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Join Bill Nye as he delves into the Greatest Discoveries in Biology. This program explains how the early use of microscopes and Anton Van Leeuwenhock's accidental discovery set the stage for studying microorganisms. It explores 19th century research breakthroughs and covers cell division, sex cell division, and cell differentiation. Learn how the discovery of mitochondria has helped us understand reproduction, ancestral lines, and cancer; how cells convert sugars, fats, and proteins into energy in the Krebs Cycle; and how they communicate through neurotransmitters and hormones. Explore the process of photosynthesis and how the discovery of the ecosystem process bridged biology with physics, chemistry, and other fields of science that describe the environment.

"Cells grown in microgravity generate problematic proteins (absent in normal stem cells) that play a role in bone deterioration."

"Learn how to safely open a D cell, and remove its sweet, sweet chemical innards. D cells are favorable as their large size facilitates investigation, and they contain the greatest magnitude of useable chemicals."

"Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing an antiviral drug called Draco, which has proven successful against all 15 viruses to which it has been applied in lab trials with human tissue and mice. These include the common cold, H1N1 or swine flu, a polio virus, dengue fever and the notorious and fatal Ebola virus. To produce it, Mr Rider took an unusual approach, "wiring together" two natural proteins - one that detects virus entry, and another that acts as a suicide switch that kills the infected cell."

"In the few, limited tests conducted outside the United States, BPS shows estrogenic activity - not as strong as BPA, but not a good sign. BPS is now used in the United States to make PES (polyethersulfone) plastic. Some baby bottles marketed as BPA-free use PES plastic. Bisphenols are shaping up to be a dysfunctional family of chemicals. BPAF is BPA's fluorinated twin. It is used in electronic devices, optical fibers and more. New studies have found BPAF to be an even more potent endocrine disrupter than BPA. Bisphenol B and Bisphenol F are other variants used instead of BPA in various products. In the limited testing done on those chemicals in other countries, scientists found Bisphenol B to be more potent than BPA in stimulating breast cancer cells. "

"The onset of wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts has been delayed and even eliminated in mice, say researchers in the US. It was done by "flushing out" retired cells that had stopped dividing. They accumulate naturally with age. The scientists believe their findings could eventually "really have an impact" in the care of the elderly."

Bill Nye and the Discovery Channel give you the greatest discoveries in science. Bill Nye and the Discovery Channel give you the greatest discoveries in science. It took 150 years to progress from Mendel's experiments with peas to the complete sequencing of the human genome. Host Bill Nye explores why certain traits are passed through families and species. He discusses the process by which scientists came to understand that inherited information is passed according to rules. Featuring discoveries related to DNA and its breakthrough as the chemical basis of genetic information, as well as a set of instructions for making the essential proteins of life. Nye also explains that RNA is the messenger that carries the instructions from living cells to enable protein production. Nye visits FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., where DNA becomes personal. The discovery that DNA sequences are unique to each individual ushered in the era of criminal forensics, playing an important role in courtrooms ever since.

"Bad" white fat became "good" brown fat, Cell Metabolism journal reports.

"The latest study, carried out at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, built on the previous discovery by testing 30 patients with CFS. Half were given two doses of Rituximab, a cancer drug which eliminates a type of white blood cell, while the other half were given a fake treatment. In those patients receiving the drug, 67% reported an improvement in a score of their fatigue levels. Just 13% showed any improvement in the sham group. "

"Researchers from the University of Michigan discovered that a session of aerobic exercise increases storage of fat in muscle, which actually improves insulin sensitivity. Low insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance, is an impaired ability of the body to take up sugar from the blood, which can lead to high blood sugar and diabetes."

"Dr. Levine, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator at the medical center, decided to focus on one specific health effect of exercise -- the ability of exercise to prevent blood sugar abnormalities in the face of a high-fat diet. Her mouse study provides the first evidence that exercise stimulates autophagy."

Plugging gadgets into a socket in the wall, or loading them with batteries - or maybe even unfurling a solar panel - is how most of us think of getting electricity. But what about plugging them into your body?