'Morse Code' Used By Human Cells?

By Roland Piquepaille

Even if the Morse code usage has almost disappeared, it was a very efficient communication protocol. Now, researchers from several universities and drug companies in the U.K. have discovered that our cells are also using Morse-like signals to switch genes on and off. In this news release, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) writes that this discovery may have major implications for the pharmaceutical industry. Better and more efficient drugs would only deliver the signals to our cells that will activate a desired behavior. Sounds like science fiction? Read more...

This research is featured as the cover story of the January 2005 issue of Business, the quarterly magazine of the BBSRC. Here is a link to this full issue (PDF format, 32 pages, 1.08 MB). The article about "A Morse code in cells?" appears on pages 16 and 17.

Below is a picture and its legend as they appear in the magazine (Credit: BBSRC)

Composite picture showing a series of timelapse images of a neuroblastoma cell (SK-N-AS) stimulated with TNFalpha continuously for 360 minutes. The images show that in the cell, fluorescent RelA (an NF-kappaB protein) moves into and out of the nucleus three times. Individual pictures of the cell were superimposed over a graph (subsequently removed) that quantified the extent to which the fluorescent protein is localised in the nucleus versus the cytoplasm at different times after stimulation.

Now, let's move to the essential details of the BBSRC news release.

Morse code is a simple, effective and clear method of communication and now scientists believe that cells in our body may also be using patterns of signals to switch genes on and off. The discovery may have major implications for the pharmaceutical industry as the signalling molecules that are targeted by drugs may have more than one purpose. The number of