It stems from early work conducted at the National Cancer Institute, based on a proprietary method of activating key cells of the innate immune system.

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But these new findings don't tell us whether activating the cells artificially, in this case by cell phone radiation, will have a negative effect on health.

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It sits inside the surface of a cell and springs into action when signaled by other cells, activating proteins that temporarily boost the connection between two nerve cells.

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When they hooked up with CD-2, the decoys prevented the real LFA-3 from binding to and activating the T cells.

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And activating calcineurin could potentially enable scientists to direct embryonic stem cells to become insulin-producing cells.

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Chen and her group hoped to induce the cancer by activating oncogenes, genes that trigger cancer, in a group of liver cells called hepatocytes.

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First came the remarkable work of Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, who showed it was possible, by activating just four genes, to take a mature cell (he used a bit of skin but other cells would work) and turn it into the equivalent of an embryonic stem cell with the potential to become any other cell in the body of mouse or human.

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