Harvard Medical School

Feb. 4, 2008

In Print

Graham Ramsay

Magnetic Switch Flips On Immune Cell
Donald Ingber (front) and colleagues, including (clockwise from left) Flavia Cassiola, Martin Montoya-Zavala, and Robert Mannix, report that they have created a nanomagnetic cellular switch that can rapidly and reliably activate mast cells, part of the immune system. Like many cells, these are not turned on one receptor at a time, but in clusters. The researchers mimicked this receptor grouping by attaching a single tiny iron oxide bead to each mast cell receptor and exposing the cells to a magnetic field. Once exposed, the beads became magnetized, attracting one another and pulling the receptors into scaffoldlike clusters, leading to cell activation.

Upcoming

Center on the Developing Child

Markets for Kidneys? The Ethics of the Organ Bazaar

February 12
3:30–5:30 p.m.

Speakers:
•Charles Nelson
•Cindy Lederman
•Elizabeth Bartholet
•Charles J. Ogletree
•Jack P. Shonkoff

Spotlight

Interactive Website Helps Fill Education Void on Sleep
The HMS Division of Sleep Medicine has launched a “Healthy Sleep” website in collaboration with WGBH Educational Foundation to help the general public understand sleep. Through videos, essays, and interactive features, visitors learn about the science of sleep, why it matters, and how to get enough.

Student Scene

Graham Ramsay

Toward Evidence-free Exercise
Nicole Martin observes that while research on diet is widely available, literature on exercise is comparatively slim. But even though an individual’s optimal exercise regimen may never be known, that’s no reason to sit still.