The transcription factor GABP - a member of a family of crucial gene-regulating proteins - is required to jump-start the process of cell division, according to research from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital. The work, published in Nature Cell Biology, uncovers a new way to control cell growth and points up potential targets for cancer treatments.

Just over a decade ago, biologists isolated a unique protein from jellyfish that could be inserted into other organisms-from E. coli to pigs-and cause them to radiate a brilliant green color.

A novel approach to synthesizing nanowires (NWs) allows their direct integration with microelectronic systems for the first time, as well as their ability to act as highly sensitive biomolecule detectors that could revolutionize biological diagnostic applications, according to a report in Nature.

An invasive whitefly has developed mutualistic relationships with the plant viruses it transmits and is able to increase its population much faster on virus-infected plants than on healthy plants, whereas its indigenous counterpart is unable to do so, according to the new research carried out at Zhejiang University and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.

Virginia Tech researchers in computer science and biology have used the university's supercomputer, System X, to create models and algorithms that make it possible to simulate the cell cycle -- the processes leading to cell division. They have demonstrated that the new mathematical models and numerical algorithms provide powerful tools for studying the complex processes going on inside living cells.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel method to visualize the fusion of biological membranes at the single-event resolution. Observing the individual fusion events revealed an unprecedented detailed picture of membrane fusion, which was chronicled in one of the cover stories in the December 2006 issue of the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Stanford University's Dr. Stephen Smith, an authority on microscope imaging techniques and the biology of brain cells, will talk about the eye-brain connection in the developing embryo, in the second in the Exploratorium's Cutting Edge Biology Lecture Series. This event, Wiring a Brain to See, is free and open to the public and takes place on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 7pm in the Exploratorium's McBean Theater.

Researchers have discovered two genes that guide land plants to develop microscopic pores that they can open and close as if each pore was a tiny mouth.

Applied scientists demonstrated a new method for developing wrinkled hard skins on the surface areas of polymers using a focused ion beam. By controlling the direction and intensity of the ion beam, the researchers literally sculpted patterns on flat areas of polydimethylsiloxane, a silicon-based organic polymer (more commonly known as the primary ingredient in Silly Putty).

St. Jude study shows simple thioester chemical bond acts like a switch that activates protein movements among three enzymes, triggering specific, critical biochemical activities inside the cell

Using powerful computers to model the intricate dance of atoms and molecules, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have revealed the mechanism behind an important biological reaction. In collaboration with scientists from the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, the team is working to harness the reaction to develop a "nanoswitch" for a variety of applications, from targeted drug delivery to genomics and proteomics to sensors.

Tropical forests are among the most diverse plant communities on earth, and scientists have labored for decades to identify the ecological and evolutionary processes that created and maintain them. A key question is whether all tree species are equivalent in their use of resources - water, light and nutrients - or whether each species has its own niche.