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News zu #cells

Researchers have now discovered that cell division in shark embryos occurs in a different way. © pixabay/David Clode

The shark's ratchet trick: New mechanism of cell division discovered

How do cells divide when they are too big for the classic mechanism? Researchers at TU Dresden have discovered a surprising trick of nature in zebrafish embryos. A rhythmic alternation between solid and liquid states inside the cell enables division over several cycles. The discovery changes our understanding of one of the most fundamental processes of life.

The mini-liver from the petri dish, with the three most important cell types of the liver: portal fibroblasts (magenta), cholangiocytes (green) and hepatocyte nuclei (blue).  Lei Yuan, Sagarika Dawka, Yohan Kim, Anke Liebert et al. / Nature (2025) / MPI-CBG

Mini livers from the petri dish to help patients

Over two million people die of liver disease every year. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden have now developed a three-dimensional liver model from real patient cells. The mini-liver can mimic important functions and should help to better understand diseases, test new drugs and develop personalized therapies. The study was published in Nature.

Leipzig researchers have now observed how nerve cells adapt their signal transmission when they are active. © pixabay geralt

Leipzig researchers watch the brain learn

Learning happens in milliseconds - far too fast to observe directly. Researchers at Leipzig University have now refined a method that makes exactly this possible. They freeze nerve cells at lightning speed and can thus see how they transmit signals. The technique works in both mice and humans and could help to better understand diseases and ageing processes in the brain in the future.