Scientists have found that the gut endoderm has a significant role in propagating the information that determines whether organs develop in the stereotypical left-right pattern. Their findings are published 6 March 2012 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. Superficially, we appear bilaterally symmetrical…
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Do bacteria, like higher organisms, have a built-in program that tells them when to die? The process of apoptosis, or cell death, is an important part of normal animal development…
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Cell death, also known as apoptosis, is a significant part of normal animal development. However, the question arises whether bacteria, similar to higher organisms, have a built-in mechanism that determines when the cells die…
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Although our bodies seem to be bilaterally symmetrical at a glance, the way in which our organs are stereotypically located shows they are internally typically asymmetrical, for instance, whilst the heart is located on the left hand side, the liver is on the right side…
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The science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , has reported that scientists from the University of Leicester and Cardiff University have achieved a breakthrough in understanding how a ‘biochemical switch’, known as P2X1, which is associated with strokes and heart disease is ‘turned on’…
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Cases in which a newly approved drug is more effective than the cheaper alternatives already available are the exceptions rather than the rule. This is the conclusion reached in a study by Mariam Ujeyl et al. in the current issue of Deutsches Aerzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109[7]: 117-23)…
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Ground-breaking research by an international team of scientists will help to make one of the most versatile of bacteria even more useful to society and the environment. Though it lives naturally in the soil, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis is widely used as a model laboratory organism…
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The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have discovered how just a few of these proteins, called ion channels, distinguish perhaps dozens of discrete temperatures, from mildly warm to very hot…
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It had long been assumed that the human sperm cell’s mission in life ended once it had transferred its freight of parental DNA to the egg. More recently however, other components of sperm have been implicated in fertilization, and perhaps even in subsequent embryonic development…
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By combining bioactive peptides, researchers have successfully stimulated wound healing in an in vitro and in vivo study. The studies, published in PLoS ONE, show that the combination of two peptides stimulates growth of blood vessels and promotes tissue re-growth of tissue. Further research into these peptides could potentially lead to new therapies for chronic and acute wounds…
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