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What powered the Earth's earliest life?

Early biological systems likely relied on RNA molecules to copy themselves and drive simple chemical reactions. Any system that could generate guanosine-triphosphate (GTP)—which is necessary for RNA synthesis—from prebiotic ...

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Chemists create complex DNA structures without hydrogen bonds

No "sticky ends"? No problem. A new study by NYU chemists finds that DNA tiles can assemble into 3D structures without the sticky cohesion of hydrogen bonding. This finding, published in Nature Communications, turns a fundamental ...

Dissolvable hydrogel could enable personalized bone implants

Bones broken in a skiing accident usually heal on their own. But if the break is too severe or a bone tumor needs to be removed, surgeons insert an implant that enables the bone to grow back together. Implants often consist ...

Undergrads expand the chemical toolbox for cancer drugs

Thanks to modern therapies, a cancer diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence. But many patients still suffer from unwanted side effects and limited efficacy. In a recent Bioconjugate Chemistry publication, William ...

Turning over a new leaf in analyses of natural products

Scientists have developed a new way to help understand what happens in the body when people consume a plant product and the many chemicals it contains. The Journal of Natural Products published the method to quickly analyze ...

Decoding immune system cellular pathways one enzyme at a time

Deep in our cells, a wide range of processes are occurring constantly. These cellular processes rely on enzymes to act as catalysts and set off a series of molecular interactions. There are still many processes within the ...