all cellular biology stories

Researchers ‘NOTCH’ a victory in war on cancer

404132862 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:09:01 -0500

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and collaborators at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has taken a giant step toward the possibility of using human stem cells to repair damaged hearts.

Harvard team reports major step forward in cell reprogramming

404132862 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0400

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers has made a major advance toward producing induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, that are safe enough to use in treating diseases in patients.

New metabolic safeguards against tumor cells revealed

705287540 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:57:10 -0400

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have substantially improved the odds of successfully reprogramming differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) by blocking the activity of the gene that instructs the cells to stop dividing.

Scientists create energy-burning brown fat in mice

404132862 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:24:33 -0400

Harvard researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have shown that they can engineer mouse and human cells to produce brown fat, a natural energy-burning type of fat that counteracts obesity. If such a strategy can be developed for use in people, the scientists say, it might open a novel approach to treating obesity and diabetes.

Glimpsing the birth of our earliest reproductive cells

404132862 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:20:24 -0400

It has long been a mystery how the developing embryo designates those rare, precious cells destined to produce sperm and eggs -- enabling us to have offspring - since these primordial germ cells' existence is fleeting and hard to spot with the tools of biology.

Computer scientists model cell division

50443248 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:36:48 -0400

Computer scientists at Harvard have developed a framework for studying the arrangement of tissue networks created by cell division across a diverse set of organisms, including fruit flies, tadpoles, and plants.

The finding, published in the June 2009 issue of PLoS Computational Biology, could lead to insights about how multicellular systems achieve (or fail to achieve) robustness from the seemingly random behavior of groups of cells, and provide a road map for researchers seeking to artificially emulate complex biological behavior.

Researchers solve 'bloodcurdling' mystery

50443248 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:03:45 -0400

By applying cutting-edge techniques in single-molecule manipulation, researchers at Harvard University have uncovered a fundamental feedback mechanism that the body uses to regulate the clotting of blood. The finding, which could lead to a new physical, quantitative, and predictive model of how the body works to respond to injury, has implications for the treatment of bleeding disorders.

How growing cells move together

50443248 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:55:14 -0400

Our cells are more than inert bags of proteins and genes whose complex signaling networks confound the world’s most powerful computers. They also have a physical side whose brawny feats may guide our basic good health.

For the first time, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have directly measured the physical forces at play when growing cells move together. The findings open up new avenues for exploring how the mechanical properties of cells sculpt new organs, shape full human beings, close a bleeding wound, form tumors, and propel metastasis.

For cancer cells, genetics alone is poor indicator for drug response

50443248 — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:57:32 -0400

In certain respects, cells are less like machines and more like people. True, they have lots of components, but they also have lots of personality. For example, when specific groups of people are studied in aggregate (conservatives, liberals, atheists, evangelicals), they appear to be fairly uniform and predictable. But when looked at one person at a time, individuals often break the preconceptions.

Same with cells.

Researchers tend to identify characteristics of particular cells by looking at millions at a time. As a result, they’ll find that, say, “group A” responds very well to a particular cancer treatment, whereas “group B” does not. They will then often compare group A to group B to find out why.

Mechanism directing stem cells to their destination identified;

404132862 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:00:02 -0400

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have for the first time identified in mice a cellular mechanism that directs stem cells to their ultimate destination in the body.

Scientists unlock secret of death protein’s activation

404132862 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:08:40 -0400

Harvard Medical School researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a previously undetected trigger point on a naturally occurring "death protein" that helps the body get rid of unwanted or diseased cells. They say it may be possible to exploit the newly found trigger as a target for designer drugs that would treat cancer by forcing malignant cells to commit suicide.

Another step forward in cell reprogramming

404132862 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:40:45 -0400

Imagine, if you can, a day within the next decade when a physician-scientist could remove a skin cell from your arm, and with a few chemicals turn that fully formed adult cell into a dish of stem cells genetically matched to you.

Important new step toward producing stem cells for human treatment

404132862 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:15:13 -0400

A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists has taken an important step toward producing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that are safe to transplant into patients to treat diseases.

Excitement over the ability of researchers to create this form of stem cell by inserting four genes into adults cells has thus far been tempered by the fact that the genes have been inserted using retroviruses, which have the potential to turn on cancer genes and trigger tumor growth.