Page 32 - Biochemistry News Today

The scientist who helped beat Ebola in Nigeria on Africa’s success against Covid-19 — and his trailblazing plans to pre-empt future pandemics

 E-Mail IMAGE: Mitoribosomes are tethered to the mitochondrial inner membrane to facilitate insertion of synthesized proteins (yellow) encoded by the mitochondrial genome. A gating mechanism of the exit tunnel (cyan) enables protein... view more  Credit: Dan W. Nowakowski and Alexey Amunts Mitochondria are organelles that act as the powerhouses in our body. They use oxygen which we inhale and food we eat to produce energy that supports our life. This molecular activity is performed by...

Fractured rocks of impact craters have been suggested to be suitable environments for deep colonization of microbial communities. In a new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, a team of researchers shows that fungi has colonized deep parts of the largest impact crater in Europe, the Siljan impact structure, Sweden. Intriguingly, the fungi seem to have been fueling methane production in the crater.

Researchers at Cornell, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands have developed a nasal formulation that blocks the spread of COVID-19 among ferrets – and are hopeful the formulation could have the same effect on humans, and potentially generate therapeutic treatments as well. Ferrets are one of the best animal models for COVID-19, because they take the virus quite readily, and undergo both direct contact and airborne transmission. Ferrets, si...

 E-Mail IMAGE: This Airyscan super-resolution image shows that fucose-containing sulphated polysaccharide, or FCSP, (in green) occurred around the cells of the chain-forming diatom Chaetoceros socialis and their spines. Sample collected during the... view more  Credit: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology/S. Vidal-Melgosa A major pathway for carbon sequestration in the ocean is the growth, aggregation and sinking of phytoplankton - unicellular microalgae like diatoms. Just lik...

Mouse brain showing genetically modified cells stuck in the neural precursor stage (red, yellow) and unable to progress to become neurons. Image credit:...

Methylation is a small protein modification that uses SAM as a co-factor. This study shows how SAM is required for mitochondrial function in various...

 E-Mail IMAGE: INRS Professor Marc A. Gauthier is a specialist in dynamic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and biomaterials. view more  Credit: Christian Fleury (INRS) A research team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has improved the protective effect of a molecule against ischemic stroke, which is caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain. The results of the study, conducted in collaboration with a Spanish team, were published in the Communica...

 E-Mail IMAGE: Newly designed beta-barrel proteins fold spontaneously into their intended structures and embed into lipid membranes. How the proteins were created from scratch, and their future potential in the construction of... view more  Credit: Ian Haydon, UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design In a milestone for biomolecular design, a team of scientists has succeeded in creating new proteins that adopt one of the most complex folds known to molecular biology. These designer pro...

Date Time Share In Dueling Ants Vying to Become Replacement Queen, Behavioral and Molecular Cues Quickly Determine Who Will Win “Pseudoqueens” rapidly emerge after social structure is disrupted by the loss of queen In Indian jumping ants, workers duel with their antennae to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. Photo credit: Giacomo Mancini, NYU In one species of ants, workers duel to establish new leadership after the death of their queen. While these sparring matches...