Imagine trying to fly a kite without a tail. It swoops and loops and wiggles and finally crashes down into the ground. A kite without a tail is unstable, but add a tail at the right place, and your kite will fly steady.

The researchers have discovered an integrative circuit of nerve cells in fruit fly brains that allows them to ignore the lack of proteins in their food to enter the pupal stage.

New research now shows that even a brief period of stress can cause the hippocampus to start shrinking.

Researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore propose that airflow measured by bee antennae could be critical for their ability to gauge flight speed. And to do this, they must be able to position their antennae correctly.

Complex modern cells - the ones that you and I are made up of - may be the result of a long-drawn courtship, rather than a hasty marriage between two types of structurally simple cells.

Every modern eukaryotic cell is distinct from prokaryotic cells in two striking ways. One, eukaryotes possess mitochondria or 'powerhouses' that generate energy, and two, every eukaryotic cell is elaborately divided into dynamic compartments with distinct functions. The origin of these compartments has been a source of intense debate.

Latest research from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, gives us new insights into how Orai proteins are regulated. Researcher Bipan Kumar Deb from Gaiti Hasan's group has discovered that the protein Septin 7 guards Orai function by acting as a 'molecular brake' to Orai activation.

In a recent study in the journal Nature Communications, researchers find that large-seeded tree species which depend on big animals for seed dispersal, grow to greater sizes as adults and thus have higher carbon storage potential than species with smaller seeds in tropical forests worldwide.

Scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore have managed to do exactly that - construct the cell surface from its constituent parts, namely, a mixture of lipids and proteins. This reconstruction creates a crucial tool researchers can use to test theories on cell surface dynamics.

Working on the bacterium Methylobacterium extorquens, the research group created several synonymous variants of a gene called fae. This gene codes for a metabolic enzyme essential for survival and growth in an environment where the only source of carbon comes from methanol or methylamine.

The campus recently announced the launch of a major new collaborative initiative centred around the use of stem cell technology in research, diagnostics and therapeutics at an event held at the Bangalore Life Science Cluster campus.