Molecule News and Research

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Arctic Actinobacteria Yield Novel Antivirulence Compounds Against E. coli

A novel set of techniques was created by researchers in Finland and Norway to screen unknown substances with bacterial origin for antivirulence activity.

2 Sep 2024

Unexpected RNA Mechanism Controls Black Pigment in Butterfly Wings

A team of international researchers has uncovered a surprising genetic mechanism that influences the vibrant and complex patterns on butterfly wings.

2 Sep 2024

Illuminating Plant Defense Mechanisms Through Light-Activated Ion Channels

When it comes to survival, plants have a huge disadvantage compared to many other living organisms: they cannot simply change their location if predators or pathogens attack them or the environmental conditions change to their disadvantage.

29 Aug 2024

RNA Interference Drugs Offer Faster, More Effective Alternative to Traditional Drug Discovery

Alnylam's RNA interference platform accelerates drug discovery by targeting RNA transcripts, addressing complex diseases with innovative therapeutic strategies.

28 Aug 2024

CDCA7's Role in DNA Methylation Maintenance Revealed in Recent Study

DNA methylation is a process in which a methyl group is attached to the cytosine base of the DNA molecule, and a major way that DNA is epigenetically marked. Epigenetic modifications can act as on-off switches to regulate gene expression and help generate diverse cell types without changing the underlying DNA sequence. It is how the body ensures that brain-related genes don't get turned on in heart cells, for example.

28 Aug 2024

Unraveling the Molecular Mechanism Behind Neocapritermes taracua's Explosive Defense

Researchers from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with colleagues from the Faculty of Tropical AgriScience of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, are unraveling the mysteries of the life of termites.

28 Aug 2024

Engineering Cyanobacteria-Yeast Systems for Synthetic Biology

Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids to perform photosynthetic carbon assimilation, generate cellular energy and support yeast growth without traditional carbon feedstocks like glucose or glycerol.

27 Aug 2024

New SPARXS Technique Revolutionizes DNA Sequence Analysis

"DNA, RNA and proteins are the key players to regulate all processes in the cells of our body," Leiden Professor John van Noort explains. "To understand the (mis-)functioning of these molecules, it is essential to uncover how their 3D structure depends on their sequence and for this it is necessary to measure them one molecule at a time. However, single-molecule measurements are laborious and slow, and the number of possible sequence variations is massive."

23 Aug 2024

Scientists Discover How AML Cells Use P-Bodies to Sustain Growth

An international team of scientists has uncovered a mechanism by which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells sustain their growth.

22 Aug 2024

New Insights into Cell Communication During Inflammation

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have made significant progress in understanding how cells communicate during inflammation.

16 Aug 2024

Researchers Uncover Role of OpgH in Bacterial Cell Shape

In what they labeled a "surprising" finding, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers studying bacteria from freshwater lakes and soil say they have determined a protein's essential role in maintaining the germ's shape. Because the integrity of a bacterial cell's "envelope" or enclosure is key to its survival, the finding could advance the search for new and better antibiotics.

16 Aug 2024

Study Uncovers Biomarkers for Low Muscle Mass, Offering Insights for Personalized Prevention

Machine learning models to analyze computed tomography (CT) images of the chest and a proteomics approach to determine blood protein biomarkers.

15 Aug 2024

Discovery of Largest Protein Sheds Light on Toxin Production in Marine Algae

While seeking to unravel how marine algae create their chemically complex toxins, scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have discovered the largest protein yet identified in biology.

12 Aug 2024

Discovery of Free-Floating Genes in Bacteria Challenges Genetic Code Assumptions

Since the genetic code was first deciphered in the 1960s, our genes seemed like an open book. By reading and decoding our chromosomes as linear strings of letters, like sentences in a novel, we can identify the genes in our genome and learn why changes in a gene's code affect health.

12 Aug 2024

New Microscope Peels Back Layers of Cellular Mystery

What does the inside of a cell really look like? In the past, standard microscopes were limited in how well they could answer this question. Now, researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Oxford, in collaboration with the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), have succeeded in developing a microscope with resolutions better than five nanometers (five billionths of a meter). This is roughly equivalent to the width of a hair split into 10,000 strands. Their new method was published in Nature Photonics.

9 Aug 2024

Exploring Drug Repurposing For Arboviral Infections Through Cavitomix

The CavitOmiX drug discovery method, developed by the drug and enzyme discovery platform Innophore.

2 Aug 2024

Highly Reactive RNA Building Blocks for Enhanced Chip Production

A multinational research team under the direction of the University of Vienna has been successful in creating new RNA building blocks that exhibit increased photosensitivity and chemical reactivity. In biotechnological and medical research, RNA chips can be produced much faster as a result of this.

1 Aug 2024

Breakthrough in Understanding Brain's Master Protein

Proteins engage in intricate molecular movements to fulfill their biological roles. The NMDAR protein, crucial for brain function, performs a particularly complex dance.

1 Aug 2024

Researchers Uncover Unique Protective Mechanism in Pancreatic Cells

Researchers from the University of Cologne have revealed a mechanism protecting pancreatic β-cells, which are crucial for insulin production from inflammatory cell death. The study investigated the role of receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) in regulating β-cell survival.

1 Aug 2024