An analysis of enzymes that load amino acids onto transfer RNAs—an operation at the heart of protein translation—offers new insights into the evolutionary origins of the modern genetic code, researchers report. Their ...
Biotechnology
Aug 26, 2013
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A rare, small RNA turns a gene-splicing machine into a switch that controls the expression of hundreds of human genes. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor of Biochemistry Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD, and his ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 21, 2013
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An enzyme is a tiny, well-oiled machine. A class of proteins that are made up of multiple, interlocking molecular components, enzymes perform a variety of tasks inside each cell. However, precisely how these components work ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 8, 2013
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Research groups headed by Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Pfanner, Dr. Nils Wiedemann, and Dr. Thomas Becker from the University of Freiburg and their colleagues have demonstrated how molecular protein barrels form in the outer membrane ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 5, 2013
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Four billion years ago, soon after the planet cooled enough for life to begin, primordial cells may have replicated and divided without protein machinery or cell walls, relying instead on just a flimsy lipid membrane. New ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 28, 2013
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Double-strand breaks in DNA happen every time a cell divides and replicates. Depending on the type of cell, that can be pretty often. Many proteins are involved in everyday DNA repair, but if they are mutated, the repair ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 3, 2013
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(Phys.org)—Researchers seeking to improve production of ethanol from woody crops have a new resource in the form of an extensive molecular map of poplar tree proteins, published by a team from the Department of Energy's ...
Biotechnology
Jan 30, 2013
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Turning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, ...
Biotechnology
Dec 16, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Before any cell - healthy or cancerous - can divide, it has to replicate its DNA. So scientists who want to know how normal cells work - and perhaps how to stop abnormal ones - are keen to understand this ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 6, 2012
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Prions, the much-maligned proteins most commonly known for causing "mad cow" disease, are commonly used in yeast to produce beneficial traits in the wild. Moreover, such traits can be passed on to subsequent generations and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 15, 2012
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