Many biomolecules come in two versions that are each other's mirror image, like a left and a right hand. Cells generally use the left-hand version of amino acids to produce proteins, and uptake mechanisms were thought to ...
Tomsk State University microbiologists were the first in the world to isolate Desulforudis audaxviator from deep underground waters. Translated from Latin, its name means "a brave traveler". Scientists from different countries ...
Many viruses, including that perennial winter affliction, the influenza virus, are protected by a lipid membrane on loan from the host cell. The fusion proteins on the surface of the membrane are tasked with merging the lipid ...
Fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria might not complain about jet lag. But like humans, their physiologies adhere to a roughly 24-hour cycle of behavioral patterns in the absence of external cues. Organisms that experience recurring ...
Since the Kepler Space Telescope was launched into space, the number of known planets beyond the solar system (exoplanets) has grown exponentially. At present, 3,917 planets have been confirmed in 2,918 star systems, while ...
The Argonaute (Ago) enzyme complex plays a critical role in DNA and RNA target cleavage for a process known as RNA silencing in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, making them a target for future gene-editing technology. The ...
An insect's gut might seem an inhospitable place to settle in, but diverse microbes nonetheless make their home there. Yet in the gut, there's a struggle for the nutrients needed to survive among the resident bacteria and ...
In a suspension of disbelief, the countless readers who have picked up J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books have readily accepted that Ents, the ancient treelike creatures of the fictional Fangorn forest, walk, talk and ...
How do you make yeast work harder? Not to make bread, but in processes that yield chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Industries currently use a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They'd like it to work better. The answer ...
Why do distinct species have different proteins? Is there a key that allows eukaryotic cells to produce proteins involved in multicellularity that are mostly absent in prokaryotes? These are some of the questions addressed ...
