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The study of functioning groups of molecules is an important frontier of biology at reductionist and holistic levels. Central to the long-term goals of scientific research, it brings its own challenges of infrastructure and evaluation.
Are wafers of silicon that support cells cultured from vital organs the future of drug testing and toxicology? Roxanne Khamsi talks to the pioneers creating model animals — and humans — on a chip.
Growing numbers of people are being implanted with electronic devices that can automatically restart a failing heart. But have the risks and benefits been adequately assessed? Duncan Graham-Rowe investigates.
Lurking in the rivers of Botswana are the remnants of a diverse flock of cichlid fishes, whose origins can be traced to a lake that vanished more than 2,000 years ago.
Morphogen proteins guide the development of many tissues in animals, but how are these insoluble proteins ferried around the body? A well-known group of lipid transporters might be the answer.
Data from the Cassini–Huygens mission provide convincing evidence that the saturnian moon Phoebe formed elsewhere in the Solar System, and was only later captured by Saturn's gravitational pull.
A short delay in the attachment of embryos to the wall of the womb during early pregnancy adversely affects later developmental processes. New evidence reinforces the need for lipids to regulate this event.
The topology of amorphous glasses has generally been considered only at the level of atoms and their nearest neighbours. A larger-scale view gives a fresh perspective on the structure and formation of these glasses.
In one example of a feedback mechanism in mammals, cells switch cholesterol synthesis on or off depending on the availability of sterol. A rewired version of this pathway in yeast acts instead as an oxygen sensor.
