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First cell therapy for type 1 diabetes approved for use in the US

29 June 2023

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new therapy for type 1 diabetes in which people with the condition receive donor pancreatic cells capable of producing insulin

The ageing of cells may be due to errors that harm protein production

30 March 2023

Older cells may fail to make proteins or may make proteins that don't function as they should, in a discovery that could lead to new drug targets to slow the ageing process

Male XY chromosomes, artwork. The Y chromosome (right) is found in males and is shorter than the X chromosome (upper left). The latter has been labelled with a white glow that can represent a genetic mutation. An individual's sex is determined by the presence or absence of the Y chromosome. Women are XX, while men are XY. Chromosomes are a condensed form of the genetic material DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which condenses into chromosomes during cell replication. Each chromosome has two identical strands (chromatids), aligned in parallel and joined at the centromere.

Mice have been born from eggs derived from male cells

8 March 2023

A method for turning male cells into egg cells in mice could one day be used to help men in a same-sex couple have children who are genetically related to them both

Intestinal implants could one day treat conditions like short bowel syndrome, defined as having a short intestine that affects nutrient absorption

Intestine cell transplant may one day help ease digestive issues

24 February 2023

Patches of intestinal tissue grown from the cells of mice contract similarly to the muscles in the digestive tract. If the same patches can be grown from human cells, they could one day treat conditions like short bowel syndrome

The size of skin cancer cells may affect how they respond to treatment

26 January 2023

Smaller melanoma skin cancer cells may be more vulnerable to drugs that block DNA repair, while larger cells might be more responsive to immunotherapy

Self-replicating protein factories are a step towards artificial life

12 September 2022

Ribosomes, tiny structures where proteins are produced inside cells, have been made to self-replicate outside cells for the first time, which could help us understand the origins of life

E. coli bacterium. Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of an Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterium in the early stages of binary fission, the process by which the bacterium divides. This Gram-negative bacillus (rod-shaped) bacterium normally inhabits the human intestines. Under certain conditions it may undergo rapid division, which increases its numbers to such an extent that it causes infection. E. coli cause 80% of all urinary tract infections, travellers' diarrhoea and gastroenteritis in children. The hair-like appendages around the bacterium are pili, structures used for bacterial conjugation. Magnification: x17,500 at 6x7cm size.

Nanoparticles can translate chemical signals from bacteria to yeast

28 February 2022

Particles that facilitate communication from one type of cell to another could have applications in medicine and agriculture

Artificially stripped-back cell is still able to rapidly evolve

17 August 2021

An artificial “minimal cell” that has had all but the most essential genes stripped out can evolve and adapt to its surroundings just as fast as a normal cell

Artificial life made in lab can grow and divide like natural bacteria

29 March 2021

Synthetic cells designed in 2016 have been modified through the addition of seven genes so they can grow and divide just like natural bacterial cells

Watch cells sniff their way around the maze from Hampton Court Palace

27 August 2020

Cells can navigate artificial mazes by generating chemical gradients to predict the best route, a finding that may explain how they migrate through the body