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Molecular & Computational biology news
Toward experiment-guided AlphaFold: Researchers overcome AI tool's single-conformation limitation
The AI-based program AlphaFold predicts a protein's 3D structure with remarkable accuracy. However, it tends to reduce heterogeneous structures to a single dominant conformation, or shape, and overlooks experimental conditions ...
Biotechnology
1 hour ago
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Ancient algal defenses against UV may have helped plants conquer land
A new study sheds light on how the ancestors of modern land plants survived one of the most challenging aspects of life outside water: exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. By examining a microscopic alga closely ...
Evolution
17 hours ago
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Screen reveals new proteins that control RNA processing
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a large-scale screening approach that identifies proteins controlling a fundamental step in gene expression known as alternative polyadenylation (APA). ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 26, 2026
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California's unidentified coastal species get a DNA library of their own
The closest thing marine taxonomists have to the Olympics is now underway in San Diego. But instead of racing for medals, leading scientists are spending two weeks working together to catalog the extraordinary diversity of ...
Ecology
Jun 26, 2026
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Secrets of how we see color revealed at the molecular level
A global team has cracked a decades-old mystery, revealing the atomic structures of the molecules in our eyes that allow us to see colors. "To understand how we detect light and perceive colors, we need to know the exact ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 26, 2026
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Scientists find antidepressant in the brains of sharks off the coast of Rio de Janeiro
Sertraline is one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world. Global sertraline sales are expected to keep growing, projected to expand from an estimated US$1.94 billion in 2025 to approximately US$3.13 billion ...
Ecology
Jun 26, 2026
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How a 'copper economy' helps fungi and bacteria build stubborn biofilms
Scientists have discovered that two common human pathogens can work together by managing copper in their shared environment—a finding that could open new ways to break down stubborn mixed biofilms.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 26, 2026
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Centuries-old planktonic shell mystery solved with discovery of self-assembling proteins
Biomaterials with extraordinary properties, such as spider silk, have so far been known primarily from animals. Researchers at the University of Salzburg in Austria have now deciphered a surprising counterpart from the world ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 25, 2026
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Ultra-precise technology can count damaged DNA fragments
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science has developed an ultrasensitive immunoassay-based analytical platform that can detect and quantify trace amounts of "Small Excised Damaged DNA (sedDNA)" fragments generated ...
Biotechnology
Jun 25, 2026
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Antibiotics trigger bacterial teamwork, boosting survival through shared proteins
When bacteria are under antibiotic attack, it is not "every man for himself." Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues from collaborating institutions have discovered that bacterial populations work as a team ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 25, 2026
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Researchers identify dual-function rice gene that boosts drought tolerance and grain yield
As climate change intensifies droughts and other environmental stresses, maintaining crop productivity has become a major challenge for global agriculture. Drought can impair chloroplast development, reducing photosynthetic ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 25, 2026
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Discovery of enzymes that control pores on leaf surfaces could lead to drought-resistant crops
A research team at the Ruhr University Bochum Department of Molecular and Cellular Botany, led by Professor Christopher Grefen, has uncovered how plants form the tiny pores on their leaves responsible for gas exchange and ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 25, 2026
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Self-propelled actin filaments may explain how cells change shape spontaneously
Cells can spontaneously change shape even without external signals, but the underlying mechanisms behind this form of self-organization have remained unclear. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered self-propelled treadmilling ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 25, 2026
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X-ray snapshots reveal how viral shells change shape as they dry out
When viruses travel through the air in tiny droplets, they can quickly start to dry out. Yet many viruses remain infectious after rehydration—something that is still not fully understood. Now, an international team of researchers ...
Biotechnology
Jun 24, 2026
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What happens when environmental change outpaces life's ability to adapt?
When an animal's environment changes faster than the animal can adapt, its chances of survival can flatline. The same is true for populations and even entire species. Now, scientists at MIT and the University of Leicester ...
Evolution
Jun 24, 2026
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Synthetic DNA toolkit expands scientists' ability to recognize genetic targets
A new method for recognizing and targeting DNA that dramatically expands the range of genetic sequences scientists can identify has been developed by experts at the University of Portsmouth. Published this week in Nature ...
Biotechnology
Jun 24, 2026
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Environmental DNA reveals impact of climate and humans on global river fish biodiversity
A global analysis of fish biodiversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) reveals how human activity and climate influence biodiversity patterns in river ecosystems. An international research team led by the University of Zurich, ...
Ecology
Jun 24, 2026
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CleanFinder brings browser-based genome editing analysis to labs without coding
Genome editing lets scientists rewrite DNA, the instruction manual inside every living cell, with a precision that was unthinkable a generation ago. Technologies such as CRISPR have made this almost routine, and its uses ...
Biotechnology
Jun 24, 2026
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Piecing the puzzle of how proteins fit together: Simpler model outperforms leading methods
How the proteins in our bodies bind together to form protein complexes plays a critical role in numerous cell functions—staving off diseases, for instance, or transporting ions across cell membranes. A better understanding ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 24, 2026
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How mitochondria build their protein factories could help explain energy‑linked disease
In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped key steps in the assembly of the mitochondrial ribosome, offering new clues to how defects in this process can lead to disease.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 24, 2026
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More news
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Chloroplast study reveals molecular lock that helps power life on Earth
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Real-time imaging reveals 'RNA hub' driving adaptive immune response
Cats age like humans—could studying their brains reveal healthy aging secrets?
Mapping cotton bacterial blight resistance
Researchers develop antiviral candidate for deadly mosquito-borne brain infections
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Peptide alternative to antibiotics could combat antimicrobial resistance crisis
MINDY3: A hub between protein quality control and DNA repair
Rice gene switch helps plants rebound from cold and use nitrogen more efficiently
Missing DNA replication step revealed in first image of pre-initiation complex
A large, harmless asteroid will zip past Earth this weekend
