Biochemistry

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Neuroscientists show how expectations influence learning

During learning, the brain is a prediction engine that continually makes theories about our environment and accurately registers whether an assumption is true or not.

16 Apr 2020

Discovery of specialized gut-brain circuit offers insight into sugar preference

Artificial sweeteners have never fully succeeded in impersonating sugar. Now, a Columbia study in mice has identified a brain mechanism that may explain why.

15 Apr 2020

Skoltech scientists propose new method to make doping tests quicker

Skoltech scientists and their colleagues proposed a way to simplify the search for traces of medicines, narcotic substances and sports doping drugs in human biological samples by performing two additional tests with the search domain reduced tenfold.

13 Apr 2020

Super-charging production of drugs for COVID-19

Researchers are ramping up production of a promising drug that has proven effective in obliterating SARS-CoV in cellular cultures. The team hopes that the drug might also be effective in the fight against SARS's close genetic cousin, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

13 Apr 2020

UB biologist investigates how foxglove plants create medicinal compounds

Foxglove plants, found in many gardens, are known for the showers of bell-shaped flowers they produce.

13 Apr 2020

New insights into the building blocks of periodontitis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major bacterial pathogen which leads to periodontitis also known as gum disease. In Japan, 80% of adults aged 35 and over suffer from this disease. What's more, P. gingivalis has also been linked to rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, pancreatic cancer, and even Alzheimer's disease.

13 Apr 2020

Chemists identify a drug to rescue winter depression-like behavior

A group of animal biologists and chemists at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, has used a chemical genomics approach to explore the underlying mechanism of winter depression-like behavior and identified a drug that rescues winter depression-like behavior in medaka fish.

13 Apr 2020

Unraveling interactions between metal ions and peptides may lead to new therapies for diseases

Copper ions could play a key role when peptide folding goes wrong and leads to harmful aggregates.

12 Apr 2020

Researchers discover how sweet taste perception is fine-tuned in response to diets

Researchers at the University of Sydney have discovered the basic science of how sweet taste perception is fine-tuned in response to different diets.

10 Apr 2020

Researchers discover novel role for dopamine that impacts gene expression related to cocaine abuse

A new role for dopamine independent of classic neurotransmission may be critical gene expression changes related to cocaine use.

9 Apr 2020

Drinking green tea may benefit people with food allergies

Research findings suggest gut microbes can effect allergic immune responses. Tasuku Ogita who has recently joined Shinshu University is an expert on teas and their effects on gut bacteria.

8 Apr 2020

Researches implant ultrathin, flexible brain interfaces with long lifetimes

Researchers have demonstrated neural implantation of an ultrathin, flexible neural interface with thousands of electrodes.

8 Apr 2020

Study reveals how serotonin balances communication within the brain

Our brain is steadily engaged in soliloquies. These internal communications are usually also bombarded with external sensory events.

7 Apr 2020

Researchers gain new insight into how lipids function within tears

New understandings of how lipids function within tears could lead to better drugs for treating dry eye disease.

7 Apr 2020

Brown fat cells can translate energy into heat in an unexpected way

When we are exposed to sufficient cold or exercise, small clusters of brown fat cells in our bodies begin to burn up energy.

6 Apr 2020

Natural approaches along with current therapies could improve colon cancer treatment

Using a modified natural substance along with current approaches could improve colon cancer treatment, according to findings by University of California, Irvine biologists.

6 Apr 2020

Researchers find direct link between MCL1 protein and cell-cycle checkpoint protein

Human cells respond to stresses like DNA damage, metabolic imbalance and starvation by first trying to repair the problem.

5 Apr 2020

Creating plant-based, protein-rich food that looks and feels more like meat

A team of University of Massachusetts Amherst food scientists has been awarded a grant from the Good Food Institute to create tasty, plant-based, protein-rich food that's similar in texture to whole chicken, pork or beef.

5 Apr 2020

Giant Madeiran squill likely to have accumulated antibiotics from contaminated soil

A previous study has shown that a type of squill growing in Madeira produces a chemical compound that may be useful as a medicinal drug.

5 Apr 2020

Investigating Human Disease with Mass Spectrometry-based Proteomics

Dr. Andrew Webb describes how his lab uses mass spectrometry-based techniques to understand the role of post-translational modifications in human disease.

From Bruker Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry 3 Apr 2020