New shortcut to cell growth
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - 10:33
in Biology & Nature
People have them, cats have them and whales have some, too. Neurons, those interlinked nerve cells that carry sensations including pain, stretch from our spinal cords to the tips of our toes, paws or fins. According to a new study published in the journal Cell, scientists from the Harvard Medical School, the University of Montreal and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found a new way by which nerve cells relay information that tell them to grow from millimeters to meters in length.