Paper microscope coming to a pocket near you!

Imagine if clinics in developing countries were equipped with an inexpensive yet durable tool that could help medical personnel identify and diagnose a variety of deadly diseases like Malaria, Chagas disease, or Leishmaniosis? For millions of people around the world waiting to be diagnosed and treated, such a tool could be a life-saver. [Read Full Article]

One Man's Trash... (The Scientist)

During her search for a postdoctoral advisor in 1997, cell biologist Ahna Skop grew accustomed to getting turned down. Again and again, she rang the bell at the labs of faculty members only to have the door shut in her face. Her problem was that she was dead set on investigating what was, to many, an uninteresting vestige of cell division: the midbody. [Read Full Article]

Taking Shape (The Scientist)

When we first learn about cells in grade school, we’re told to imagine them as “blobs.” And indeed, some cells really are blob-shaped, perhaps most famously the amoebas that ooze across the bottom of a pond engulfing smaller organisms. Most of the tissue culture cells that serve as workhorses for cell biology research, such as HeLa cells, are also pretty bloblike. But if we stop looking at cells grown in a dish and start examining those found inside the human body, we are immediately struck by the wide range of beautiful and intricate shapes. [Read Full Article]