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cell division

Year
23 November 2023 Photographs of two scientists on a decorative background

ERC Consolidator Grants awarded to two EMBL researchers

Lab Matters Alba Diz-Muñoz and Arnaud Krebs from EMBL Heidelberg have received grants to work on projects that aim, respectively, to understand the cellular mechanics that control cell division and investigate the regulatory networks that govern transcription factor function.

2023

lab-matters

2 July 2019

Cell duplication

Picture of the week What looks like a pair of scary alien eyes is actually the final stage in the duplication of a cell. Cell duplication is preceded by a process called mitosis, in which the replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Mitosis is the prerequisite for a cell to divide into two identical…

2019

picture-of-the-week

7 December 2016

Cycle of life

Science Paul Nurse’s failed experiment inspired a career that would uncover key mechanisms of cell division

2016

science

21 March 2016 First complete, real-time recording of starfish egg cell eliminating centrioles shows it handles mature ‘mother’ centrioles (green) and immature ‘daughter’ centrioles (purple) differently.

Mothers and daughters

Science 1st real-time video of starfish egg cell eliminating crucial structures, to ensure embryo viability

2016

science

18 August 2011 Circling chromosomes. Chromosomes (blue) form a ‘belt’ around the centre of the spindle (green), discovered by the EMBL scientists.

Fishing games gone wrong

Science When an egg cell is being formed, the cellular machinery which separates chromosomes is extremely imprecise at fishing them out of the cell’s interior, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have discovered. The unexpected degree of trial-and-error…

2011

science

17 June 2011 Condensin loops around several strands of DNA, keeping it coiled up and easier to transport. (Artistic impression) Image credits: EMBL/ P. Riedinger

Keeping it together

Science As any rock-climber knows, trailing a long length of rope behind you is not easy. A dangling length of rope is unwieldy and hard to manoeuvre, and can get tangled up or stuck on an outcropping. Cells face the same problem when dragging chromosomes apart during cell division. The chromosomes are…

2011

science

5 August 2010

Constant overlap

Science During cell division, microtubules emanating from each of the spindle poles meet and overlap in the spindle’s midzone. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have uncovered the molecular mechanism that determines the extent of this overlap. In a…

2010

science

1 April 2010 Each of these large images of dividing cells is composed of several microscopy images of human cells in which different individual genes were silenced. The smaller images are placed according to genes’ effects: images for genes that affect chromosomes make up the chromosomes (red/pink), while the mitotic spindle (green) is composed of images for genes that affect it. IMAGE: Thomas Walter & Mayumi Isokane / EMBL

Movies for the human genome

Science Name a human gene, and you’ll find a movie online showing you what happens to cells when it is switched off. This is the resource that researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and their collaborators in the Mitocheck consortium are making freely…

2010

science

3 December 2008

Picture Release

Science Cell division is one of the most fundamental processes of life. It explains how one cell can give rise to an organism of several million cells, it determines the shape of different life forms and it underpins our body’s capacity to heal when injured. Often we only notice how important cell…

2008

science

10 June 2007

Researchers shed light on shrinking of chromosomes

Science A human cell contains an enormous 1.8 metres of DNA partitioned into 46 chromosomes. These have to be copied and distributed equally into two daughter cells at every division. Condensation, the shortening of chromosomes, allows the cell to handle such huge amounts of genetic material during cell…

2007

science

4 May 2007

A matter of force

Science When a cell divides, normally the result is two identical daughter cells. In some cases however, cell division leads to two cells with different properties. This is called asymmetric cell division and plays an important role in embryonic development and the self-renewal of stem cells. Researchers…

2007

science

25 August 2006

A switch between life and death

Science Cells in an embryo divide at an amazing rate to build a whole body, but this growth needs to be controlled. Otherwise the result may be defects in embryonic development or cancer in adults. Controlling growth requires that some cells divide while others die; their fates are determined by signals…

2006

science

31 October 2005

ENFIN! Computational systems biology comes to a lab bench near you

Lab Matters The Commission of the European Union has awarded EUR 9 million over five years for a new Network of Excellence that will make computational systems biology accessible to bench scientists throughout Europe and beyond. ENFIN, which stands for ‘Experimental Network for Functional…

2005

lab-matters

4 September 2005

A new link between stem cells and tumors

Science Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and the Institute of Biomedical Research of the Parc Científic de Barcelona (IRB-PCB) have now added key evidence to claims that some types of cancer originate with defects in stem cells. The study, reported this week in…

2005

science

13 July 2005

Actin moves chromosomes

Science Microtubules need a helping hand to find chromosomes in dividing egg cells, scientists have discovered. Although it was generally accepted that microtubules act alone as the cellular ropes to pull chromosomes into place, a new study by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)…

2005

science

12 July 2005

Hunt for human genes involved in cell division under way

Lab Matters A systematic search through human genes has begun at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Working within the MitoCheck consortium that includes 10 other institutes throughout Europe, the EMBL scientists will silence all human genes, one-by-one, to find those…

2005

lab-matters

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