https://phys.org/chemistry-news/biochemistry/ en-us The latest news on biochemistry New active ingredients for drugs to treat infections, cancer or other serious diseases are often based on substances originally discovered in microorganisms, plants or other living organisms. Producing or improving such active ingredients in a targeted manner using microorganisms is often challenging because the underlying biological processes are extremely complex. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-functional-enzyme-components-drug.html Biochemistry Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:20:14 EDT news711806642 Transforming a soybean processing byproduct into a material for skin protection and repair is the prospect outlined by a study that used okara, a residue from the production of tofu and soy-based beverages, to obtain a bioactive, biodegradable, 3D-printable biomaterial. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-soybean-yields-3d-printable-material.html Biochemistry Tue, 20 Oct 2026 18:20:12 EDT news711726241 Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have developed a new strategy for programming synthetic molecules to self-assemble into precisely defined three-dimensional structures. The study brings scientists a step closer to achieving the sophisticated molecular organization found in nature and could eventually open new possibilities for the development of advanced functional materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-synthetic-molecules-triple-helices-method.html Biochemistry Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:20:01 EDT news711645182 Nearly all metabolic processes require protons—positively charged hydrogen atoms. Although these are abundant in the cellular fluid, the biocatalysts involved depend on mechanisms for efficiently capturing protons and transporting them to the site where catalysis occurs. Enzymes from microorganisms can produce hydrogen (H₂) by combining electrons with protons. These so-called hydrogenases are so efficient that one biocatalyst can capture nearly 10,000 protons per second. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-pendulum-shuttles-protons-enable.html Biochemistry Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:40:02 EDT news711642301 A joint research group led by Ryo Tanifuji and Hiroki Oguri from the University of Tokyo and Yoshikazu Tanaka from Tohoku University has visualized SacC, an enzyme that plays a key role in building the complex five-ring core of safracin B. This core structure is shared with trabectedin, a drug used to treat soft tissue sarcoma. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-frozen-action-visualizing-cancer-drug.html Biochemistry Mon, 19 Oct 2026 11:00:12 EDT news711618661 Sustainable packaging is only the beginning. What a medicine is made from—and how its ingredients are produced—matters just as much. Yet the synthesis of compounds for pharmaceutical research can still depend on fossil feedstocks, high temperatures, strong oxidants and metals that raise costs and complicate purification. Two recently published studies from Colmenares' group at IPC PAS demonstrate that cleaner chemistry can begin at the level of a single chemical bond. The studies are published in the journal Ultrasonics Sonochemistry and Chemistry—A European Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ultrasound-reveal-renewable-routes-compounds.html Biochemistry Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:20:01 EDT news711378121 To produce pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and flavors and fragrances, it is often necessary to oxidize alcohols. In conventional chemistry, this transformation typically relies on harsh oxidants and elevated temperatures and generates toxic waste. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bacterial-galactose-oxidase-toolkit-greener.html Biochemistry Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:20:04 EDT news711295622 Ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing compounds from natural sources are attracting interest as potential ingredients for cosmetics and other protective materials. Saclipins A and B are unusual UV-absorbing oxylipins produced by the edible freshwater cyanobacterium Aphanothece sacrum, known in Japan as Suizenji-nori. Although these compounds show promising UV-absorbing and other functional properties, their low natural abundance and poorly understood biosynthesis have limited efforts to use them more broadly. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzyme-discovery-route-natural-uv.html Biochemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:40:21 EDT news711188533 Plastics are supposed to be chemically inert. It's the reason they're used so frequently to package food, bottle water and create children's toys: They're safe. But something important happens when a large piece of plastic fragments into micro- and nanoparticles. Its surface area increases dramatically relative to its volume. Vastly more of the material is now exposed to its surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-microplastics-chemically-biological.html Biochemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2026 11:01:03 EDT news711041282 Imagine a medicine that stops seizures at their source, switches off instructions that keep a cancerous tumor growing and prevents Alzheimer's from stealing memories and wreaking havoc on the brain. