All wound up: A reversible molecular whirligig
Over the last few decades, researchers have built minuscule molecular machines that rotate or shuttle other molecules. However, it's difficult to determine the mechanical work and forces that these tiny contraptions produce, which is important when u.....»»
When water temperatures change, the molecular motors of cephalopods do too
Cephalopods are a large family of marine animals that includes octopuses, cuttlefish and squid. They live in every ocean, from warm, shallow tropical waters to near-freezing, abyssal depths. More remarkably, report two scientists at University of Cal.....»»
Illuminating the molecular ballet in living cells using an ultrafast camera
Researchers at Kyoto University, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), and Photron Limited in Japan have developed the world's fastest camera capable of detecting fluorescence from single molecules. They describe the.....»»
How a microbe creates its own sulfate reduction machinery
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, have uncovered the molecular secrets of a methane-generating microbe that can transform sulfate into sulfide—a ready-to-use cellular building block. This discovery o.....»»
Discovery challenges 30-year-old dogma in associative polymers research
A University of Virginia-led study about a class of materials called associative polymers appears to challenge a long-held understanding of how the materials, which have unique self-healing and flow properties, function at the molecular level......»»
Missing link explains mRNA delivery in brain cells
Brain cells manufacture proteins in every corner, including their long branches. Neurons missing this ability cause severe neurological disorders like disability and epilepsy. The groups of Marino Zerial, Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Molecular Cell.....»»
Symbiotic and pathogenic fungi may use similar molecular tools to manipulate plants
Symbiotic and pathogenic fungi that interact with plants are distantly related and don't share many genetic similarities. Comparing plant pathogenic fungi and plant symbiotic fungi, scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) h.....»»
Engineering the bacteriophage T4 to serve as a vector for molecular repair
A team of medical scientists at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., working with a colleague from Purdue University, has developed a way to engineer the bacteriophage T4 to serve as a vector for molecular repair. The study is rep.....»»
A breakthrough in the electrooxidation of propylene
A research team led by Prof. Geng Zhigang from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) designed a molecular catalyst that can undergo dynamically reversible interconversion for the electrooxidation of propylene into 1,2-propylene gly.....»»
The molecular sensor that fits in your hand
A new pocket scanner allows people to analyze food content, giving the user an instant breakdown of alcohol, sugar, or calorie content before they consume......»»
Observers inspect complex magnetic field of the molecular cloud Lynds 43
Using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), an international team of astronomers has observed a nearby molecular cloud designated Lynds 43. Results of the observations, published May 18 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide more hints into the c.....»»
Study establishes molecular basis for interaction between essential protein complex and its regulator
The labs of Lauren Jackson, associate professor of biological sciences and biochemistry, and Todd Graham, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at the College of Arts and Science and professor of cell and developmental biology, recently publishe.....»»
Precisely measuring the differing filamentary cytoskeletal characteristics of mobile and stationary cells
Most biological cells have a fixed place in an organism. However, cells can become mobile and move through the body. This happens, for example, during wound healing or when tumor cells divide uncontrollably and migrate through the body. Mobile and st.....»»
Scientists from the Global South innovate to track ongoing amphibian pandemic
The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama partnered with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in India to develop and validate a new test for chytridiomycosis strains,.....»»
How plants use sugar to produce roots
Along with sugar reallocation, a basic molecular mechanism within plants controls the formation of new lateral roots. An international team of plant biologists has demonstrated that it is based on the activity of a certain factor, the target of rapam.....»»
Earliest evidence of wine consumption in the Americas found in Caribbean
Scientists have found what they believe to be the earliest known evidence of wine drinking in the Americas, inside ceramic artifacts recovered from a small Caribbean island. Forty ceramic sherds were examined in the first study to have used molecular.....»»
Designing synthetic receptors for precise cell control
Biosensors are artificial molecular complexes designed to detect the presence of target chemicals or even biomolecules. Consequently, biosensors have become important in diagnostics and synthetic cell biology. However, typical methods for engineering.....»»
Examining puppeteer fungus" targeted takeover of zombie flies
In a new study published in eLife, lead author Carolyn Elya, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, reveals the molecular and cellular underpinnings behind the parasitic fungus, Entomophthora musc.....»»
Fatty acids might exist in space
A team of physicists have discovered that the environment of a molecular cloud in interstellar space can support the existence of fatty acids, a key component of life on Earth......»»
Chemists discover intriguing property of new bismuth complexes
To be able to exploit the advantages of elements and their molecular compounds in a targeted manner, chemists have to develop a fundamental understanding of their properties. In the case of the element bismuth, a team from the Max Planck Institut fü.....»»
Study reveals key molecular interaction that sets the timing of our biological clocks
Molecular clocks in our cells synchronize our bodies with the cycle of night and day, cue us for sleep and waking, and drive daily cycles in virtually every aspect of our physiology. Scientists studying the molecular mechanisms of our biological cloc.....»»