MetaFilter posts tagged with cells

Shedding Light on Life

Frankieist — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:02:37 -0800

Light makes a comeback. “New technologies — more sophisticated imaging techniques, fluorescent molecules that act as beacons of light in the cell, and the computing power to gather and stitch together multiple images and create videos from high-powered microscopes — make it possible to harness one of light’s key advantages: gentleness. Unlike higher-resolution techniques, light microscopes can image biological structures without killing them or chemically fixing them. At Harvard, the resurgence of light microscopy is making it possible to see structures and events that have never before been seen in the context of living cells and organisms.” Also don't miss the video samples of “in vivo” imagining.

28 Days Later...more stem cells!

Asparagirl — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:32:43 -0800

Scientists have discovered that "endometrial regenerative cells" (ERC's) -- in other words, human menstrual blood -- contains stem cells. ERC-derived stem cells seem to have a number of superior traits to both bone marrow derived and umbilical cord derived stem cells, the previous gold standards: they can give rise to a variety of different cell lines without differentiation, they multiply more quickly than other stem cells, they are able to replicate more times without adversely mutating, and they apparently do not need to be closely genetically matched to the recipient. Now some women have even begun banking their menstrual blood to preserve their stem cells through a company called "C'Elle: Your Monthly Miracle" -- check out their FAQ and online video. This follows last May's announcement that menstrual blood derived cells can pretty much cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in mice, a disease for which there is no current therapeutic treatment available.

Children's Hospital Boston

homunculus — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:54:59 -0800

Interactive Features at the Children's Hospital Boston's Website. [Via Mind Hacks.]

Stem cell research: Natural Born Killers?

Mave_80 — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:07:56 -0800

Stem Cell Research: An interesting argument on why Bush's policy on stem cell research doesn't make sense.

The Printing Industry Wakes Up

PeteNicely — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 08:03:55 -0800

Steath InkJet Printer Could Rock Industry I know that once your desktop printer reached a certain quality, you probably stopped caring about printing news at all. But suddenly there are a few breakthroughs to get excited about. Kodak's first inkjet printers have cut ink cartridge prices in half, Zink doesn't use ink at all and will fit in your pocket and now an Australian start-up is announcing a $200 printer that will print a page a second. And the inkjet connection to nanotechnology won't just mean cheaper printers. People are using inkjet heads to print microchips and even human cells. Fab@Home is trying to replicate the Altair phenomenon with 3D printers, and you can even get a ZPrinter 450 industrial-strength 3D printer for less than $40,000. How long before the word print means serving yourself the latest Stephen King, a pair of glasses or even a new kidney?

Print human skin

Termite — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 12:59:38 -0800

Need a patch of skin for that burn or perhaps some new brain cells? Print them. A team of British scientists have shown that cells could survive ink-jet printing. Ink-jet technology moves beyond paper.

Death as we know it will die.

sharksandwich — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:58:31 -0800

Death as we know it will die. If you wish to be a prophet, first you must dress the part. No more silk ties or tasseled loafers. Instead, throw on a wrinkled T-shirt, frayed jeans, and dirty sneakers. You should appear somewhat unkempt, as if combs and showers were only for the unenlightened. When you encounter critics, as all prophets do, dismiss them as idiots. Make sure to pepper your conversation with grandiose predictions and remind others of your genius often, lest they forget. Oh, and if possible, grow a very long beard. By these measures, Aubrey de Grey is indeed a prophet. The 42-year-old English biogerontologist has made his name by claiming that some people alive right now could live for 1,000 years or longer. Maybe much longer. Growing old is not, in his view, an inevitable consequence of the human condition; rather, it is the result of accumulated damage at the cellular and molecular levels that medical advances will soon be able to prevent — or even reverse — allowing people to go on living pretty much indefinitely.

This plant, what can't it do.

Mr_Zero — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:50:47 -0800

Here are three things that can help your brain grow new cells.
It's no wonder college makes you smarter.

Custom stem cells.

iron chef morimoto — Thu, 19 May 2005 15:59:56 -0800

Custom stem cells. South Korea produces a significant gain in stem cell research. Experts have suggested that the new technique may sidestep some of the ethical concerns that have hampered research in the US.

Each of us a cell of awareness

Wolfdog — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 08:55:01 -0800

The mitochondrion, the Krebs cycle and other cell biology animations. Flash.