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22nd Sep 2008

Fat, Fungi, Fuels and Fooling Bacteria


Chris Smith
Muscles

In the NewsFlash this week, we discover the stem cells that allow muscle to grow and recover and progenitor cells which become body fat.  Also, why Fungi fruiting bodies fire spores at super speed, and how to turn plants into petrol!   Plus, we find out how to block bacteria from detecting the immune system, and so stop them from becoming virulent.

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News

(c) Andreas Vesalius

Stem Cells Muscle In

Scientists have shown that, contrary to prevailing wisdom, muscles contain stem cells that can repair, replace and strengthen injured tissue.  Writing in Nature Stanford researcher Helen Blau and her colleagues have identified a collection of chemical markers that can be used to identify a popu...

(c) Department of Histology, Jagiellonian University Medical College

‘Baby’ Fat may Beat Obesity

It’s something that many of us struggle with – fat.  But where does it come from?  Researchers in Dallas have finally tracked down the location of immature fat cells, which hide out waiting for the extra calories that turn them into flab. For a while, researchers have suspected that immatu...

(c) Nicholas Money, PLoS ONE, 2008

Fungi are world's fastest fliers

Scientists have discovered the fastest fliers in nature and, somewhat surprisingly, they're fungi! Ohio-based researcher Nicholas Money and his colleagues at Miami University made the discovery by using ultra-fast cameras capable of taking 250,000 frames per second.  Down the lens they were st...

(c) www.efuel100.com

Plant Sugars Provide Petrol

We all know that the days of fossil fuels are limited, so researchers are trying to find alternative fuels.  Biofuels have risen in popularity in recent years – fermenting plant material to make ethanol is already being used to produce fuel in several countries around the world.  But ethan...


Interviews

(c) US FDA

Surprise Attack - Stopping Bacteria from Sensing your Immune Response

Some bacteria sense an immune response, and then become hyper-virulent. This means that treatment with antibiotics could make an infection worse! Now, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre have found a way to block the bacteria from sensing our response...




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