With new probes, scientists can see how four-stranded DNA interacts with molecules in living human cells and clarifies their role in cellular processes. DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape of two strands wrapped around each other. While DNA can form more exotic shapes in test tubes, few are seen in real living cells. […]
Inspired by Kombucha tea, engineers create “living materials” – ScienceDaily
Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new method to create robust, functional materials from a mixture of bacteria and yeast, similar to the "kombucha mother" used to ferment tea. With this mixture, also called SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), the researchers were able to produce cellulose that is embedded […]
First direct observation of a magnetic field that affects the autofluorescence of flavins in living cells – ScienceDaily
Researchers in Japan made the first observations on biological magnetoreception – living, unchanged cells that respond in real time to a magnetic field. This discovery is a crucial step in understanding how animals, from birds to butterflies, use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate, and in answering the question of whether weak electromagnetic fields in […]