Lev A. Blumenfeld and spectroscopic studies of photosynthesis at the chair of biophysics, physical faculty, Moscow State University

Nowadays, spectroscopy methods are widely employed to study photosynthesis. For instance, fluorescence methods are often in use to study virtually all steps of the photosynthesis process. Theoretical models of phenomena under study are of importance for interpreting the experimental data. A decisive role of Lev A. Blumenfeld, the former Head of the Chair of Biophysics, Physical Faculty of the Moscow State University, in the study of photosynthesis is shown in this work.     

On the 60th anniversary of the Department of Embryology of Moscow State University

The Department of Embryology of Moscow State University is 60 years old on September 1, 2000. This is not all that old, especially in comparison with the almost 250-year history of the university itself or the 150-year history of embryology in Russia, but it is sufficient, in looking back, to grasp our present situation in the common flow of events and time.     

On the biophysics of vision

A photochemical system is considered which is similar to that of S. Hecht but which includes an intermediate substance between visual purple and visual white. This intermediate is assumed to change the embrane voltage of the photoreceptors. A simple model is presented from which one may calculate the frequency of the impulses resulting from the application of light. It is found that this physicochemicai model enables one to account for a considerable number of physiological phenomena of vision. Among these are the light and dark adaptation phenomena. By introducing a simple assumption regarding spatial interaction one can account for some psychological phenomena such as the effect of intensity, light-dark ratio, shape, and area on the critical flicker frequency. A number of other phenomena are discussed in terms of the model. This research was supported by the United States Air Force through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research of the Air Research and Development Command under Contract No. AF 18(600)-1454. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.     

Planarian embryology in the era of comparative developmental biology

During the last decade, the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) has emerged as a major research discipline in modern biology and an essential approach to understanding evolutionary relationships in the animal kingdom. At the same time, planarians have become a useful and important model with which to address basic questions regarding the molecular and cellular basis of regeneration, tissue repair and stem cells in adult organisms. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to their embryonic development, even though this provides a unique opportunity for studying how molecular developmental mechanisms are re-deployed during adult regeneration or the independent losses of spiral cleavage that took place in different lophotrochozoan lineages. In this paper, we review the most relevant works on planarian embryos from a historical point of view. In doing so, we highlight the questions that have recurrently intrigued researchers, most of which remain unanswered. Finally, we present a comprehensive scenario for planarian embryogenesis in an attempt to provide a testable hypothesis that will help to bridge the gap between this divergent mode of development, the ancestral canonical spiral cleavage, and adult planarian regeneration.     

Digital Herbarium of Moscow State University: The Largest Russian Biodiversity Database

In 2015–2016, 785887 specimens were scanned at the Herbarium of Moscow State University (MW), which comprised 77.7% of the total collection. The metadata of the digital herbarium include the identifier (ID) of each specimen, its species name, and geographical reference (area code). As the largest in Russia database with respect to biodiversity, the Herbarium includes 712925 images of specimens of vascular plants and 72962 specimens of bryophytes. The digital herbarium is interrelated with the Catalogue of Life international database and has enriched it with 160 new species. Images of 781882 specimens have been put online as JPG files (the resolution is 300 dpi) on the web portal of the National Depository Bank of Live Systems (https://plant.depo.msu.ru/). The portal is open for all Russian biological collections.     

Teaching the cell biology of aging at the Harbin Institute of Technology and Moscow State University

Approaches to teaching the cell biology of aging (cytogerontology), within the appropriate agreements by scientists of the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University and at the Department of Life Science and Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology (China), are described. The authors draw attention to certain differences in teaching biology between the two institutions and emphasize the significance of a system approach to teaching cytogerontology. This approach makes it absolutely necessary to introduce the course on the basics of biology of aging. It is concluded that full perception of the data from modern molecular cell cytogerontological research, by the students from both institutions, is impossible without understanding the fundamental notions and definitions used in both theoretical and experimental gerontology.     

Integrating self-organization theory into an advanced course on morphogenesis at Moscow State University

A lecture course on morphogenesis for fourth-year Moscow State University Specialist Diploma students specializing in embryology is described. The main goal of the course is to give the students an extensive theoretical background based on the tenets of the modern theory of Self-Organization and to show them how important this theory is for the proper understanding of developmental events. The corresponding mathematics are bound as tightly as possible to the actual morphogenetic processes. All of the lectures take the format of an active dialogue between the students and a tutor.     

Successes in medical biophysics (on the 40th anniversary of the Medico-biological faculty of the Russian State Medical University)

On the occasion of the 40-year anniversary of the Medicobiological Faculty of the Russian State Medical University, the research activity of the biophysics department was summed up. The main result is the creation of medical biophysics as part of the medicobiological science. Scientific investigations of the biophysics department are reviewed. They are presented as follows: chemiluminescence of biological systems; effect of visible light on human and animal molecules and cells; application of luminescence methods in laboratory and clinical investigations; free radicals and their role in cell biology and pathology; medical aspects of molecular biophysics; and biological membranes and cell pathology.     

Seventy years of the Department of Cytology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University

Histology, which is inseparable from cytology as a scientific discipline, has been taught at the University of Moscow for more than 130 years. In the second half of the XIX century, this discipline made a revolutionary impact on physiology and medicine in European science. The first Department (Chair) of Histology and Embryology was established at the Moscow Imperial University in 1869 at the Faculty of Medicine under Prof. A.I. Babukhin, the famous founder of Russian histology. Several outstanding scientists, such as I.F. Ognev, A.G. Gurvich, B.I. Lavrent'ev, and others, graduated from that Department.     

Seventy Years of the Department of Cytology and Histology,Faculty of Biology,Moscow State University

Russian Journal of Developmental Biology -