Biology Bytes
medicine
A Parasitic Amoeba Kills Cells by Eating Them
Amoebas are fascinating single-celled organisms. They typically move about by having their internal fluid (their cytoplasm) flow around and they eat their food by surrounding and digesting it with their body, in a process called phagocytosis. Some amoeba are parasites, such as Entamoeba histolytica, which can infect people and cause a potentially fatal diarrheal disease … Continue reading
How a Substrate Affects a Stem Cell’s Fate
Much of the stem cell field is devoted to figuring out how to direct what stem cells turn into. (In stem cell terminology, the process of having a stem cell become a different type of cell is called differentiation.) By better controlling a stem cell’s fate, we can more efficiently turn the cell into a … Continue reading
Using Electricity to Heal Wounds
When we get a cut, or a small bruise, the healing process may seem simple — our body knows how to seal up the cut, and repair the bruised tissue over time — but there’s actually a lot that goes into fixing up an injury. For example, cells have to move to the right location, … Continue reading
Blood Test for Alzheimer’s
Earlier this week, a paper was published showing how, for the first time, a blood test may be used to predict whether a person will develop Alzheimer’s in the near future. Specifically, the blood test was able to predict with accuracy greater than 90% whether a person (70-years-old or older) would develop amnesic mild cognitive … Continue reading
Microbes in Beijing’s Smog
When we think of smog and what’s in it, what probably comes to mind first is the chemical pollutants. But what about the microbes? More and more we’re discovering the importance of the complex web of microbes that are all around – and inside of – us. Which brings us to a study published earlier … Continue reading
Reaching K-12: Biology-Related Science Fair Project Ideas
Doing a science fair project can be very daunting, especially for a child who’s never done one before. To help out the burgeoning biologist (or parent of a biologist-to-be), here we’ll explore some great biology-based science fair project ideas provided by Science Buddies. And since deadlines for many fairs are quickly approaching, we’ll focus on … Continue reading
H7N9: Pandemic Potential?
Have you heard of H7N9? It’s a new avian influenza virus, and it has good reasons to be making people worried. Early last year, the virus was first found in people in China. There it’s been found in poultry (domestic birds like chickens, ducks, and geese) and is thought to be primarily spread through contact … Continue reading
Using the Immune System to Fight Cancer
Recently, the prestigious magazine Science published its list of Breakthroughs of the Year 2013. At the very top of this list was cancer immunotherapy. A scanning electron microscope image of a healthy human T cell. (Image credit: NIAID/NIH) Cancer immunotherapy is a promising field of research that focuses on using a person’s immune system to … Continue reading
A Chemical Way to Reverse Aging?
Is there a way to reverse aging? It’s the stuff that legends and myths are made of – the ever-elusive Fountain of Youth. But a paper published a few days ago in the prestigious journal Cell might make reversible aging closer to a reality (but it is still probably a long ways off). Specifically, by … Continue reading
It’s That Time Again – the Flu Season’s Here
It’s long been hard for people to accept that they can be hurt, or even killed, by something they cannot see. But this is exactly what viruses do; they evade our body’s immune system, hijack our cells to create more viruses, and have consequently caused epidemics throughout human history. Influenza (also known as the flu) … Continue reading