Category Biology/Biotechnology

One of the key innovations of the new 3-D-printing technique on skin is that the printer uses computer vision to track and adjust to movements in real-time. Credit: McAlpine group, University of Minnesota

Groundbreaking technology could help soldiers on the battlefield and people with skin disorders. In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time. The technology could be used by soldiers on the battlefield to print temporary sensors on their bodies to detect chemical or biological agents or solar cells to charge essential electronics.

Researchers also successfully printed biological cells on the skin wound of a mouse...

A: Food materials are pulverized under ultra-low temperature close to -100 degrees Celsius. B: Micro-sized food materials are reconstructed into a porous film-shaped material by jetting bonding an agent under optimized water content and heat conditions. The process to build film-type materials is repeated layer by layer to form to a three-dimensional food block. C: The exterior of foods and internal microstructure of a food block with specific porosity is designed to give texture with controlled human body absorption while eating and ingesting. Credit: Jin-Kyu Rhee, Ewha Womans University

Researchers 3D print food with customized texture and body absorption characteristics...

Immune cells (or gd T cells) swarm around fat cells (adipocytes) in fat tissue to regulate their lipid burning vs storage. Credit: Lydia Lynch, Trinity College Dublin

Scientists have just made a surprising discovery involving fat and special immune cells that live within it – it turns out that ‘gd T cells’ are the key cogs in the biological wheel that regulates our body heat and protects us against cold shock. The discovery thus reveals a peculiar and previously unknown aspect of the immune system – as well as driving our response to infection, it also plays a role in regulating our metabolism. In addition, this discovery has put the spotlight on a potential new target for therapies designed to help individuals either lose or gain weight.

There are two quite distinct types of fat – white a...

Artist’s impression of the i-motif DNA structure inside cells (strands with green bars), along with the antibody-based tool used to detect it (Y-shaped yellow structure) Chris Hammang

Scientists have tracked down an elusive ‘tangled knot’ of DNA. In a world first, Australian researchers have identified a new DNA structure – called the i-motif – inside cells. A twisted ‘knot’ of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells. The new findings, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, are published today in the leading journal Nature Chemistry.

Deep inside the cells in our body lies our DNA. The information in the DNA code – all 6 billion A, C, G and T letters – provides precise instructions for how our bodies are built, and how they work...