Nano-droplets are the key to controlling membrane formation

The creation of membranes is of enormous importance in biology, but also in many chemical applications developed by humans. These membranes are shaped spontaneously when soap-like molecules in water join together. Researchers ...

An integrative approach to studying lipid biology

The proteins that manage lipids in the cell are notoriously hard to study. Combining structural, biochemical, and computational studies, scientists at EPFL and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have now discovered how a ...

Artificially produced cells communicate with each other

Friedrich Simmel and Aurore Dupin, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), have for the first time created artificial cell assemblies that can communicate with each other. The cells, separated by fatty membranes, ...

Discovery casts doubt on cell surface organization models

Like planets, the body's cell surfaces look smooth from a distance, but contoured closer up. An article published in Communications Biology describes previously unknown implications of the way data from cell surfaces are ...

Sac with spiral surface patterns facilitate substance delivery

Imagine a micron-sized ball of fluid enclosed in a thin film, similar to the film in soap bubbles, but made up of molecules resembling liquid crystal. These molecules can lower their overall energy by aligning their directions ...

SwissFEL makes protein structures visible

For the development of new medicinal agents, accurate knowledge of biological processes in the body is a prerequisite. Here proteins play a crucial role. At the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, the X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL ...

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