Scientists have described a way to convert human skin cells directly into a specific type of brain cell affected by Huntington’s disease, an ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Unlike other techniques that turn one cell type into another, this new process does not pass through a stem cell phase, avoiding the production of multiple cell types, the study’s authors report.

Understanding how viruses attack giant algal blooms may help us understand their role in fixing global carbon.

Scientists at EPFL have used a new imaging technique to monitor how glucose, our main energy source, is used in the body. Their findings may have great implications for diseases like diabetes.

Drawing blood and testing it is standard practice for many medical diagnostics. As a less painful alternative, scientists are developing skin patches that could one day replace the syringe. In the American Chemical Society journal Analytical Chemistry, one team reports they have designed and successfully tested, for the first time, a small skin patch that detected malaria proteins in live mice. It could someday be adapted for use in humans to diagnose other diseases, too.

Medicinal plant market goes untested for health hazards, according to a recent study published in journal Fungal Biology 

Developing invisible implantable medical sensor arrays, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers has overcome a major technological hurdle in researchers’ efforts to understand the brain.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can share resources to cause chronic infections, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered. Like the individual members of a gang who might be relatively harmless alone, they turn deadly when they get together with their “friends.”

Key laboratories worldwide contribute to collaboration.

Proper coordination between our gut bacteria and our biological clocks may be crucial for preventing obesity and glucose intolerance

In a first step toward future human therapies, researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have shown that esophageal tissue can be grown in vivo from both human and mouse cells. The study has been published online in the journal Tissue Engineering, Part A.

How did life originate? And can scientists create life? These questions not only occupy the minds of scientists interested in the origin of life, but also researchers working with technology of the future. If we can create artificial living systems, we may not only understand the origin of life - we can also revolutionize the future of technology.

Request for proposals aims to identify promising research projects involving precious samples.