Developmental Biology News

March 13, 2025

Top Headlines

Researchers Develop Method to Identify Dormant Cells That Carry HIV

Mar. 13, 2025 — Study findings provide a new gene pathway for potential treatment of the virus affecting ...

Cells 'Speed Date' to Find Their Neighbors When Forming Tissues

Mar. 12, 2025 — In developing hearts, cells shuffle around, bumping into each other to find their place, and the stakes are high: pairing with the wrong cell could mean the difference between a beating heart and one that falters. A study demonstrates how heart ...

Study Explores Effects of Climatic Changes on Christmas Island's Iconic Red Crabs

Mar. 11, 2025 — A new study has investigated one aspect of how the future environmental conditions created by the changing global climate might affect earliest development within Christmas Island's red crab ...

New Method Uses DNA Barcodes for High Throughput RNA and Protein Detection in Deep Tissue

Mar. 11, 2025 — An innovative new technique uses a novel DNA barcode system to track hundreds of RNA and protein molecules in single cells within thick biological samples, providing researchers with a full picture ...

Latest Headlines

updated 5:16pm EDT

Possible Biomarker Identified for Crohn's Disease With Arthritis Type

Mar. 5, 2025 — People with Crohn's disease and related joint inflammation linked to immune system dysfunction have distinct gut bacteria or microbiota, with the bacterium Mediterraneibacter gnavus being a potential ...

Cryo-Electron Microscopy Reveals Hidden Mechanics of DNA Replication, Sheds New Light on Cancer Target

Mar. 10, 2025 — Researchers shed new light on G-quadruplexes, a type of secondary DNA structure that has attracted attention as a potential therapeutic target in ...

Bacterial 'Jumping Genes' Can Target and Control Chromosome Ends

Mar. 6, 2025 — Transposons, or 'jumping genes' -- DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another -- are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance. Researchers have ...

Scientists Identify Genes That Make Humans and Labradors More Likely to Become Obese

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have discovered genes linked to obesity in both Labradors and humans. They say the effects can be over-ridden with a strict diet and ...

White Blood Cells Use Brute Force to Dislodge Bacteria

Mar. 4, 2025 — A vivid new image is taking shape in the world of cell biology: Imagine bacteria adhering to the surface of a cell, perhaps at the site of an injury or wound. In response, a white blood cell arrives ...

Giant Clone of Seaweed in the Baltic Sea

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that what was previously thought to be a unique seaweed species of bladderwrack for the Baltic Sea is in fact a giant clone of common bladderwrack, perhaps the world's ...

How a Crucial DNA Repair Protein Works -- And What It Means for Cancer Treatment

Mar. 3, 2025 — DNA repair proteins act like the body's editors, constantly finding and reversing damage to our genetic code. Researchers have long struggled to ...

How a Low-Carb Diet Can Drive Colorectal Cancer Development

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers have shown how a low carbohydrate diet can worsen the DNA-damaging effects of some gut microbes to cause colorectal cancer. The study compared the effects of three different diets in ...

Pioneering Work Generates Feline Embryonic Stem Cells in Boon for Cats

Feb. 27, 2025 — Researchers have succeeded in generating high-quality feline embryonic stem cells using sperm and eggs from testes and ovaries discarded during sterilization ...

Cell Connects: Breaking Barriers in Stem Cell Communication Through mRNA Transfer

Feb. 19, 2025 — Messenger RNA can travel between different types of stem cells through tunnel-like structures, as revealed by a new study. By studying interactions ...

Earlier Headlines

Comprehensive Resource Describes Functions of More Than 20,000 Human Genes

Feb. 26, 2025 — A comprehensive encyclopedia of the known functions of all protein-coding human genes has just been completed and released. Researchers used large-scale evolutionary modeling to integrate data on ...

Genomics Approach to Metabolism Reveals How Reactions Flow

Feb. 26, 2025 — Two new papers describe a significant advance in understanding the complex functions of the metabolic ...

Automatic Cell Analysis With the Help of Artificial Intelligence

Feb. 25, 2025 — Identifying and delineating cell structures in microscopy images is crucial for understanding the complex processes of life. This task is called 'segmentation' and it enables a range of ...

