Physicists explain how large spherical viruses form

A virus, the simplest physical object in biology, consists of a protein shell called the capsid, which protects its nucleic acid genome—RNA or DNA.  The capsid can be cylindrical or conical in shape, but more commonly ...

Researchers design first artificial ribosome

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University have engineered a tethered ribosome that works nearly as well as the authentic cellular component, or organelle, that produces all the proteins ...

Bringing information into the cell

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have elucidated an important part of a signal pathway that transmits information through the cell membrane into the interior of a cell.

How protein complexes form in the cell

The formation of protein complexes is a highly organised process that does not begin with the "finished" proteins. Studies conducted by researchers at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH) and the ...

Revealing bacterial chainmail structure

An international team of scientists has uncovered the structure of the protective protein coat which surrounds many bacteria like a miniature suit of armour. Their research, which is published today in Nature, has far ranging ...

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