Cmmunicating information between nerve cells occurs at breathtaking speed. To allow an electrical impulse to pass from one cell to another, chemical neurotransmitters are released at the nerve end, cross the narrow gap, or synapse, that separates the cells, pass on the message to the next cell – be it a nerve cell, muscle cell…

The nervous system behaves like a series of microscopic generators, with electrical pulses repeatedly created and fired along nerve cells in response to a stimulus, such as touch or heat. By showing how these impulses are generated and transmitted, the three scientists who received an equal share of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or…

In the mid-to-late 1940s, scientists began to suspect that the molecules that are responsible for heredity were not proteins, but in fact DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid. But how could a molecule long considered to be simple and inert hold the secret of life? The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 was awarded…

Erwin Schrödinger’s idea that physics could help solve biological riddles was the spark that led many researchers to try to unlock the secrets behind our book of life, the structure of DNA. The double helix structure of DNA is arguably the most recognizable icon in biology, so it might at first appear strange that two…

The immune system is charged with the task of recognizing and destroying a host of foreign and dangerous agents, but what prevents it from attacking any cells and tissues that belong to its host? The breakthroughs awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine revealed how self-discrimination is learned at the biological level, through…

When it comes to sending electrical nerve signals, some messages are more urgent than others. Our muscles need to be activated quickly when we are attacked, for instance, while our receptors for chronic pain do not require such a rapid response. To meet these various delivery requirements, nerve fibres differ considerably in the way they…

Creating and sculpting cells and organs that develop in the embryo requires the construction signals to be delivered at the right place and the right time. It was long presumed that the main cues come from molecular signals produced and sent out from distant and specialised glands, but as it turns out, this process also…

For the nervous system to receive information from the body and send out instructions, it must rely on finding a way of passing its electrical impulses from one nerve cell to another. By revealing the mode through which impulses communicate their signal across the miniscule gaps, or synapses, that separate nerve cells from each other…

At any given time, our nervous system faces an enormous signal control task. Acting as the command centre for the entire body, it is charged with generating and processing the host of different messages sent through nerve cells that allow us to move, think and respond to any given stimulus. Managing this constant and complex…

When engaging an enemy in battle, it’s always an advantage to enlist some help, and in the case of the immune system this is no exception. To aid their vital task of specifically binding to and destroying invading bacteria and viruses, antibodies recruit a special type of protein to deliver a lethal blow. The identity…