As letters of the alphabet spell out words, when amino acids are linked to one another in a particular order they "spell out" proteins. But sometimes the cell machinery for building proteins in our bodies makes a mistake ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 06, 2009
1
0
A new study reveals how bacteria control the chemicals produced from consuming 'food.' The insight could lead to organisms that are more efficient at converting plants into biofuels.
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 03, 2020
1
28
Scientists have broken the rules of enzyme engineering to unlock a new method for creating chemical reactions that could unlock a wide range of new applications—from creating new drugs to food production.
Biochemistry
Dec 01, 2020
0
2132
In overgrown areas from Canada to China, a lush, woody vine with crescent-shaped seeds holds the secret to making a cancer-fighting chemical. Now, Whitehead Institute researchers in Member Jing-Ke Weng's lab have discovered ...
Biotechnology
Apr 20, 2020
0
44
Everything a cell does, from dividing in two to migrating to a different part of the body, is controlled by enzymes that chemically modify other proteins in the cell. Researchers at Princeton University have devised a new ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 13, 2020
0
205
For decades, scientists and doctors have known that bacteria in soil were capable of manufacturing streptozotocin, an antibiotic compound that is also an important treatment for certain types of pancreatic cancer.
Biochemistry
Feb 07, 2019
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148
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a major player in nutrition today. Studies have shown that NAD+ concentrations decrease during aging and that recovering the body's levels of NAD+ can prolong both health span and ...
Biochemistry
Oct 24, 2018
0
73
The catalytic activity of an enzyme called Set1A—a protein that is essential to the viability of embryonic stem cells (ESCs)—is not required for ESC self-renewal, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in ...
Biotechnology
Oct 02, 2017
0
3
Enzymes, the micro machines in our cells, can evolve to perform new tasks when confronted with novel situations. But what if you want an enzyme to do an entirely different job—one that it would never have to do in a cell? ...
Biochemistry
Apr 22, 2015
0
32
Highlighting an important but unexplored area of evolution, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found evidence that, over hundreds of millions of years, an essential protein has evolved chiefly by changing ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 29, 2013
0
0