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-code-treatments-untreatable-diseases.html Biochemistry Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:40:23 EDT news711187741 Researchers at the Oregon State University College of Science have developed a new electrochemical sensor for rapidly and accurately detecting a naturally occurring compound widely used in the food, beverage and fragrance industries. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrochemical-sensor-food-quality-faster.html Biochemistry Tue, 13 Oct 2026 16:20:05 EDT news711119942 When drugmakers want to improve on compounds they have already created, they can replace a carbon atom with a nitrogen atom. While effective, the techniques they use to perform this chemical swap, known as skeletal editing, have some downsides. For example, older approaches often require harsh chemicals or only work on specific types of molecules. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-carbon-nitrogen-atoms-medicines.html Biochemistry Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:50:07 EDT news711124084 Cells must produce energy despite changing conditions. But what keeps metabolic enzymes functional during temperature fluctuations? A team led by professor Simon Ebbinghaus and Dr. Harshita Rastogi at Ruhr University Bochum and the Research Center for Chemical Sciences and Sustainability investigated this question using the platelet isoform of phosphofructokinase-1 (PFKP), a central enzyme in glucose metabolism. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-chemical-size-glucose-enzyme-stay.html Biochemistry Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:00:01 EDT news711113046 In biology, a group of enzymes called 2-oxoglutarate-dependent oxygenases is responsible for catalyzing a wide range of reactions that play a role in everything from how genetic code is used by cells to the synthesis of antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-powerful-rays-reveal-unexpected-roles.html Biochemistry Tue, 13 Oct 2026 11:40:25 EDT news711103502 The humble amino acid glycine—the simplest of all amino acids—is everywhere. The human body produces it, and it helps make up our skin, bones and ligaments. It's found in meats like beef and has even been discovered in comets returned from outer space. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stabilizing-simple-amino-acid-path.html Biochemistry Mon, 12 Oct 2026 19:40:01 EDT news711039781 From a rigid molecular pair to flexible assemblies with moving domains, the enzymes that build sugar chains display strikingly different behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-high-microscopy-captures-sugar-enzymes.html Biochemistry Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:40:01 EDT news711039840 Researchers from the University of Oxford and international collaborators have revealed previously unseen rapid chemical stages in the formation of β-lactam antibiotics like penicillin, offering insights that can support future antibiotic development. The findings have been published in Nature Catalysis. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-movie-reveals-penicillin.html Biochemistry Fri, 09 Oct 2026 05:00:15 EDT news710668021 Tardigrades survive conditions that would destroy most other living things: freezing, dehydration and the vacuum of space. Researchers even put tiny tattoos on them, and the animals don't seem to mind. By learning how these critters carry on, researchers hope to find ways to protect human cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-tardigrades-human-blood.html Biochemistry Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:40:12 EDT news710678701 Many molecules in living organisms and pharmaceuticals share a structure called a β-amino alcohol, in which an amino group and a hydroxyl group sit on neighboring carbon atoms. These groups, important building blocks in biology and medicine, are found in compounds such as sphingosine and ephedrine. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nickel-catalyst-hard-amino-alcohols.html Biochemistry Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:40:01 EDT news710681642 Producing textile fibers from wood involves extracting cellulose from a structure that is tougher and more resistant than that of grass. But what if grass offered an easier—and potentially more environmentally friendly—alternative? Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have produced dissolving pulp from grass and clover residues. Working with collaborators, they have also spun the pulp into fibers and knitted a small fabric sample. The results open up new possibilities for turning agricultural residues into valuable materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-grass-future.html Biochemistry Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news710674501 Polystyrene is used in protective packaging for televisions and electronic devices, in decorative boards and baseboards for interior construction, and in petri dishes. It is one of the world's most important plastics, with nearly 20 million tons produced each year. The material is predominantly derived from crude oil and is rarely recycled. Virgin polystyrene is often cheaper than recycled material, meaning that used products are typically incinerated or sent to landfills. Like many other plastics, polystyrene is highly resistant to degradation in the environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-polystyrene-based-material-fragments-potential.html Biochemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:10:06 EDT news710606761 They are durable, cheap and everyday life is now hardly imaginable