Stem cell treatments have proven successful for many diseases, and there is great promise that new treatments will emerge to combat even more maladies. These successful treatments involve inserting correctly functioning stem cells into tissues where native mutated cells have caused disease.

Hormones are small chemical switches that turn on or off different cellular systems. They are tissue-specific, most often produced by the tissue of one organ, distributed in mammals via the bloodstream, then received by precise protein receptors found elsewhere in the body.

Researchers at Wayne State University in Michigan have uncovered a key step in the formation of antibodies. It was already known that the immune system generates a variety of antibodies in response to an invading pathogen. The recent study discovered that many of the necessary antibody variations are produced when a cellular copying procedure is slowed down.¹

Bacteriophages are non-living yet specialized viruses that hijack cells to clone more viruses. In this way, they help to maintain balanced bacterial populations. When a new “phage” is assembled within a host cell, it is faced with a difficulty—how to package its DNA, which is 1,000 times longer than the diameter of its capsid, the tiny vessel that holds it.

Interferons are signaling proteins in immune systems that have long been appreciated for their role in defending the body against viral attacks. Interferons hinder viruses from multiplying inside host cells, activate killer cells and macrophages (engulfing cells), and communicate with lymphocytes to help host cells deal with viral infection.