Synthetic Molecules that Adhere Cells Could Galvanize Regenerative Medicine Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have engineered molecules that act like “cellular glue,” allowing them to direct in precise fashion how cells bond with each other. The discovery represents a major step toward building tissues and organs, a long-sought goal of regenerative medicine. Adhesive molecules […]
December 31, 2022
When cancer is detected early, the chances of survival increase by up to 90%. New detection and diagnostic tools from Northwestern Engineering professor Vadim Backman harness light to examine cells from accessible parts of the body in order to catch the earliest signs of cancer. If the technology is brought to market, it could affect […]
October 31, 2016
A new study has shown for the first time that RNA – the older molecular cousin of DNA – splits apart when it tries to incorporate change, while DNA can contort itself and change its shape to compensate for any chemical damage. The research could finally explain why the blueprint of life is made from […]
August 14, 2016
The B-DNA double helix can dynamically accommodate G-C and A-T base pairs in either Watson–Crick or Hoogsteen configurations. Here, we show that G-C+ (in which + indicates protonation) and A-U Hoogsteen base pairs are strongly disfavored in A-RNA. As a result,N1-methyladenosine and N1-methylguanosine, which occur in DNA as a form of alkylation damage and in […]
August 14, 2016
Designing and building a minimal genome A goal in biology is to understand the molecular and biological function of every gene in a cell. One way to approach this is to build a minimal genome that includes only the genes essential for life. In 2010, a 1079-kb genome based on the genome of Mycoplasma mycoides […]
March 28, 2016
Antibodies block Ebola virus entry The recent Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa illustrates the need for both an effective vaccine and therapies to treat infected individuals. Corti et al. isolated two monoclonal antibodies from a survivor of the 1995 Kikwit outbreak and demonstrated their therapeutic efficacy in Ebola virus–infected macaques. In fact, one antibody […]
March 22, 2016
Proteins can recognize one another. Each engages very specifically with only a subset of the many different proteins present in the living cell, like a key slotting into a lock. But what if the key is completely flexible, as is the case for so-called intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs)? The research teams headed by Edward Lemke […]
December 15, 2015
With eight hairy legs and seven joints on each — that’s a lot for a spider to coordinate just to take a single step. Prpic’s research team honed in on a gene called dachshund (dac). The gene was first discovered in fruit flies, and humorously named for the missing leg segments and shortened legs that […]
December 15, 2015
Plants in the genus Striga, also known as witchweed, act as parasites of other plants, tapping into their root systems and hijacking them for their own purposes. Though their purple flowers are pretty to look at, a field full of Striga plants is in fact a nightmare for a farmer who wants to grow corn, […]
December 15, 2015
Researchers studying the difference in tool use between our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, found that immature bonobos have low rates of object manipulation, in keeping with previous work showing bonobos use few tools and none in foraging. Chimpanzees, however, are the most diverse tool-users among non-human primates, and the researchers found high rates […]
December 15, 2015
Now researchers in Peter Chien’s group in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report finding how an essential bacterial protease controls cell growth and division. Details appear in the current issue of CELL. Lead author Kamal Joshi, a doctoral candidate in the Chien lab, conducted experiments in the […]
December 15, 2015
During cell division, each metaphase chromosome contains a single enormously long DNA molecule that is associated with histone proteins and forms a long chromatin filament with many nucleosomes. Current chromosome models consider that chromatin is folded forming loops or irregular networks. However, previous microscopy studies performed by researchers at the Chromatin Laboratory directed by professor […]
December 15, 2015
Various DNA shapes, including figure-8s, were imaged using a powerful microscopy technique by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in the US, and then examined using supercomputer simulations run at the University of Leeds. As reported online today in the journal Nature Communications, the simulations also show the dynamic nature of DNA, which constantly […]
December 15, 2015
The team of scientists from the John Innes Centre, the University of Wisconsin — Madison and other international collaborators, has discovered how an ancient alga was able to inhabit land, before it went on to evolve into the world’s first plant and colonise the earth. Up until now it had been assumed that the alga […]
December 15, 2015
The research findings have been released on November 20 in the online journal Nature Communications. Until now, it was believed that only worms, bacteria, and fungi could digest vegetable cellulose and use it as a source of carbon for their growth and survival. Plants, in contrast, engage in the photosynthesis of carbon dioxide, water, and […]
December 15, 2015
The £417,000 award from the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) will be used to develop a gel, originally created for stem cell research, to incorporate many of the key features found in human breast tissue such as proteins and sugars from the matrix surrounding the breast cells. […]
December 15, 2015
