Graphical abstract. Credit: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.12.080A team of undergraduate and also graduate chemistry students in Jennifer Hines' laboratory at Ohio University recently uncovered a current class of compounds that can target RNA and disrupt its function. This discovery determined a chemical scaffold that might ultimately be utilized in the development of...
Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports Physical Science (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.101237A group of scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the College of Regensburg, both in Germany, has discovered that it is possible to develop origami DNA frameworks that can be used to trap large viruses. In their paper released in the journal Cell Reports Physical...
Lake Gossenköllesee is located in the Tyrolean Alps. Credit: Christopher BellasThough human beings, along with other vertebrate and invertebrate organisms, do not photosynthesize, we're certainly the downstream beneficiaries of the life forms that do. Phototrophic organisms at the bottom of the food chain convert plentiful sunlight into the energy that ultimately powers all other...
Stem cells are the blank slate on which all specialised cells in our bodies are built and they are the foundation for every organ and tissue in the body.Maturing and resisting it has long been a prominent point in traditional and modern literary works in human history. From the unfortunate Qin Shi Huang's exploration...
Loss of Parafibromin/Hyrax results in loss of neural stem cell (NSC) polarity, leading to a switch from asymmetric to symmetric division. Credit: Duke-NUS.Researchers in Singapore and Spain have gained new insights into the task of a tumor-suppressor protein in fruit flies that help the understanding of some human cancer cells. The research, releaed in PLOS...
Credit: UnsplashA group of scientists from Helmholtz Munich has identified a new use for vitamin K, typically recognized for its part in blood clotting. In its fully reduced configuration, the researchers discovered that vitamin K operates as an anti-oxidant by efficiently inhibiting ferroptotic cell death. Ferroptosis is a natural kind of cell death in...
Classes of transcription clusters. Credit: Nature Communications (2022)Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Indika Rajapakse, Ph.D., is a believer. The engineer and mathematician now discovers himself a biologist. And he believes the charm of blending these 3 disciplines is crucial to unraveling how cells...
Daran-Lapujade’s lab took human DNA (in red) encoding core functions in muscle cells, and inserted it into the DNA (chromosomes in purple) of a yeast cell (in yellow). The humanized yeast can be used as a tool for medical studies, for example in drug screening and cancer research. Credit: Ella Maru Studio / Pascale...
Mitochondria are the energy powerhouses in eukaryotic cells. One popular hypothesis claims these organelles were a pre-requisite to the transition from simpler prokaryotes like bacteria and archaea to larger, more complex eukaryotic organisms. The new study challenges this assumption. Credit: Jason DreesIn the beginning, there was boredom. Following the emergence of cellular life on...
