Our cells are more like us than we may think. They’re sensitive to their environment, poking and prodding deliberately at their surroundings with hand-like feelers and chemical signals as they decide whether and where to move. Such caution serves us well but has vexed engineers who seek to create synthetic tissue, heart valves, implants and [...]

Certain genes switch their nuclear position in tumor cells, offering a potential new method of diagnosing cancer, say researchers from the National Cancer Institute. The study by Meaburn et al. was published online December 7, 2009 and in the December 14, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB).

The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has named 12 new grant recipients for 2009. The awards, totaling $3.6 million, recognize innovative work across a broad spectrum of lupus research. All were selected for their creativity, novelty, and potential to drive scientific discovery to ultimately prevent, treat, and cure the complex disease of systemic lupus.

The rapid organic growth and commercial potential of newcomer Pathology Diagnostics Ltd. has won it the 2009 ERBI Start-up Award, which is sponsored by the East of England Development Agency.
Pathology Diagnostics Ltd. has achieved a six figure turnover without upfront equity investment. It provides a one-stop solution for human tissue diagnostics. Supporting the development of [...]

Researchers have found a way in mice to convert another type of pancreas cell into the critical insulin-producing beta cells that are lost in those with type I diabetes. The secret ingredient is a single transcription factor, according to the report in the August 7th issue of Cell, a Cell Press journal.