Describing growing tissues in the language of thermodynamics

A key feature of biological tissues is their inhomogeneity and their ability to grow via cell reproduction. To study this behavior, it is important to describe it using equations, which account for factors including growth ...

Nematode proteins shed light on infertility

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Utah (the U) biologists have developed a method for illuminating the intricate interactions of the synaptonemal complex in the ...

How environmental microbes boost fruit fly reproduction

For many of us, when we think of microbiomes, our first thoughts are probably about the beneficial microorganisms that live in our guts. But now, researchers from Japan and the US have discovered how the microbes living in ...

Metaphors for human fertilization are evolving, study shows

In a common metaphor used to describe human fertilization, sperm cells are competitors racing to penetrate a passive egg. But as critics have noted, the description is also a "fairy tale," rooted in cultural beliefs about ...

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