14-03-14 Mutations within the gene FTO have been implicated as the strongest genetic determinant（遗传定子） of obesity risk in humans, but the mechanism behind this link remained unknown. Now, an international team of scientists has discovered that the obes...

14-03-05 Researchers at Columbia University have made a significant step toward visualizing small biomolecules inside living biological systems with minimum disturbance, a longstanding goal in the scientific community. In a study published March 2nd in Natur...

14-02-25 Everyday our cells take in nutrients from food and convert them into the building blocks that make life possible. However, it has been challenging to pinpoint exactly how a single nutrient or vitamin changes gene expression and physiology. Scientist...

14-02-21 One of science's strongest dogmas is that complex life on Earth could only evolve when oxygen levels in the atmosphere rose to close to modern levels. But now studies of a small sea sponge fished out of a Danish fjord shows that complex life does no...

14-02-16 High-tech glasses developed at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may help surgeons visualize cancer cells, which glow blue when viewed through the eyewear. The wearable technology, so new it's yet unnamed, was used during surgery...

14-02-15 Cells communicate through proteins embedded in their cell membranes. These proteins have diverse functions and can be compared with antennas, switches and gates. For the well-being of the cell, it has to adjust the composition of its membrane protei...

14-02-11 For the first time, a team of chemists and engineers at Penn State University have placed tiny synthetic motors inside live human cells, propelled them with ultrasonic waves and steered them magnetically. It's not exactly Fantastic Voyage, but it's...

14-02-10 Getting in the right shape might be just as important in a biology lab as a gym. Shape is thought to play an important role in the effectiveness of cells grown to repair or replace damaged tissue in the body. To help design new structures that enabl...

14-02-08 In most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS肌萎缩侧索硬化症 ), or Lou Gehrig's disease, a toxin released by cells that normally nurture neurons in the brain and spinal cord can trigger loss of the nerve cells affected in the disease, Columb...

14-01-14 MIT engineers have devised a way to measure the mass of particles with a resolution better than an attogram（微微微克） -- one millionth of a trillionth of a gram. Weighing these tiny particles, including both synthetic nanoparticles and biological...