/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Certain molecules bind tightly to the surface of ice, creating a curved interface that can halt further ice growth. Some insects, plants, and sea-dwelling creatures contain protein molecules of this type that act as natural antifreeze agents, allowing the organisms to withstand freezing temperatures. /news/2020-11-ice-binding-molecules-ice-growth-natural.html Materials Science Tue, 03 Nov 2020 11:00:05 EST news523611104 Intense sunlight damages the chloroplasts that are essential for photosynthesis, and generates toxic products that can lead to cell death. LMU biologists have now identified a signaling pathway which mitigates the effects of light stress. /news/2020-03-safeguarding-chloroplasts-sunburn.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:03:45 EDT news503229822 Living organisms form biological minerals during biomineralization, where inorganic elements can selectively deposit on specific organic macromolecules under precise control. The process can be divided into biocalcification or biosilicification based on the inorganic component, with collagen used as a universal template. During intrafibrillar mineralization, collagen matrices that are destined for mineralization in vertebrates contain surface bound matrix proteins. Understanding the complex mechanisms of intrafibrillar mineralization to form hard collagenous tissue such as bone and dentin is of significant interest in biomechanics, with decades of studies conducted to mimic or model the process in lab. In a recent study, now published in Science Advances, Q. Song and co-workers at the interdisciplinary Departments of Biology, Applied Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Sciences and Dental Medicine, in China, the U.S. and Italy, have developed a biomechanical model to examine the collagen-ligand interactions contributing to intrafibrillar mineralization. /news/2019-04-biomimetic-collagen-ligand-interactions-intrafibrillar-mineralization_1.html Biochemistry Materials Science Mon, 08 Apr 2019 09:30:04 EDT news473929336 Bacteria, plants, insects and fish use antifreeze proteins to protect themselves from the cold. The proteins block the growth of ice crystals. In a new study, a German-Israeli research team has confirmed that these proteins also possess an unusual second property: at low temperatures, they can promote rather than inhibit the growth of ice crystals. /news/2019-03-antifreeze-proteins-ice-crystals.html Condensed Matter Fri, 08 Mar 2019 07:59:26 EST news471254351 Most of us don't think about our teeth and bones until one aches or breaks. A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis looked deep within collagen fibers to see how the body forms new bone and teeth, seeking insights into faster bone healing and new biomaterials. /news/2018-04-cellular-insights-bone.html Materials Science Fri, 06 Apr 2018 11:08:31 EDT news442231699 Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that diffusion plays an unexpected role in cell differentiation during the early stages of development in the embryos of Drosophila, or fruit flies. Instead of spreading a molecular signal out, it was found that diffusion, facilitated through a carrier molecule, actually concentrates the signal in one place. This "facilitated diffusion" mechanism has previously been found in other systems, and the new finding indicates it may be more widespread than previously thought. /news/2017-11-diffusion-unusual-role-drosophila-embryos.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Nov 2017 09:40:03 EST news430047169 University of Oregon biochemists have determined how tiny synthetic molecules disrupt an important actin-related molecular machine in cells in one study and, in a second one, the crystal structure of that machine when bound to a natural inhibitor. /news/2013-07-team-actin-filament-growth-cells.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 29 Jul 2013 05:47:01 EDT news294295548 Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned back the clock on mature muscle tissue, coaxing it back to an earlier stem cell stage to form new muscle. Moreover, they showed in mice that the newly reprogrammed muscle stem cells could be used to help repair damaged tissue. /news/2011-09-bioengineers-reprogram-muscles-combat-degeneration.html Biotechnology Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:20:47 EDT news235912558