In the field of oncology, a new concept is in the process of germinating: the internal architecture of tumor cells, in its finest lace, appears to be linked to the aggressiveness of tumors. The attention of researchers, in reality, is focused on a major building: the mitochondria or, more precisely, the stock of mitochondria that …
The role of mitochondria in cancer becomes clearer Read More »
Ihe month of February has become the month of love… Valentine’s Day obliges! Neuroscientists are not left out and have described a veritable chemical storm involving oxytocin, vasopressin, cortisol, serotonin, dopamine and testosterone when we are in love. At the same time, this particular state activates a vast network including the caudate nucleus, the putamen, …
The chosen one of our heart, the other half of ourselves Read More »
In the Cellular and Molecular Technology Laboratory (LabMCT) of the Reine-Astrid military hospital in Brussels, associate Maia Merabishvili presents a series of test tubes containing a yellowish liquid solution to one of Europe’s largest burn services. “Here, the bacterium was placed in the presence of the undiluted phage preparation”describes the Georgian biologist trained at the …
Aging can be defined as a loss of function of cells and organs that gradually fulfill their role less well. A number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain it: accumulation of mutations in DNA; shortening of the ends of the chromosomes, the telomeres, over cell divisions; stress related to oxygenated molecules in cells; …
Iimagine a universe in which screws are tightened by turning counter-clockwise. In this inverted world, bolts and nuts would be mirror images of those we use most often. Reflections in every way similar but not identical, because they are incompatible with each other: impossible, in fact, to screw a bolt from the “left” universe into …
Molecular biology goes to the other side of the mirror Read More »
Combining one of the most advanced DNA modification techniques with one of the oldest plant manipulation methods, grafting: that’s the idea presented on January 2 in the journal Nature Biotechnology by a team from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam (Germany). Friedrich Kragler and his colleagues describe how they used Crispr-Cas9, …
Where does the left-right asymmetry of animals’ bodies come from? If embryology cannot answer the question of why, it illuminates the how. We have the heart on the left? It is, on the scale of evolutionary times, the fruit of chance and necessity, as Jacques Monod (1910-1976), Nobel Prize in medicine, so aptly recounted. But …
The fabulous embryonic process that places the heart on the left brought to light Read More »
The first stages of the evolution of living organisms have not ceased to intrigue scientists. However, the discovery of a new strain of archaea has allowed researchers to take a step closer to understanding the origin of eukaryotes, this vast branch of life to which we belong. The tree of life is traditionally divided into …
A missing link sheds light on the origin of nucleated cells Read More »
Lyes Pasteur will be 200 years old on December 27th. Even if he rests, since the end of 1896, in the neo-Byzantine crypt arranged in his honor under the institute which bears his name, the repercussions of his work continue to resonate. Of course, everyone knows the one who, with more than two thousand routes …
Two centuries later, the spirit of Louis Pasteur still contagious Read More »
Our organ of balance, the vestibule, is a high-precision machine. It is nestled in the posterior part of the inner ear, itself hollowed out in the temporal bone of the skull – it also houses, in its anterior part, the organ of hearing, the cochlea. Let’s dive into the cavities of this organ, all bathed …
The vestibule, organ of balance of our inner ear, an engineering jewel shaped by nature Read More »
