Illustration of the membrane protein NhaA. Area outlined by the white dots indicate the funnel of the protein extending into the cell membrane.The structure of the membrane protein NhaA has been revealed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Max Planck Institute of Germany.

Membrane protein research is at the forefront of modern biological study, with great potential consequences for development of new medicinal treatments and genetic engineering of plants.

This image shows a neuromuscular junction, where a nerve cell connects to a muscle cell and delivers a signal to the muscle. The blue-and-black striped background is the muscle cell and the green dots are the neuron's power plants, or mitochondria. The mitochondria move within the nerve cell along the pathways called microtubules, shown here in red. Photo credit: (c) 2005 Greg Macleod & Konrad Zinsmaier.Nerve cells need lots of energy to work properly, and the energy needs to be delivered to the right place at the right time. By inducing a mutation in fruit flies, researchers have figured out that a particular gene governs the movement of cells' energy-producing units, called mitochondria.

Rather than moving to the ends of the cells, or synapses, where cell-to-cell communication takes place, mitochondria in mutant fruit flies just piled up in the center of the cell. Even so, the mutant cells could still transmit signals, although not as well.

The theoretical price of having one's personal genome sequenced just fell from the prohibitive $20 million dollars to about $2.2 million, and the goal is to reduce the amount further--to about $1,000--to make individualized prevention and treatment realistic.

Max Planck researchers in Bad Nauheim discover the mechanism by which adult stem cells are integrated into skeletal or heart muscle tissue.
There is disagreement, however, about the mechanism on which repair processes are based. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany, in co-operation with colleagues from Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, have now shown that skeletal muscle tissue can fuse with adult stem cells, via a mechanism based on the participation of mediators which are generally involved in immune cell activation.

A January 2004 finding by biologists at the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution added important evidence to the radical conclusion that a group of diminutive aquatic animals called bdelloid rotifers have evolved for tens of millions of years without sexual reproduction, in apparent violation of the rule that abandonment of sexual reproduction is a biological dead end. Now, MBL scientists are beginning to understand just what's different about these creatures' DNA that has enabled them to succeed where other asexual species have failed.

Defects in a single gene can result in two immune system disorders that leave affected individuals vulnerable to frequent or unusually severe infections, according to new findings reported in the August issue of Nature Genetics. The discovery may lead to new diagnostic tests for these two inherited conditions — immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). Currently, doctors diagnose the conditions by measuring immunoglobulin levels and excluding other causes for lowered immunoglobulin levels; there are no specific tests to detect the two disorders.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced an agreement with the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) to share information and expertise in an effort to develop vaginal microbicides, which are creams, gels or other substances that can be applied topically and may reduce the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Two biologists at the University of California, Riverside, have uncovered the molecular structure of the gene for the protein that female spiders use to make their silken egg cases. The discovery will help biotechnologists develop applications for spider silk and will shed light on spider evolution.