New Insights Into How Gut Cells Respond to Bacterial Toxins

Feb. 25, 2025 — Researchers have found that specific gut cells, BEST4/CA7+ cells, regulate electrolyte and water balance in response to bacterial toxins that cause diarrhea. Their findings show that these cells ...

Digging Into a Decades-Old Hepatitis B Mystery Suggests a New Potential Treatment

Feb. 20, 2025 — In their effort to answer a decades-old biological question about how the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is able to establish infection of liver cells, researchers have identified a vulnerability that opens ...

Biomedicine Shows the Way to Future Food Crops

Feb. 18, 2025 — Researchers have introduced genetic material into plants via their roots, opening a potential pathway for rapid crop ...

Mouse Study Finds Impaired Cell Development: Intermittent Fasting Could Be Unsafe for Teenagers

Feb. 14, 2025 — A recent study reveals that age plays a significant role in the outcomes of intermittent fasting. Researchers discovered that chronic intermittent fasting disrupted the development of ...

Guardian Molecule Keeps Cells on Track -- New Perspectives for the Treatment of Liver Cancer

Feb. 13, 2025 — A guardian molecule ensures that liver cells do not lose their identity. The discovery is of great interest for cancer medicine because a change of identity of cells has come into focus as a ...

Birds Have Developed Complex Brains Independently from Mammals

Feb. 13, 2025 — New research has revealed that birds, reptiles, and mammals have developed complex brain circuits independently, despite sharing a common ancestor. These findings challenge the traditional view of ...

Worm Surface Chemistry Reveals Secrets to Their Development and Survival

Feb. 12, 2025 — A new study has revealed the clearest-ever picture of the surface chemistry of worm species that provides groundbreaking insights into how animals interact with their environment and each other. ...

Looking Between Cells

Feb. 11, 2025 — Rhobo6, a light microscopy probe, gives scientists an unprecedented look at the extracellular matrix -- the collection of organized molecular structures that fills the spaces between cells in our ...

Less, but More: A New Evolutionary Scenario Marked by Massive Gene Loss and Expansion

Feb. 10, 2025 — Evolution is traditionally associated with a process of increasing complexity and gaining new genes. However, the explosion of the genomic era shows that gene loss and simplification is a much more ...

Scientists Develop Realistic 'Micro-Gut' Model to Study the Relationship Between Gut Microbes and Human Diseases

Feb. 10, 2025 — In a breakthrough for the advanced study of gut health, scientists have developed a 3D microscopic version of the human intestines condensed into a small chip about half the size of a five-cent coin. ...

Mitochondria May Hold the Key to Curing Diabetes

Feb. 7, 2025 — Mitochondria are essential for generating energy that fuels cells and helps them ...

Spliceosome: How Cells Avoid Errors When Manufacturing mRNA

Feb. 7, 2025 — A complex molecular machine, the spliceosome, ensures that the genetic information from the genome, after being transcribed into mRNA precursors, is correctly assembled into mature mRNA. Splicing is ...

Novel 'Living' Biomaterial Aims to Advance Regenerative Medicine

Feb. 6, 2025 — A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to ...

Uncovering How Developmental Genes Are Held in a Poised State

Feb. 6, 2025 — New research has investigated the mechanism by which bivalency functions to poise genes for expression during cell differentiation, providing insight into a long-standing paradigm in the regulation ...

Drug Reverses Groin Hernias in Male Mice Without Surgery, Shows Promise in Humans

Feb. 5, 2025 — By age 75, a noteworthy 50% of men develop an inguinal (groin) hernia. Although common, the cause of these hernias is unknown, and the only treatment is surgery to repair the weakened area. Even ...

Illuminating the Beginnings of Animal Development

Feb. 5, 2025 — New biophysics research adds to our knowledge about the origins of left-right asymmetry in the ...

How Healthy Stem Cells Turn Into Oral Cancer

Feb. 4, 2025 — Researchers have identified the molecular and cellular mechanisms that transform healthy stem cells into oral cancer at the earliest stages of the ...