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Photo of Chantell Evans
Chantell Evans Tracks Mitochondrial Cleanup in Neurons
The Duke University cell biologist uses live-cell microscopy to reveal how brain cells rid themselves of damaged mitochondria and what goes wrong in neurodegenerative disease.
Chantell Evans Tracks Mitochondrial Cleanup in Neurons
Chantell Evans Tracks Mitochondrial Cleanup in Neurons

The Duke University cell biologist uses live-cell microscopy to reveal how brain cells rid themselves of damaged mitochondria and what goes wrong in neurodegenerative disease.

The Duke University cell biologist uses live-cell microscopy to reveal how brain cells rid themselves of damaged mitochondria and what goes wrong in neurodegenerative disease.

organelle

A false color transmission electron microscope micrograph showing the nuclear envelope, the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the nucleus, and the cytoplasm.
New Gene Mutants Identified in Rare Motor Neuron Diseases
Clare Watson | Oct 17, 2022 | 2 min read
The discovery of gene variants in cases of hereditary spastic dysplasia could provide a diagnosis to affected families where no genetic cause could be found before.
Photo of Brooke Gardner
Brooke Gardner Probes the Cell’s Peroxisomes
Chloe Tenn | Dec 1, 2021 | 3 min read
The University of California, Santa Barbara, cell biologist is investigating the formation and functions of the peroxisome, an organelle which exists in many copies in each cell and can be created, lost, or altered to meet the cell’s metabolic needs.
Abstract graphene structures
Synthetic Organelles Let Researchers Control Cell Behavior
Catherine Offord | Nov 1, 2021 | 3 min read
A technique that reversibly bundles tagged cargo into artificial membraneless compartments gives scientists the ability to switch cell processes on and off.
Illustration showing how engineered cells produce proteins that allow scientists to turn cellular processes on and off
Infographic: One Way to Flip the Cell Behavior Switch
Catherine Offord | Nov 1, 2021 | 1 min read
Engineered cells produce proteins that allow scientists to turn cellular processes on and off.
cell-free mitochondria plasma cancer
Researchers Find Cell-Free Mitochondria Floating in Human Blood
Katarina Zimmer | Feb 6, 2020 | 5 min read
The functional, respiring organelles appear to be present in the blood of healthy people, but their function is yet unclear.
Infographic: Paraspeckle Form and Function
Archa Fox | Dec 1, 2019 | 2 min read
What do scientists know about this membraneless nuclear body discovered less than two decades ago?
What Paraspeckles Can Teach Us About Basic Cell Biology
Archa Fox | Dec 1, 2019 | 10+ min read
Discovering a new type of subnuclear body taught me how pursuing the unexpected can lead to new insights—in this case, about long noncoding RNAs and liquid-liquid phase separation in cells.
RNA droplets
Image of the Day: Liquid Compartments
Nicoletta Lanese | Aug 28, 2019 | 1 min read
Membraneless organelles appear highly sensitive to ion concentrations in their environment.
MO infographic june the scientist
Infographic: High Precision Magnetic Tweezers
Ruth Williams | Jun 1, 2019 | 1 min read
Microscope-mounted magnets with computerized feedback control allow precision manipulations of intracellular objects.
magnetic tweezers
Intracellular Magnetic Manipulations
Ruth Williams | Jun 1, 2019 | 2 min read
Optimized tweezers enable precise 3-D manipulations of a cell’s organelles.
Bacteria Harbor Geometric “Organelles”
Amber Dance | Dec 1, 2018 | 10+ min read
Microbes, traditionally thought to lack organelles, get a metabolic boost from geometric compartments that act as cauldrons for chemical reactions. Bioengineers are eager to harness the compartments for their own purposes.
Infographic: Bacterial Microcompartments Basics
Amber Dance | Dec 1, 2018 | 1 min read
These icosahedral structures are composed of proteins with unique geometric properties, which enable bacteria to employ them in a variety of situations.
Infographic: What Are Membraneless Organelles?
Michael Crabtree and Tim Nott | Dec 1, 2018 | 2 min read
The physical principles that dictate the formation of these subcellular compartments are simple, but they dictate the organelles’ complex functions.
These Organelles Have No Membranes
Michael Crabtree and Tim Nott | Dec 1, 2018 | 10+ min read
From making ribosomes to protecting the integrity of the genome, these membraneless compartments play important roles in the cell. Their behavior is rooted in basic physics.
Nobel Prize–Winning Biologist Dies
Catherine Offord | Feb 19, 2018 | 2 min read
Günter Blobel, known for his work on the signal hypothesis of protein targeting, has died from cancer at age 81.
Nuclear Pores Come into Sharper Focus
André Hoelz and Daniel H. Lin | Dec 1, 2016 | 10 min read
Solving a long-standing structural puzzle will open the door to understanding one of the cell’s most enigmatic machines.
Structural Details of Endoplasmic Reticulum Revealed
Jef Akst | Oct 28, 2016 | 1 min read
The ribosome-associated organelle consists of tightly packed tubes, not flat sheets as previously believed, according to new super-resolution microscopy images.
Carry-On Luggage
Kerry Grens | Dec 1, 2015 | 2 min read
Without a vacuole, cell-cycle progression stalls out in yeast cells.
New Route to Hearing Loss Mapped
Kerry Grens | Nov 5, 2015 | 3 min read
Deficiency in a protein called pejvakin makes inner ear cells more vulnerable to sound, unable to brace themselves against oxidative stress stimulated by noise. 
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