Salk scientists add new bond to protein engineering toolbox

Proteins are the workhorses of cells, adopting conformations that allow them to set off chemical reactions, send signals and transport materials. But when a scientist is designing a new drug, trying to visualize the processes ...

Australia opens 'world's smartest' aquarium

A major research aquarium able to simulate ocean warming and carry out key studies on the deadly crown-of-thorns starfish devastating the Great Barrier Reef opened in Australia on Thursday.

Unraveling bacterial behavior

Bacteria encounter a constant barrage of ever-changing temperature, acidity and chemical stimuli from their environment. The cells must absorb all of this information and choose the correct response—whether boosting their ...

Breakthrough: Sensors monitor cells at work

Transport proteins are responsible for moving materials such as nutrients and metabolic products through a cell's outer membrane, which seals and protects all living cells, to the cell's interior. These transported molecules ...

Scientists model human disease in stem cells

Many scientists use animals to model human diseases. Mice can be obese or display symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Rats get Alzheimer's and diabetes.

Blowfly protein key to terror poison antidote

A protein that costs the Australian sheep industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year may also pave the way to an antidote for chemical warfare agents.

Molecular switch for cheaper biofuel

Biofuel is often obtained from starchy plants - but this places fuel production in competition with food production. At the Vienna University of Technology, genetically modified mold fungi are created, which have the ability ...

Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow

Having a neighborly chat improves seed germination, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology. Even when other known means of communication, such as contact, chemical and light-mediated signals, are ...

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