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The image shows a ball python curled up on top of a tree trunk in the wild.

How Pythons Adapt Their Hearts After a Big Meal

Claudia Lopez-Lloreda, PhD | Sep 26, 2024 | 4 min read

Python heart muscles ramp up their force to sustain metabolic activity to maintain increased metabolism during feeding.

Image of an embryo built from Lego bricks showing cell populations in green and red.

Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models Add a Dimension to Developmental Biology

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Sep 13, 2024 | 10+ min read

Studying human embryonic development is complicated for several reasons. Models derived from pluripotent stem cells representing distinct stages offer a path to studying this process.

Modeling the Intestines with Mini Guts

The Scientist Staff | 1 min read

In this webinar, Arthur Beyder and Melanie Maya Kaelberer will discuss how scientists use intestinal organoids, also known as mini guts, to explore the digestive system in health and disease.

Embryoid bodies, at the top of the page, are a cluster of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) that differentiate portions into ectoderm (orange), mesoderm (dark blue), and endoderm (pink).

Infographic: The Many Paths to Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Sep 13, 2024 | 5 min read

Culturing pluripotent stem cells to replicate different stages of embryonic development allows researchers to more easily investigate this period.

An Endometrial Stem Cell Pioneer

Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Sep 13, 2024 | 10+ min read

Two decades ago, Caroline Gargett identified adult stem cells in the endometrium. Now, she explores their functions to improve women’s health.

Image showing the legs of multiple people running in the street.

Another Reason to Challenge Yourself at the Gym

Alara Tuncer | 4 min read

In a chronic stress model, challenging exercise reduced anxiety by activating a three-neuron loop across brain regions.

Cellular Trains Make a Quick Getaway

Kamal Nahas, PhD | Sep 11, 2024 | 4 min read

Clusters of epithelial cells migrate at different speeds depending on their layout, with single-file assemblies making the fastest journeys.

A human torso with the large bowel depicted in blue and the appendix in red.

Why Do Humans Have an Appendix?

Hannah Thomasy, PhD and Priyom Bose, PhD | Sep 2, 2024 | 2 min read

Long believed to be purely vestigial, this troublesome organ may play an important role in gut and immune function.

Natural Trip: Endogenous Psychedelics and Human Physiology

The Scientist | 1 min read

Researchers explore the trippy science behind natural hallucinogens in humans.

3D rendering of a transparent human torso to show the lungs and bronchiole structures in them.

Prenatal Inflammation Makes Mice Susceptible to Asthma

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Aug 20, 2024 | 4 min read

Maternal immune responses during mice gestation led to a hyperactive population of innate-like immune cells in offspring that contributed to altered lung composition and function.

Amino acid sequence presented on a computer screen as one-letter codes.

Revving the Motor: Full-Length Protein Sequencing with Nanopore Technology

Nathan Ni, PhD | Aug 12, 2024 | 4 min read

Jeff Nivala develops nanopore-based sequencing techniques to help advance proteomics.

Illuminating Organs with Organoids

The Scientist | 1 min read

In this webinar, Benjamin Freedman talks about the importance of organoids in modeling organ function and disease.

Confocal image of a developing embryo with blue-labeled nuclei and orange stained edges.

Unraveling the Complex Mysteries of Embryonic Beginnings

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Jul 4, 2024 | 6 min read

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz followed the aesthetic allure of the embryo to better understand the start of development.

On the left, a diagram of a fetus and placenta inside the abdomen of a pregnant person, on the right, a pink mitochondrion.

Mitochondria: The Powerhouse of the Placenta

Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Jul 1, 2024 | 2 min read

Scientists seek citizens’ help to survey placental mitochondria in complicated and healthy pregnancies.

Discover How CF® Dyes Let Scientists Delve Deeper into Biological Phenomena

CF^® Dyes: Clearer Fluorescent Results

Biotium | 1 min read

CF^® Dyes combine pegylation and sulfonation to create fluorescent dyes with better signal intensity, more solubility, and superior specificity.

A mouse stands behind a toy table with two pieces of food on it.

A Protein-Sensing Molecular Switch Alters Facial Features

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Jun 24, 2024 | 3 min read

The mTORC1 signaling pathway senses nutritional information and influences craniofacial development in mice.

Microscopy photo of a dissected fly ovary with mature oocytes visible as dark ovals.

How Nutrition Regulates Ovulation

Shelby Bradford, PhD | Jun 19, 2024 | 4 min read

Fly fat tissue senses nutritional status through a stress response pathway to control reproductive activities.

Spatial Multiomics Reveal Microbiome-Linked T Cell Modulations in Human Graft-Versus-Host Disease

The Scientist | 1 min read

In this webinar, Benton Berigan will highlight the value of combining multimodal data, including spatial information, to understand complex immunological processes.