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Categories: Biology: Molecular, Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published Mapping unknown territory


A detailed atlas of gene expression in the zebrafish brain.
Published Degrading modified proteins could treat Alzheimer's, other 'undruggable' diseases


Certain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are currently considered 'undruggable' because traditional small molecule drugs can't interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses. But a new technique that specifically targets and breaks apart certain proteins -- rather than just interfering with them -- may offer a pathway toward treatment. Researchers have now designed a compound that targets and breaks down a post-translationally modified protein closely associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Published New purification method could make protein drugs cheaper



Engineers devised a way to purify protein drugs during manufacturing. Their approach, which uses nanoparticles to rapidly crystallize proteins, could help make protein drugs more affordable and accessible, especially in developing countries.
Published New hydrogel stem cell treatment repairs injured brain tissue in mice


A new hybrid hydrogel that safely delivers stem cells to brain injury sites in mice has been developed. This solves a major challenge -- keeping stem cells alive for long enough to evolve into the cells required to create new tissue after insertion into a damaged part of the body.
Published New superacid converts harmful compounds into sustainable chemicals


Researchers have succeeded in producing very special catalysts, known as 'Lewis superacids', which can be used to break strong chemical bonds and speed up reactions. The production of these substances has, until now, proven extremely difficult. The chemists' discovery enables non-biodegradable fluorinated hydrocarbons, similar to Teflon, and possibly even climate-damaging greenhouse gases, such as sulphur hexafluoride, to be converted back into sustainable chemicals.
Published Evolutionary history of detoxifying enzymes reconstructed


Biochemists have succeeded in resurrecting the ancestral genes of five detoxifying enzymes which are present in all tetrapods to show how their divergence in function has occurred.
Published Chaos on the nanometer scale


Chaotic behavior is typically known from large systems: for example, from weather, from asteroids in space that are simultaneously attracted by several large celestial bodies, or from swinging pendulums that are coupled together. On the atomic scale, however, one does normally not encounter chaos -- other effects predominate. Now scientists have been able to detect clear indications of chaos on the nanometer scale -- in chemical reactions on tiny rhodium crystals.
Published Ancient proteins offer new clues about origin of life on Earth



By simulating early Earth conditions in the lab, researchers have found that without specific amino acids, ancient proteins would not have known how to evolve into everything alive on the planet today -- including plants, animals, and humans.
Published Cells avoid multitasking


Textbooks will tell you that in dividing cells, production of new DNA peaks during the S-phase, while production of other macromolecules, such as proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides, continues at more or less the same level. Molecular biologists have now discovered that this is not true: protein synthesis shows two peaks and lipid synthesis peaks once.
Published Successful cure of HIV infection after stem cell transplantation, study suggests


Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of severe blood cancers is the only medical intervention that has cured two people living with HIV in the past. An international group of physicians and researchers has now identified another case in which HIV infection has been shown to be cured in the same way. The successful healing process of this third patient was for the first time characterized in great detail virologically and immunologically over a time span of ten years.
Published The achilles heel of the influenza virus: Ubiquitin protein may be an approach for future medicines



Influenza viruses are becoming increasingly resilient to medicines. For this reason, new active ingredients are needed. Important findings in this regard have been provided: for the virus to proliferate, the polymerase of the influenza A virus has to be modified many times through enzymes in the host cells. The team of researchers was able to produce a comprehensive map of types of modification. Medicines directed against the enzymes woud be resilient to rapid mutations in the virus, thus offering great potential for the future.
Published Research captures and separates important toxic air pollutant


A series of new stable, porous materials that capture and separate benzene have been developed.
Published Making engineered cells dance to ultrasound


A team has developed a method for selectively manipulating genetically engineered cells with ultrasound.
Published Psyllium fiber protects against colitis by activating bile acid sensor, biomedical sciences researchers find



Psyllium fiber protects against ulcerative colitis and suppresses inflammation by activating the bile acid nuclear receptor, a mechanism that was previously unrecognized, according to a new study.
Published Electrodes grown in the brain -- paving the way for future therapies for neurological disorders


The boundaries between biology and technology are becoming blurred. Researchers have now successfully grown electrodes in living tissue using the body's molecules as triggers. The result paves the way for the formation of fully integrated electronic circuits in living organisms.
Published Novel air filter captures wide variety of pollutants



An air filter made out of corn protein instead of petroleum products can concurrently capture small particulates as well as toxic chemicals like formaldehyde that current air filters can't. The research could lead to better air purifiers, particularly in regions of the world that suffer from very poor air quality. The more environmentally friendly air filter was able to simultaneously capture 99.5% of small particulate matter, similar to commercial HEPA filters, and 87% of formaldehyde, which is higher than specially designed air filters for those types of toxics.
Published Theory can sort order from chaos in complex quantum systems


Theoretical chemists have developed a theory that can predict the threshold at which quantum dynamics switches from 'orderly' to 'random,' as shown through research using large-scale computations on photosynthesis models.
Published Single gene causes sea anemone's stinging cell to lose its sting


When scientists disabled a single regulatory gene in a species of sea anemone, a stinging cell that shoots a venomous miniature harpoon for hunting and self-defense shifted to shoot a sticky thread that entangles prey instead, according to a new study.
Published A human interactome to prioritize drug discovery


Researchers create a network of interacting proteins -- or interactome -- to aid drug discovery.
Published A molecular machine's secret weapon exposed


RNAs can wreak havoc on cells if they aren't removed at the right time. Dis3L2 is a molecular 'machine' that untangles and chews up RNAs, but scientists have been unable to explain how. Biochemists have now pieced together the answer. By shape-shifting, the machine unsheathes a lethal wedge that pries open and chews up RNA molecules, a behavior previously unseen.