Science, Cells | featured news

Nobel biologist Rita Levi-Montalcini dies at 103

Rita Levi-Montalcini, a biologist who conducted underground research in defiance of Fascist persecution and went on to win a Nobel Prize for helping unlock the mysteries of the cell, died in Rome at the age of 103.

 

Dinosaur Cells In T. Rex Fossil? Shocking Find Gets New Support From Molecular Analysis

T-Rex

Twenty years ago, paleontologist Mary Schweitzer made an astonishing discovery. Peering through a microscope at a slice of dinosaur bone, she spotted what looked for all the world like red blood cells. It seemed utterly impossible—organic remains were not supposed to survive the fossilization process—but test after test indicated that the spherical structures were indeed red blood cells from a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. In the years that followed, she and her colleagues discovered other apparent soft tissues, including what seem to be blood vessels and feather fibers. But controversy accompanied their claims. Skeptics argued that the alleged organic tissues were instead biofilm—slime formed by microbes that invaded the fossilized bone.

 

Control gene for 'conveyor belt' cells could help improve oral vaccines, treat intestinal disease

Scientists have found a master regulator gene needed for the development of M cells, a mysterious type of intestinal cell involved in initiating immune responses.

 

Life on Mars? Fossil find shows it's possible

Scientists have found Earth's oldest fossils in Australia and say their microscopic discovery is convincing evidence that cells and bacteria were able to thrive in an oxygen-free world more than 3.4 billion years ago.

 

Ultra-tiny 'bees' target tumors

Ultra-tiny 'bees' target tumors

They're ready to sting, and they know where they're going. They're called "nanobees," and they're not insects -- they're tiny particles designed to destroy cancer cells by delivering a synthesized version of toxin called melittin that is found in bees.

 

Subscribe to this RSS topic: Syndicate content