Biochemistry

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Scientists discover new enzyme that could help in the battle against obesity

Scientists have discovered a new enzyme in adipose tissue that helps regulate inflammation. The discovery could help in the battle against obesity.

15 Jan 2018

Study finds new mechanism regulating giant protein essential for muscle and heart function

Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III and Columbia University in New York have discovered an important mechanism in the regulation of a protein that plays an essential role in the function of skeletal muscle and the heart.

12 Jan 2018

Researchers create visual database of metabolites from blood samples

Researchers in Japan have created a database of metabolites from blood samples collected from over 5,000 Japanese volunteers, making it freely available online as a valuable resource for researchers around the world.

22 Dec 2017

Researchers design new polymer particles using DNA strands

McGill University researchers have chemically imprinted polymer particles with DNA strands - a technique that could lead to new materials for applications ranging from biomedicine to the promising field of "soft robotics."

20 Dec 2017

Pittcon Release eBook Featuring the Latest Scientific Advances

Ahead of the 2018 conference and expo, Pittcon has released an eBook that highlights the latest advances in a range of scientific disciplines. It is an ‘ultimate compilation’ of scientific articles and interviews with some of the worlds leading scientists.

From Pittcon 19 Dec 2017

Scientists engineer light-emitting plant

MIT researchers investigating plant nanobionics have succeeded in engineering a plant that can emit light.

14 Dec 2017

Scientists introduce polyproline as effective cryoprotectant for monolayers of cells

Nature has evolved sugars, amino acids, and special antifreeze proteins as cryoprotectants. People use organic solvents and synthetic polymers as additives to prevent cell cultures from freezing damage.

7 Dec 2017

Overcoming Challenges of Assays of Complex Cellular Models with Real-Time Live-Cell Analysis

There's a continued drive towards making in vitro assays ever more translational towards in vivo models and ultimately the clinic. This ties in with the resurgence of phenotypic screening and is a response to the perceived poor translation of the traditional simple cell-based assays, often developed to study just single protein targets.

From Sartorius 5 Dec 2017

Using AFM to characterize cancer cells

An interview with Dr. Jim Gimzewski, UCLA conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab).

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 28 Nov 2017

Study reveals frying foods may impact climate by enhancing cloud formation

A new study published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications suggests that fats released into the atmosphere from cookers like deep fat fryers may enhance cloud formation, resulting in a major cooling effect on the earth.

24 Nov 2017

Foods made with biofortified corn flour and eggs retain vitamin A after cooking

Fortified and biofortified foods are at the forefront of efforts to combat vitamin A deficiency worldwide. But little is known about what influence processing may have on the retention of vitamin A precursors in these foods.

16 Nov 2017

Scientists invent new way of folding and protecting recombinant proteins

A team from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has invented a fundamentally new way of folding and protecting recombinant proteins.

13 Nov 2017

Study finds potential chemical compound that initiated life on Earth

A new study conducted at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found a compound called diamidophosphate (DAP), which is expected to have played a vital role in the origins of life on Earth.

8 Nov 2017

Study finds link between increased brain glucose levels and Alzheimer's

A new study published yesterday in Alzheimer's & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, found a link for the first time between abnormalities in the mechanism of glucose breakdown in the brain and the severity of tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain, as well as the commencement of visible symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Nov 2017

New optical microscopy technique reveals dimerization of ‘toll-like receptors’

The surface of every cell contains receptors that react to external signals similar to a "gate". In this way, the cells of the innate immune system can differentiate between friend and foe partly through their "toll-like receptors" (TLRs).

3 Nov 2017

Saliva proteins could explain differences in salt perception among people

Many Americans consume too much salt. Now in a study appearing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists report that people who can easily taste salt have differing amounts of certain proteins in their saliva than those who are less sensitive.

2 Nov 2017

Natural-shaped plastic nanoparticles could improve delivery of toxic drugs to tumors

UNSW Sydney scientists have developed a way to control the shape of polymer molecules so they self-assemble into non-spherical nanoparticles - an advance that could improve the delivery of toxic drugs to tumors.

1 Nov 2017

Protein identified as promising novel obesity treatment

This week Amgen published data showing that injection of a protein known as growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) facilitated weight loss in obese mice and primates.

20 Oct 2017

Study shows that endocrine disrupting chemicals alter sex ratio in Blanchard's cricket frogs

A study published recently in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry found that Blanchard's cricket frogs are highly sensitive to atrazine.

13 Oct 2017

TSRI scientists demonstrate repurposing of DNA to create new substances

DNA evolved to store genetic information, but in principle this special, chain-like molecule can also be adapted to make new materials. Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute have now published an important demonstration of this repurposing of DNA to create new substances with possible medical applications.

12 Oct 2017