without them: plastics. More then 400 million metric tons are produced every year. As a large proportion is only insufficiently recycled, the environmental burden caused by plastic waste is increasing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzymes-biological-recycling-difficult-plastic.html Biochemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2026 15:40:06 EDT news710594326 While lithium has been used as a first-line treatment for the long-term management of bipolar disorder for more than 70 years, scientists still do not fully understand how it produces its therapeutic effects in the brain.In a new study published in PLOS ONE, Surrey researchers used computational chemistry and quantum simulations to investigate whether part of the answer could lie in "nuclear spin"—a quantum property that makes an atom's nucleus behave like a tiny magnet, allowing it to influence nearby electrons and potentially change the outcome of chemical reactions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-quantum-simulations-lithium-isotopes-affect.html Biochemistry Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news710590142 DNA can be more than just a double helix. When four strands are folded into a compact bundle, they form a G-quadruplex (G4). These bundles form in guanine-rich regions across the genome, including telomeres at the ends of chromosomes and the control regions of genes, where the proteins that dock onto them help decide which genes are switched on. G4 does not act the same way everywhere. What it does depends on where it forms and which proteins bind to it. This is why understanding the interactions surrounding G4 is so important. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-blue-uncovers-unexpected-protein-partners.html Biochemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:20:08 EDT news710503561 Following the major Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce, consumers might assume that produce labeled "triple-washed" offers greater protection from foodborne illness. But industrial washing cannot necessarily eliminate pathogens already established on produce. At the same time, the disinfectants used during processing may react with the food itself, creating new compounds whose effects on human health are not yet fully understood. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-food-safety-chemicals-react.html Biochemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:20:01 EDT news710498881 An abundance of complex molecules has been proposed as a universal signature of life. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-complexity-signature-life.html Biochemistry Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:20:16 EDT news710493842 Many natural plant compounds have promising health-related properties, but their poor water solubility can limit how effectively they are absorbed and used. In previous work, researchers discovered an enzyme from Bacillus subtilis, called phenolic phosphate synthetase (BsPPS), that can attach phosphate groups to a broad range of phenolic compounds. This modification can help make these compounds more water-soluble and support the development of improved nutraceuticals and related products. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-fluorescent-screening-thousands-enzyme-variants.html Biochemistry Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:20:01 EDT news710158981 Thanks to enzyme-based biocatalysis, an enormous range of pharmaceutical active ingredients and other complex molecules can be synthesized in an environmentally friendly manner. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed a technology that allows to assemble enzymes into millimeter-sized, storable beads. In this process, the enzymes not only act as catalysts but also constitute the beads' material itself. In a further variant, the enzyme networks can be combined with living cells. A patent application has been filed for the technology. The results have been published in Advanced Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-enzymes-sturdy-beads-sustainable-chemical.html Biochemistry Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:40:07 EDT news710154661 Whether in drug discovery, environmental analysis or metabolomics: anyone analyzing complex biological samples often needs to identify the small molecules they contain. Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, in collaboration with partners from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich, have developed a method that addresses a problem in analytical chemistry that has persisted for decades. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-method-retention-small-molecules.html Biochemistry Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:30:01 EDT news710091121 Sugars are attractive building blocks for functional materials because of their high water affinity and diverse biological properties. Incorporating sugars into synthetic polymers can therefore provide materials that combine the processability of polymers with characteristics derived from carbohydrates. However, selective chemical modification of sugars is often challenging because they contain multiple hydroxyl groups with similar reactivities, making it difficult to introduce a polymerizable group at one defined position without multistep synthetic procedures. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-trehalose-analog-platform-soluble-glycopolymers.html Biochemistry Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:20:04 EDT news710084461