From amputation to regeneration – researchers identify shared features of limb regeneration in crustaceans and vertebratesMany animals – such as crabs, octopuses and salamanders – have the ability to regenerate parts of their body that are severely injured or amputated. Just as we are able to replace a broken part of our car, these animals can replace lost limbs by new ones with the same form and function. Contrary to cars, animals do not possess spare parts and cannot suspend their functions in order to be repaired; they generate their new limbs in situ, while going about in their normal lives.

IESL-FORTH Scientists create light bullets for high-intensity applicationsControlling the propagation of high-intensity light beams as they travel through transparent media is a challenging task, but IESL scientists have now shown that a relatively new type of light beam called a ring-Airy beam can self-focus into intense light bullets that propagate over extended distances. These highly focused, high-intensity ring-Airy beam light bullets offer a very unique level of control that cannot be achieved with equivalent Gaussian beams, making them ideal for a variety of optical applications ranging from precision materials processing and nanosurgery to attosecond pulse drivers.

Motions of a nanomotor get proteins out of the cell, an essential mechanism for cellular functionThousands of proteins are produced inside our cells. More than a third of these proteins can fulfill their function only after migrating to the outside of the cell, becoming anchored to the cell membrane or being targeted to specific subcellular compartments. How cells regulate trafficking of their proteins is a fundamental problem in biology andis essential for life. Examples of migrating proteins are insulin (whose absence leads to diabetes), antibodies (that combat infections), membrane channels (essential amongst other for neuronal cell function) and toxin-proteins secreted by pathogenic microorganisms.

IMBB researchers reveal that DNA damage triggers a chronic auto-inflammatory response leading to fat depletionResearch carried out at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology-FORTH and published today in Cell Metabolism reveals that intrinsic DNA damage triggers a chronic auto-inflammatory response leading to fat depletion.