Riboswitches are RNA segments that switch genes on and off, either during DNA transcription or during protein translation, but little is known about the precise workings of this process. A study at SISSA uncovers some of the basic steps in this complex mechanism and paves the way for future research.
Nov 4th, 2013
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Scientists looking to create a potent blend of enzymes to transform materials like corn stalks and wood chips into fuels have developed a test that should turbocharge their efforts. The work revolves around the fungus Trichoderma reesei, which introduced itself to US troops during World War II by chewing through their tents in the Pacific theater. Now the fungus is a star in the world of biofuels.
Nov 4th, 2013
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A new method of producing na�ve induced pluripotent stem cells holds promise for the future of regenerative biomedical research.
Oct 31st, 2013
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Researchers at the University of Manchester's Institute of Biotechnology have used the power of off-the-shelf computer gaming technology to capture previously unobservable atomic movements.
Oct 31st, 2013
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Researchers have discovered that the protein LIMP 2 possesses a novel protein fold together with a nanomicroscopically small transport tunnel.
Oct 28th, 2013
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Researchers are on the way to making parts of a bioartificial kidney out of a novel polymer - which could reduce the risk of transplants being rejected by the human body.
Oct 24th, 2013
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For 10 years, Patrick Cramer and his colleagues at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have probed the structure of RNA polymerase I, a crucial cog in the machinery of all cells. Now they unveil the full three-dimensional conformation of the enzyme - at atomic resolution.
Oct 24th, 2013
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The molecular machine that makes essential components of ribosomes - the cell's protein factories - is like a Swiss-army knife, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Centro de Investigaciones Biol�gicas in Madrid, Spain, have found.
Oct 24th, 2013
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Researchers from Rice University's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics have deciphered the operating principles of a genetic circuit that allows cancer to metastasize. The study revealed that the decision circuit has three settings, an oddity that could open the door to cancer treatments that disrupt the circuit.
Oct 24th, 2013
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Berkeley Lab researchers at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) have invented a new technique for studying the process by which certain errors in the genetic code are detected and repaired.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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A new tool is uncovering the fundamentals of how cells respond to surfaces and could potentially improve the effectiveness of biomedical implants.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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Semiconductor Research Corporation, the world's leading university-research consortium for semiconductor technologies, today launched the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology (SSB) research program on hybrid bio-semiconductor systems to provide insights and opportunities for future information and communication technologies. The program will initially fund research at six universities: MIT, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yale, Georgia Tech, Brigham Young and the University of Washington.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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To produce proteins on an industrial scale without using living cells is the ambitious goal of cell-free bioproduction. This method could help us to produce biological ingredients more quickly and with fewer resources than conventional techniques allow.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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Laboratory-grown structures akin to hair follicles could aid the search for novel drugs to treat baldness and other hair disorders.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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Bioengineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown that physical cues can replace certain chemicals when nudging mature cells back to a pluripotent stage, capable of becoming any cell type in the body.
Oct 20th, 2013
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How some plant species evolved super-efficient photosynthesis had been a mystery. Now, scientists have identified what steps led to that change.
Oct 17th, 2013
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With the flick of a light switch, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies can change the shape of a protein in the brain of a mouse, turning on the protein at the precise moment they want. This allows the scientists to observe the exact effect of the protein's activation.
Oct 17th, 2013
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Clay can be used in various forms for a range of objects such as cups, plates or bricks. Similarly, proteins can transform their structure and thus adapt their function and activity. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin have analysed proteins for such modifications that control gene activity, so-called transcription factors.
Oct 17th, 2013
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