Biochemists Create a Programmable Cell Membrane

A team of biochemists at the University of Pennsylvania has successfully “reprogrammed” the sugar molecule-based communication ports that blanket the outside of cell membranes. It’s a notable first, not just for the technique's enormous potential in diagnosing and treating human disease, but for offering a new and rare insight into a biological process that’s largely evaded observation—a powerful tool for understand the hows and whys of cell-by-cell behavior and interactions.

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