Cell and Molecular Biology

Research News

3D visualization of neuronal connections

A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry (Germany), led by spanish physicist Rubén Fernández-Busnadiego, has managed to obtain 3D images of the vesicles and filaments involved in neuronal communication. The method is based on a novel electron microscopy technique that cools the cells freezes so quickly that biological structures in full swing.

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Bright Nanoparticles Aid Basic Cancer Biology Studies

Researchers have created a veritable toolbox of nanoparticle probes that can track the fate of cells and even individual molecules in complex environments, opening the door to a wide range of new experiments designed to better understand the cancer process.

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Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscope NIH Grant Awarded to UC Davis

DTEMs could achieve resolutions 100 times greater than currently attainable for live processes, enabling scientists to observe and record biological processes at the molecular level. “A microscope with these capabilities will allow us t

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EU initiative in research into living cancer cells in time and space

New technology has made it possible to examine living cells in a microscope while at the same time collecting information that can be used to create mathematical models of the cells’ behaviour – a new field of research known as ‘systems microscopy’.

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Iowa State, Ames Lab researcher develops new way to study single biological molecules

The Sivasankar laboratory is developing novel single molecule technologies and using them to study key molecular recognition events in biology and materials science.

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Nanocrystals Revel Activity in Cells

Berkeley Lab scientists have developed nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing the behaviors of proteins and other components in complex systems such as a living cell

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Nanoscale Microscope Sheds First Light on Gene Repair

For the first time high resolution 4Pi microscope images of endogenous nuclear proteins in human cells have been realized.

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New microscope allows scientists to track a functioning protein

A Stanford University research team has designed the first microscope sensitive enough to track the real-time motion of a single protein down to the level of its individual atoms.

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New microscopy method opens window on previously unseen cell features

Nongjian (N.J.) Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have pioneered a new technique capable of peering into single cells and even intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity. The method, known as electrochemical impedance microscopy (EIM) may be used to explore subtle features of profound importance for basic and applied research, including cell adhesion, cell death (or apoptosis) and electroporation—a process that can be used to introduce DNA or drugs into cells.

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New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena

Researchers led by MIT Professor Angela Belcher modified an existing, extremely sensitive technique known as high-speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to allow them to image the bacteria in real time.

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Potential leap forward in electron microscopy

MIT electrical engineers have proposed A non-invasive electron microscope that would allow researchers to observe molecules inside a living cell without disturbing them. I

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Rejuvenating Electron Microscopy

NCMIR scientists, in a collaboration with a team led by Nobel laureate Roger Tsien, introduced a new fluorescent probe for correlated light and electron microscopy that overcomes many of the limitations previously encountered by researchers seeking to image cells and tissues at high resolution. This probe, termed “miniSOG” (for mini singlet oxygen generator) was genetically engineered from a portion of the native protein phototropin-2 from the plant Arabidopis thaliana and can be used much like the genetically encodable family of fluorescent proteins obtained from jellyfish that have revolutionized modern light microscopy.

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UCLA’s Dr. Hong Zhou Breaks Resolution Barrier and Achieves Atomic Resolution of Viruses

Dr. Hong Zhou of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) has achieved atomic resolution of viruses in solution for the first time ever recorded using a Titan Krios™ transmission electron microscope (TEM).

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Watching Proteins direct Crystal Growth One Step at a Time

Scientists at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry imaged the growth of protein-studded mineral surfaces with unprecedented resolution and provided a glimpse into how living systems engineer key structural materials.

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Zooming in on cells

Researchers led by MIT Professor Angela Belcher modified an existing, extremely sensitive technique known as high-speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to allow them to image the bacteria in real time.

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Innovations

Groundbreaking Development Project for Biotechnologies

Together with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt, the Nano Technology Systems Division of Carl Zeiss SMT has developed a unique transmission electron microscope for the high-resolution phase contrast imaging of biologic materials.

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New Method Enables Ultrasensitive Cellular Imaging

Investigators at Harvard Medical School have developed a new imaging technique that uses gold or silver nanoparticles to image single cells with a resolution sufficient to obtain molecular information from within the cell. This technique, the investigators note in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, could enable researchers to detect and study individual biomolecules in their native environment within a cell.

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