Storming the Fortress: Cracking the Concrete Surrounding Bacterial Biofilms
Weizmann Institute of Science researchers suggest a way to breach barriers to antibiotics 21.05.2018 High-resolution microscope images reveal the structure of a bioflim Breaking through concrete walls may not sound like a therapeutic approach, but researchers...
The Obesity-Infection Connection
Bacteria in our guts complete this triangle 14.05.2018 Proteins involved in the intestinal barrier of the mouse colon (E-cadherein in green) Obesity and diabetes continue to top the charts of current health threats. More than two billion people are affected...
Take Organic Dye, Add Carbon Nanotubes, Stir
A simple method of producing conductive nanomaterials may have uses from spacesuits to optoelectronics 07.05.2018 Hybrid nanocomposite viewed with an electron microscope: Carbon nanotubes (thin threads), separated from one another, coil around rod-like organic...
The Smallest Nose Glows
Made of a single molecule, the tiny artificial sensor might be able to “smell out” disease within living cells 23.04.2018 Reporting on multiple molecules at once could create a "fingerprint" for unique conditions inside living cells The smallest nose yet could consist...
“Lord of the Rings” Protein Jump-Starts Nerve Repair
Hidden from view, a central repair protein is made to order 16.04.2018 Large amounts of the mTOR protein (magenta) appear in the sciatic nerve after injury (three images on the right), but are not present in the uninjured nerve (far left) When the body needs to repair...
A Rulebook for Living Cells
New research delves into the process by which small sequences of RNA – microRNAs – regulate the long ones 12.04.2018 (l-r) Prof. Eran Segal and Ilya Slutskin are uncovering the basis of RNA binding On top of the basic code of life – the genes that encode all of the...
Photons Stopped in Time
A new method of trapping single photons could bring quantum memory one step closer 15.03.2018 (l-r) Dr. Eilon Poem, Ohr Lahad, Dr. Ofer Firstenberg and Ran Finkelstein are trapping photons on demand How do you stop light in midflight and hold on to it – even for a...
Study Reveals How Forager Ants Keep Their Colonies Well Fed
How does an individual ant bring just the right amount of food to its nestmates? 13.03.2018 Fluorescent imagining shows food being passed from a forager ant to its nestmate Ants can adjust their foraging activities to match the hunger level of their overall...
When Mickey Met Minnie: A Neural Reward Circuit Determines Sexual Preference in Mice
Researchers found that blocking dopamine receptors in male mouse brains dampened their preference for females 05.03.2018 Lighting up the reward center: Light-sensitive (optogenetic) proteins are inserted into specific brain cells. Green: dopamine-producing...
Genetics or Lifestyle: What Is It That Shapes our Microbiome?
A study brings new hope for improving our health 27.02.2018 The question of nature vs nurture extends to our microbiome – the personal complement of mostly-friendly bacteria we carry around with us. Study after study has found that our microbiome affects nearly every...