• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Saturday, May 21, 2022
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Science

Making spines from sea water

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 5, 2016
in Science
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

Some sea creatures cover themselves with hard shells and spines, while vertebrates build skeletons out of the same minerals. How do these animals get the calcium they need to build these strong mineral structures? Professors Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Structural Biology Department asked this question about sea urchins, which need to extract quite a few calcium ions from sea water to build their spines. The answer surprised them, and it could change the way scientists think about the process of biomineralization.

Several years ago, Addadi and Weiner had discovered that sea urchins build their spines with tiny packets of "unorganized" material that hardens into crystal when laid in place. "So the question went back a step: How do they get the calcium ions they need to make this material in the first place?" says Addadi. "Free calcium is not abundant in sea water," adds Weiner, "so they need an efficient way to extract and concentrate the ions."

To answer the question the researchers, including Netta Vidavsky, needed methods to observe the animal's cells "as is," that is, as they are in life, water included. For this the group turned to Dr. Andreas Schertel of Carl Zeiss Microscopy in Germany and Dr. Sefi Addadi of the Weizmann Institute of Science's Life Sciences Core Facilities. Very new cutting-edge techniques enabled them to observe thin slices of the cells in sea urchin embryos and then to reconstruct three-dimensional images of these cells and their intake of labeled calcium ions. "Even a few years ago, we could not have done this study," says Addadi.

The images showed that sea urchin larval cells actually "drink" seawater, taking in drops of water and manipulating the ions in the water within the confines of the cell. This is in contrast to the theory that these cells take in only ions, one at a time, through special channels in their outer membranes. The cells they observed were filled with networks of bubbles called vacuoles that collect the calcium ions, evidently creating concentrated packages of calcium for building the spines.

This method may be more energy efficient than taking in ions through channels (which the cells also did), but it presents another problem: The cells must be able to pick out the calcium as well as expel other ions in the sea water, especially the sodium and chloride. "Researchers may be busy for years to come figuring out how these cells manipulate the ions in the sea water they drink," says Weiner.

Addadi and Weiner point out that this is not the first time this type of calcium ion intake has been observed. Prof. Jonathan Erez of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem had described this phenomenon in single-celled, hard-shelled microorganisms called foraminifera a decade ago. At the time, it was thought to be a "curiosity," but finding the same process in two very different creatures suggests that it may be quite widespread. Although we do not live in sea water, even the cells that build our bones may use a similar method to obtain calcium.

###

Prof. Lia Addadi's research is supported by the Jeanne and Joseph Nissim Foundation for Life Sciences Research. Prof. Lia Addadi is the incumbent of the Dorothy and Patrick Gorman Professorial Chair.

Prof. Stephen Weiner's research is supported by the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, which he heads; the Dangoor Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Laboratory; and the estate of George and Beatrice F. Schwartzman. Prof. Weiner is the incumbent of the Dr. Walter and Dr. Trude Borchardt Professorial Chair in Structural Biology.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Media Contact

yael edelman
[email protected]
@WeizmannScience

http://www.weizmann.ac.il

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

blank

Senem SEZER won the Altın Kalem Master’s Thesis Award

March 22, 2022

Five or more hours of smartphone usage per day may increase obesity

July 25, 2019

NASA’s terra satellite finds tropical storm 07W’s strength on the side

July 25, 2019

NASA finds one burst of energy in weakening Depression Dalila

July 25, 2019
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory

    Breakthrough in estimating fossil fuel CO2 emissions

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Hidden benefit: Facemasks may reduce severity of COVID-19 and pressure on health systems, researchers find

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • Discovery of the one-way superconductor, thought to be impossible

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11
  • Sweet discovery could drive down inflammation, cancers and viruses

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Violence/CriminalsUniversity of WashingtonVaccineVehiclesWeather/StormsWeaponryVirusUrbanizationVaccinesUrogenital SystemVirologyZoology/Veterinary Science

Recent Posts

  • Long-hypothesized ‘next generation wonder material’ created for first time
  • Organic farming or flower strips – which is better for bees?
  • Haptics device creates realistic virtual textures
  • Researchers unveil a secret of stronger metals
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....