Bernhard Strauss (Pines Group & Zernicka-Goetz Group) has, in partnership with Dolomite Microfluidics, developed a novel Embryo Immobilisation Chip, ideal for high throughput experimentation and high resolution imaging of embryos or cell aggregates up to 150µm in diameter. More information. (click image to zoom)

According to a study in Nature researchers in the Kouzarides Lab have shown that a potential new drug could treat mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL), which is hard to treat and accounts for up to 80% of leukemeia cases in children younger than two, and 10% of adults. More information available here.

Nature Neuroscience, Jan 2012 During axon pathfinding, growth cones commonly show changes in sensitivity to guidance cues that follow a cell-intrinsic timetable, but the cellular timer mechanisms that regulate such changes are poorly understood. Researchers in the Miska Group have shown that microRNA miR-124 is important in the regulation of the intrinsic temporal changes in RGC growth cone sensitivity, and miRNAs may act broadly as linear timers in vertebrate neuronal development. More...

Trends in Genetics (cover story), Dec 2011 The success of nuclear reprogramming is limited by epigenetic mechanisms that stabilise the state of gene expression in somatic cells and thereby resist efficient reprogramming. Researchers in the Gurdon Lab have reviewed factors that influence reprogramming efficiency, especially those that restrict the natural reprogramming mechanisms of eggs and oocytes. More...

EMBO, Nov 2011 The length of S-phase is regulated in many eukaroytes, but how and why remains a mystery. Work in the Zegerman Lab shows that at least four proteins may be critical limiting components that regulate the speed of S-phase in budding yeast. More...

Nature Cell Biology, Sep 2011