Features Articles - cell & molecular biology, cancer and genetics & genomics

It's a Cell-Eat-Cell World

By Jef Akst | August 1, 2011

For more than 100 years, pathologists have observed cancer cells engulfing other live cells, but scientists are only now beginning to understand how it happens and what it means for tumorigenesis.

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Sharing the Bounty

By Michelle G. Rooks and Wendy S. Garrett | August 1, 2011

Gut bacteria may be the missing piece that explains the connection between diet and cancer risk.

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Exosome Explosion

By Clotilde Théry | July 1, 2011

These small membrane vesicles do much more than clean up a cell’s trash—they also carry signals to distant parts of the body, where they can impact multiple dimensions of cellular life.

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Vaccines

By Robin A. Weiss and Peter Hale | June 1, 2011

Looking back, looking ahead

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Recognizing the Human Potential

By Gene M. Shearer and Adriano Boasso | June 1, 2011

It may be time to reconsider an AIDS vaccine which is more human than viral, triggering the immune system in a way that no other vaccine does.

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Power Failure

By Megan Scudellari | May 1, 2011

Does mitochondrial dysfunction lie at the heart of common, complex diseases like cancer and autism?

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The Movement of Goods Around the Cell

By Patricia Bassereau and Bruno Goud | April 1, 2011

A biologist and a physicist collaborate on a decade-long exploration of the physical parameters of membrane traffic in eukaryotic cells.

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Taking Aim at Melanoma

By Keith T. Flaherty | April 1, 2011

Understanding oncogenesis at the molecular level offers the prospect of tailoring treatments much more precisely for patients with advanced cases of this deadliest of skin cancers.

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An Aspirin for your Cancer?

By Giorgio Trinchieri | April 1, 2011

Can tumors—which can originate from, and often resemble, chronically inflamed tissue—be curtailed using familiar anti-inflammatory agents, without their side effects?

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Epigenetic Changes in Cancer

By Manel Esteller | March 1, 2011

The study of how covalent marks on DNA and histones are involved in the origin and spread of cancer cells is also leading to new therapeutic strategies.

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