The bacterium that causes tuberculosis has a unique molecule on its outer cell surface that blocks a key part of the body's defense. New research suggests this represents a novel mechanism in the microbe's evolving efforts to remain hidden from the human immune system.

With new cutting-edge technology aimed at providing amputees with robotic limbs, a Tel Aviv University researcher has successfully implanted a robotic cerebellum into the skull of a rodent with brain damage, restoring its capacity for movement.

Dr. Bruce A. Beutler, the new director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center, today shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with two other scientists for their discoveries in how the immune system works.

The ability to obtain an accurate three-dimensional image of an intact cell is critical for unraveling the mysteries of cellular structure and function. However, for many years, tiny structures buried deep inside cells have been practically invisible to scientists due to a lack of microscopic techniques that achieve adequate resolution at the cell surface and through the entire depth of the cell. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in the October 4th issue of Biophysical Journal demonstrates that microscopy with helium ions may greatly enhance both surface and sub-cellular imaging.

A factor that is crucial for the proper positioning of genes in the cell nucleus has been discovered by a team of researchers from the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland.