greater precision to fight against 'superbugs'
A study reported Feb. 17 in the journal Science led by researchers at Indiana University and Harvard University is the first to reveal in extreme detail the operation of the biochemical clockwork that...
View ArticleHow molecular clocks are refining human evolution's timeline
DNA holds the story of our ancestry – how we're related to the familiar faces at family reunions as well as more ancient affairs: how we're related to our closest nonhuman relatives, chimpanzees; how...
View ArticleScientists discover how crucial DNA sequences endure
As cells divide, some of their DNA is rearranged, spurring the emergence of new traits that can dictate whether a species survives or flounders. But some stretches of DNA appear to be so crucial to the...
View ArticleUncovering a novel mechanism in cell division
Northwestern Medicine scientists have revealed the role amino-terminal methylation plays in a specific protein in the centromere, a region of the chromosome important in cell division, and how the...
View ArticleDiscovery of parental factors that lead to asymmetric division of the zygote
An international group of plant biologists discovered for the first time on how factors arising from the mother and father in flowering plants cooperate to develop the shape of their child. Until now,...
View ArticleNew insight into brain development disorder
Two years ago, the Zika virus drew attention to microcephaly, a developmental disorder in which the brain and skull display inhibited growth. But there are other causes of microcephaly, such as...
View ArticleGenetic mutation trade-offs lead to parallel evolution
Organisms in nature adapt and evolve in complex environments. For example, when subjected to changes in nutrients, antibiotics, and predation, microbes in the wild face the challenge of adapting...
View Article'Hail Mary' mechanism can rescue cells with severely damaged chromosomes
The DNA vital to the life of a cell is packaged in chromosomes, and a variety of checkpoints, repair mechanisms, and other cellular safeguards exist to maintain the integrity of the chromosomes during...
View ArticleMany forks make light work
New insights into the control of DNA replication and cell division in Corynebacterium glutamicum, a biotechnologically important microorganism, could help to optimize the industrial production of amino...
View ArticleA single molecule is missing and the cell world is empty
Cells multiply by duplicating themselves: they grow, replicate their components, and finally split into two. Many diseases are related to defective cell division; cancer is one of them. Understanding...
View ArticleRegulatory protein ensures that egg precursor cells boost their numbers...
Female babies are born with a full set of egg precursors in their ovaries, yet the molecular mechanism by which these cells proliferate during embryonic development was unclear. Now, using a mouse...
View ArticleNew study sheds light on disease-busting 'recycling bins' in our cells
Scientists have made an important step in understanding how cells keep themselves clean and healthy - a finding that may have implications for combating neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
View ArticleResearchers discover how human cells maintain the correct number of chromosomes
Cell division is an essential process in humans, animals and plants as dying or injured cells are replenished throughout life. Cells divide at least a billion times in the average person, usually...
View ArticleThe hidden secrets of insect poop
Insect defecation may not seem like one of the pressing scientific inquiries of our time, but in fact the faeces of these wee creatures serves an extraordinary variety of functions in bug and human life.
View ArticleImpaired DNA replication can cause epigenetic changes inherited for several...
Cell division is key for renewing the cells in our tissues and organs. There are two particular processes in which cell division is crucial: embryonic development and tumorigenesis. A fault in the...
View ArticleChromosome mechanics guide nuclear assembly
Every one of our cells stores its genome within the nucleus – the quintessential subcellular structure that distinguishes eukaryotic cells from bacteria. When animal cells divide, they disassemble...
View ArticleHow does a cell maintain its identity during replication?
Prior to cell division, chromosomes are seemingly a jumbled mess. During cell division, parent cell chromosomes and their duplicates sort themselves out by condensing, becoming thousands of times more...
View ArticleDNA discovery could help shed light on rare childhood disorder
New insights into how our cells store and manage DNA during cell division could help point towards the causes of a rare developmental condition.
View ArticleNew insights into leading cause of miscarriage, birth defects discovered
Two recent Northwestern University studies shed new light on the mystery of the leading cause of birth defects and miscarriage, laying the foundation for further research in an understudied but...
View ArticleGlobal research team fills language gap in plant science
To keep pace with the fast-evolving study of cellular plant science, an international team of researchers has created terminology and definitions likely to become everyday language in laboratories and...
View ArticlePlant cells survive but stop dividing upon DNA damage
The cell cycle is the system through which a cell grows and divides. It is also how a cell passes its DNA to its progeny and is why the cell cycle ceases if the DNA is damaged, as otherwise it risks...
View ArticleScientists report chemical basis of the cell division timer, a possible...
Human cells divide according to a timer—each cell has at least 30 minutes to divide its genetic material between the nuclei of two daughter cells. Researchers at KU Leuven, Belgium, have unraveled how...
View ArticleResearchers report findings about the control of cell division
Experts from the University of Seville and the Andalusian Centre for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (Cabimer) have published a new study on the mechanisms that regulate cell division and...
View ArticleScientists discover proteins keeping stem cells in their undifferentiated state
A special cluster of proteins that helps unwind DNA during cell division plays a key role in keeping stem cells in their immature state, according to a new study by UNC School of Medicine researchers.
View ArticleShining a light on bacterial cell division
Imagine trying to defeat an army of invaders that can double its population size every twenty minutes. This is what the human body is facing when it becomes infected with a harmful strain of...
View ArticleA signaling pathway that restricts cleavage furrow formation to the mid-plane...
Cell division is a fundamental biological process which ensures that, following the replication of the mother cell's genome, the two sets of chromosomes are equally distributed between two daughter...
View ArticlePacking a genome, step-by-step
Genome folding now has a playbook. A new step-by-step account spells out in minute-time resolution how cells rapidly pack long tangles of chromosomes into the tiny, tightly wound bundles needed for...
View ArticleMagnesium makes chromosomes
Japanese researchers report a new ion detector, MARIO. Using it, they show that changes in the intracellular concentration of free magnesium ions (Mg2+) is critical for the chromosome folding that must...
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