Science Market Update

A team of biologists and computer engineers at Michigan State University, East Lansing have just rolled out a social media platform designed especially for plants. Rather than a forum for plants to give virtual thumbs-ups to cat videos, PhotosynQ is designed to bring together researchers, farmers, and anyone who has a passion for learning and sharing information about plants.

At the University of California, Irvine, researchers have developed a process so powerful that it can unboil egg whites. Surprising as it may sound, the goal of the project wasn’t actually to unboil eggs in particular, but it’s a catchy and impressive-sounding achievement that emphasizes how revolutionary the technology is.   

 Bioscientists know a great deal about cell division, but there is one great mystery that remains unsolved: what actually causes a cell to divide. This is especially relevant to cancer studies, where biologists want to know more about the rampant cell division that leads to cancer. A research team from the University of California, San Diego set out to solve this puzzle and found a rather unexpected answer.

Sometimes eradicating the tumor is only a partial defeat for cancer. Tumors release cancerous cells into the bloodstream that can form new tumors. A team at the University of California, Los Angeles has devised a clever strategy for detecting and collecting these errant cells so they can be stopped and studied to prevent further harm.

As we usher in the new year, many resolve to burn off the fat they stored up during the holiday season. We talked about how biotechnology can help with this endeavor last year in our article about burning fat like a squirrel. Just in time to ring in 2015, the University of Southern California has released a study about a revolutionary way to control fat storage.

At the University of Cincinnati, researchers have developed a way to reduce the number of antibodies in a patient’s body. This may seem counterproductive without a complete understanding of what antibodies are good (and bad) for. Just ask E. Steve Woodle, MD, a researcher at UC who is also the director of the division of transplantation at the UC College of Medicine. He’ll tell you that antibodies view transplanted organs as threats and attack the organs instead of accepting them.

Personalization is all the rage in both the holiday shopping scene and in the realm of cancer treatment. The truth is, everyone wants to feel special, like his or her needs and desires are being specifically catered to. Bringing a new level of personalization to the cancer scene is the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where researchers are developing a way to grow a patient’s cancer outside of their body so that they can better monitor and test it.

Sometimes treatment for some symptoms actually gives rise to other symptoms. These symptoms are called iatrogenic symptoms and reflect quite poorly on the physicians and clinics involved. As such, a focus in clinical biotechnology is to reduce iatrogenic symptoms. A study conducted by Washington University in St. Louis attempted to pinpoint the causes of iatrogenic symptoms after cancer treatment.

It happens to everyone: you open the fridge, excited for a slice of delicious cheese, only to find fuzzy mold growing on your food. As tempting as it may be, eating the seemingly clean, not moldy parts is not advisable, according to a paper recently published from Michigan State University, which explains a newly discovered link between moldy food and liver cancer. It goes on to provide direction on the best ways to mitigate the effects of such mold as well as to reduce the population’s intake of mold in the first place.

Geckos are fascinating creatures. They walk up walls and upside down effortlessly, seemingly mocking those bound to the ground. Though bioresearchers have studied gecko feet extensively to demystify their secret power, it is still not clear whether a gecko can adhere to surfaces without trying or whether it has to put in muscular effort. To find the answer, a team of biologists at the University of California, Riverside conducted a study to test whether death affects a gecko’s adhesive ability.

We already know that the “stickiness” of geckos’ feet actually comes from tiny hairs on their toe pads called setae. Setae adhere to surfaces by frictional forces and forces between molecules. They are so strong that a single five-toed gecko foot, equipped with millions of setae, can support 20 times a gecko’s body weight.