Molecular & Structural Biology

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New study provides unprecedented insights into retina's genetic code

Australian scientists have led the development of the world's most detailed gene map of the human retina, providing new insights which will help future research to prevent and treat blindness.

27 Aug 2019

Study shows microRNA can protect the heart from reperfusion injury

Heart muscle can continue to die even after restoring blood following a heart attack, and scientists have new evidence that one way to help it live is by boosting levels of a tiny RNA that helped the heart form.

27 Aug 2019

Ketogenic diet shown to support intestinal stem cells

Scientists have discovered that ketone bodies produced during the ketogenic diet trigger the proliferation of intestinal stem cells in adults.

26 Aug 2019

Salk researchers develop new gene-editing tool to target broad range of mutations, cell types

The ability to edit genes in living organisms offers the opportunity to treat a plethora of inherited diseases. However, many types of gene-editing tools are unable to target critical areas of DNA, and creating such a technology has been difficult as living tissue contains diverse types of cells.

26 Aug 2019

Scientists identify how nature builds with chitin

Writers know the power of the pen, but scientists are just discovering its secrets.

25 Aug 2019

Researchers discover new way to stop inflammation in the lungs due to sepsis, injury

University of Calgary researchers at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) led by Drs. Donna Senger, PhD, Paul Kubes, PhD, and Stephen Robbins, PhD have discovered a new way to stop harmful inflammation in the lungs due to sepsis and injury.

25 Aug 2019

Fruit fly develops a long-lasting body-size memory, shows research

In order to orient themselves and survive in their environment, animals must develop a concept of their own body size.

25 Aug 2019

Caltech researchers determine how memories form and fade

Why is it that you can remember the name of your childhood best friend that you haven't seen in years yet easily forget the name of a person you just met a moment ago? In other words, why are some memories stable over decades, while others fade within minutes?

25 Aug 2019

Astrocytes help the brain to establish long-lasting memories

Star-shaped cells called astrocytes help the brain establish long-lasting memories, Salk researchers have discovered.

25 Aug 2019

'Kissing loops' in lncRNA essential for tumor suppressor function

Human cells - like those of many other organisms - have developed mechanisms to protect us from cancer.

22 Aug 2019

New method prevents the release of synthetic DNA from genetically modified cells

The method prevents a gene that encodes a synthetic protein from spreading into the wild and stabilizes it so that it cannot mutate and lose its function.

21 Aug 2019

UGA study provides first evidence of biological clocks in individual cells

One of nature's most familiar phenomena is collective behavior- fish swimming in schools, locusts marching together, birds flocking.

21 Aug 2019

California clamps down on amateur use of gene-editing technologies

California state officials have passed the first law to prohibit genetic biohacking in an effort to regulate at-home gene editing.

20 Aug 2019

Researchers develop new gene editing system that could be used for anticancer immunotherapy

Dr. Mihue Jang and her group at the Center for Theragnosis of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology announced that they have developed a new gene-editing system that could be used for anticancer immunotherapy through the simultaneous suppression of proteins that interfere with the immune system expressed on the surface of lymphoma cells and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte, based on the results of joint research conducted with Prof. Seokmann Hong and his group at Sejong University.

20 Aug 2019

Lipid signaling pathway may enhance T cell-mediated immunotherapy

The immune system surveils our body looking for things that don't belong, often bacteria and viruses. While cancer cells are abnormal cells that undergo unregulated cell growth, they are good at evading detection by the immune system.

19 Aug 2019

Study shows synergistic effects of drugs that inhibit cell division in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with patients surviving on average less than a year once the disease has spread.

19 Aug 2019

Research shows how E. coli knows where and when to begin colonizing the colon

A pair of University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have revealed how E. coli seeks out the most oxygen-free crevices of your colon to cause the worst infection possible.

19 Aug 2019

Study shows how plants coordinate their internal circadian clocks

From cyanobacteria to humans, nearly all living things on Earth have an internal circadian clock that regulates their activities on a 24-hour cycle.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019

Fruit fly model for studying diseases like gout, kidney stones reveals new drug targets

A new fruit fly model that mimics diseases associated with high uric acid levels, such as gout and kidney stones, has revealed new targets for developing treatments for these diseases.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019

Simple technique to choose the sex of offspring by separating X and Y sperm

A simple, reversible chemical treatment can segregate X-bearing sperm from Y-bearing sperm, allowing dramatic alteration of the normal 50/50 male/female offspring ratio, according to a new study by Masayuki Shimada and colleagues at Hiroshima University, published on August 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The study was performed in mice, but the technique is likely to be widely applicable to other mammals as well.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019