Biomechanics/Biophysics

Credit: R. Alert et al. Turbulent flows are chaotic yet feature universal statistical properties.Over the recent years, seemingly turbulent flows have been discovered in active fluids such as bacterial suspensions, epithelial…

Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Cells will ramp up gene expression in response to physical forces alone, a new study finds. Gene activation, the first step of protein production, starts less than one…

Nanostructured polymer foil appears white without environmentally hazardous titanium dioxide -- Beetle's chitin scales used as a modelCredit: Julia Syurik, KIT Polymer foils that are extremely thin and characterized by a high light…

Scientists have revealed intricate structural changes within protein molecules called phytochromes to show how plants and bacteria perceive light Scientists have revealed intricate structural changes in plants, fungi and bacteria in…

Radio-frequency device maps electric currents in solutions that mimic the heart with enough resolutions to study the subtle aberrations related to atrial fibrillationCredit: Cameron Deans WASHINGTON, March 31, 2020 -- Mapping the…

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart condition that causes an irregular and abnormally fast heart rate, potentially leading to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. While the causes of AF are unknown, it…

The ERC has awarded one of its prestigious Advanced Grants to the leader of the Carbon Bionanotechnology group and Ikerbasque professor Maurizio Prato. The e-DOTS project is aiming to synthesise luminescent carbon nanoparticles with useful…

Exercise and a cell-aging drug could help cases of chronic myopathyCredit: Yuki Saito et al., Nature Communications. February 14, 2020 Exercise can only improve strength in muscle-degenerating diseases when a specific type of…

UMass Amherst, international team use simple capillary forces to direct aqueous solutionsCredit: UMass Amherst AMHERST, Mass. - In a new paper, Thomas Russell and postdoctoral fellow Ganhua Xie, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst…

New analysis examines light scattering properties in brain tissue to better understand the three-dimensional structure of nerve fibersCredit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Miriam Menzel Understanding the brain's many functions…

The chip allows precise control of oxygen and other conditions to observe cardiac cell behaviorCredit: Brian Timko, Tufts University MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (March 30, 2020)--Researchers led by biomedical engineers at Tufts…

Credit: Jinah Jang (POSTECH) The heart is the driving force of circulating blood in the body and pumps blood to the entire body by repeating contraction and relaxation of the heart muscles continuously. Human stem cells are used…

Mechanical forces play a vital role at all levels in biological systems. The contraction and relaxation of muscle cells is undoubtedly the best known example of this, but mechanosensitive proteins are actually found in virtually all…

Credit: Credit: Foldit/David Baker Lab The best thing most of us can do to fight COVID-19 is stay home, to curb the respiratory disease's spread. But anyone with a computer can pitch in more actively too: by helping scientists…

Joint press release by Hokkaido University and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)Credit: Syeda Rubaiya Nasrin, Tanjina Afrin, et al., ACS Applied Bio Materials. March 5, 2020 A new technique allows…

Studies of Aleppo Pines reveal: The increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere does not compensate the negative effect of climate changeCredit: Plant Ecophysiology Lab, KIT The increase in the CO2 concentration of the…

Credit: OIST Our body's ability to detect disease, foreign material, and the location of food sources and toxins is all determined by a cocktail of chemicals that surround our cells, as well as our cells' ability to 'read' these chemicals.…

Credit: Kanazawa University Ependymoma is a rare form of brain cancer that implicates children and is often tricky to diagnose. Since effective treatment options can be initiated only after a well-formed diagnosis, there is a dire need…

Credit: Graphic courtesy Zhaleh Ghaemi CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Researchers have developed the first computational model of a human cell and simulated its behavior for 15 minutes - the longest time achieved for a biological system of this…

New insights into the physiology of bacteria and cellsCredit: Greg Stewart / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory A transport protein that is used by the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis to import vitamin B12 turns out to be very…