It can't be heard, but different parts of the human body are in constant conversation, communicating to keep the entire system running efficiently. For biologists, being able to listen in on this discussion is a long-sought-after goal. Over the years, researchers have caught snippets of these exchanges, but the complete dialogue has remained out of reach.

It can't be heard, but different parts of the human body are in constant conversation, communicating to keep the entire system running efficiently. For biologists, being able to listen in on this discussion is a long-sought-after goal. Over the years, researchers have caught snippets of these exchanges, but the complete dialogue has remained out of reach.

New research from Indiana University has uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in how bacteria build the whip-like tails they use to move. The researchers found that building these tails can put stress on the protective wall surrounding a bacterial cell and uncovered systems bacteria use to keep that stress from becoming destructive.

A new study has demonstrated that regional microbial imprints can remain detectable under commercial winemaking conditions. The research, appearing in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, shows that inoculated fermentations do not "override" native microbial diversity and that vineyard management and environmental conditions affect wine quality. The study helps explain why wines from different regions taste distinct even when made with similar techniques and supports regional flavors and branding.

A book sits atop a table. Although it's closed, its title, "Encyclopedia of Human Tissue," promises untold secrets. Perhaps with this book, you can learn about different cell types and what they look like under normal conditions or conditions of disease. Maybe you can learn how gene expression differs in the cells of younger and older people, or whether different patients' cells respond differently to the same treatments.

A genetically engineered bacterium can rapidly break down one of Earth's most abundant minerals, opening a promising new pathway for simultaneously removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recovering critical elements used in electric vehicle batteries, according to new Cornell research.

Epithelial cells are the tiny shields that line and protect our bodies. In a developing embryo, epithelial cells grow, divide and move into positions to form the outer layers of our skin and the surfaces of our organs and blood vessels. When we scrape our skin, suffer an internal tear or undergo surgery, epithelial cells migrate to the site of injury to heal a wound. And when epithelial cells go haywire, they can turn malignant and spread through the body as cancer.

Baker's yeast is one of biotechnology's most important microorganisms. It has long been used to leaven bread and ferment beer. More recently, advances in synthetic biology have enabled engineered yeast to convert sugar into a wide range of products, including medicines, fuels and industrial chemicals. Yet even well-engineered yeast cells can be difficult to control in a precise and timely way.

Baker's yeast is one of biotechnology's most important microorganisms. It has long been used to leaven bread and ferment beer. More recently, advances in synthetic biology have enabled engineered yeast to convert sugar into a wide range of products, including medicines, fuels and industrial chemicals. Yet even well-engineered yeast cells can be difficult to control in a precise and timely way.

Every living cell, from the simplest bacterium to a human neuron, relies on the same basic machinery to read, interpret, and use its DNA. This molecular machinery is so fundamental that life as we know it cannot exist without it. And because it is so essential, it has long been a target for drugs; it shuts down a bacterium's ability to access its own genes and it quickly dies.

Photosynthetic microorganisms can use light energy to convert carbon dioxide into useful compounds under mild, environmentally compatible conditions. However, many current photosynthetic production systems rely on cells growing freely in large volumes of liquid. This creates a substantial demand for water and requires extensive mixing to keep the cells evenly distributed and exposed to light, increasing the resource and energy requirements of the process.

For most healthy people, Cryptococcus is an unnoticed infection. The immune system walls it off in the lungs and keeps it dormant for life. But in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, recovering from an organ transplant, living with HIV or taking newer immunosuppressing drugs for autoimmune disease, the fungus can reactivate, spread to the brain and cause meningitis.

Researchers led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have discovered that the natural turnover of gut cells in fruit flies depends on how much food the flies get, rather than on any specific nutrient. They found that gut cells were replaced more frequently when nutrient levels were low and the insides of gut cells were fluid and watery.

Researchers led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have discovered that the natural turnover of gut cells in fruit flies depends on how much food the flies get, rather than on any specific nutrient. They found that gut cells were replaced more frequently when nutrient levels were low and the insides of gut cells were fluid and watery.

Malaria parasites proliferate in an unusual way. Rather than dividing into two daughter cells like human cells, they first amplify their genetic material tenfold, hundredfold or even thousandfold before simultaneously producing a corresponding number of daughter parasites. Until now, the mechanisms controlling these processes were only partly understood.

Xenophagocytosis is a natural immune process that limits interspecies organ generation by eliminating living donor cells, researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, report. By uncovering how embryonic macrophages eliminate living donor cells, the researchers developed strategies to block this response. Using this strategy, they significantly improved donor cell survival and the generation of rat pancreas in mice, bringing us one step closer to producing transplantable human organs in animals.

Every time a cell divides, it must accurately copy and distribute its DNA between two new cells. However, in some cases, chromosomes do not fully separate, leaving behind thin strands of DNA known as DNA bridges that connect the two newly formed cells.

La Trobe University scientists have uncovered the critical role fatty cell structures play in our body's early detection and defense against viruses. Published in Nature Communications, the discovery could open the door to a new type of antiviral strategy that harnesses the body's innate defense mechanisms rather than targeting individual viruses.

Cells are like metropolises, home to millions of molecular residents. If one were to stand atop a high-rise, trying to identify most of its inhabitants would seem an impossible task. Even with the sophisticated imaging tools currently available to scientists, it is challenging to zoom in on specific molecules and view them with a high degree of detail.

Another last-resort antibiotic has fallen victim to the rapid evolution of drug-resistant superbugs. The powerful antibiotic combination ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA), widely used to treat severe hospital-acquired infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa—particularly in critically ill and immunocompromised patients—can no longer eliminate some of these infections.