Search results for author:(John Hewitt)

Biotechnology Dec 4, 2020

NAD: Is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide a super supplement or all hype?

NAD, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, probably needs no introduction. Together with its primary alter-egos NADH, NADP and NADPH, our private suite of pyridine-based nucleotides serve as hydride donors in some 400 enzymatic ...

Cell & Microbiology Aug 31, 2020

Mitochondria control cells using their own complete fatty acid synthesis machine

It shouldn't be any secret that mitochondria can make their own fatty acids. The enzymes mitochondria use to do it were discovered decades ago. Unfortunately, only a few individuals among the biologically literate masses ...

Biotechnology Jun 26, 2020

The evolution of the synapse

Among the most easily recognizable features of any nervous system is the synapse. While the question of how synapses evolved has been a longstanding mystery, it can now largely be solved. In a nutshell, it appears that the ...

Molecular & Computational biology Mar 27, 2020

Free range mitochondria are coming for you

Transfer of mitochondria between cells is a ubiquitously occurring and now universally known phenomenon. For years, researchers have been serially demonstrating that one particular new cell type can transfer its mitos to ...

Cell & Microbiology Mar 20, 2020

Living under pressure: Lessons from the cradle of life

Deep sea alkaline hydrothermal vents have been theorized to be a place where life could have originated. The elevated temperature, alkaline pH, and unique vent action concentrate minerals and create local energetic gradients ...

Evolution Dec 19, 2019

Mitonuclear interactions in the control of life history

Mitonuclear interactions are believed to play an important role in the so-called "life history" of Eukaryotic organisms. Unfortunately, no one has come up with any sort of general concrete theory that can predict or even ...

Cell & Microbiology Jun 15, 2018

From metabolism to function—the extreme structural adaptations of photoreceptors

One of the most puzzling aspects of cancer is how cells inevitably manage to reactivate precisely those few genes that can turn them into tumors. One example, discussed at length here yesterday, is the restoration of telomerase ...

Cell & Microbiology May 18, 2018

Wisdom of the protists; electron flow tricks for controlling cancer

All schoolchildren learn that the difference between eukaryotes and prokaryotes has something to do with a nucleus. This is usually around the same time they learn that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. The ...

Biotechnology May 11, 2018

Mitochondria and the art of DNA maintenance

Humans have 46 chromosomes, and each one is capped at either end by repetitive sequences called telomeres. If you ask a biologist if humans have circular DNA, they are likely to say 'no.' That is because eukaryotic cell nuclei ...

Cell & Microbiology Sep 22, 2017

Complete structure of mitochondrial respiratory supercomplex decoded

(Phys.org)—Piece by piece, the circuit diagram for electron transport in the mitochondria has come closer to completion. Each new structure obtained for any of the five respiratory complexes further constrains the assembled ...

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