The riddle of life's single-handedness
Try shaking a colleague's left hand with your right hand. It just doesn't work, does it? Your right palm and her or his left palm cannot mesh comfortably because hands are chiral objects, having...
View ArticleScientists glimpse why life can't happen without water
Scientists are getting closer to directly observing how and why water is essential to life as we know it.
View ArticleTechnique paves the way for drug targeting to fight microbial resistance
Research investigators in Singapore have developed a new high throughput method that identifies how ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules come together in an unbiased and large-scale manner inside cells....
View ArticleDiscovery of alternative photochemistry on water surfaces
Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form of photolysis.
View ArticleWhy pneumococci affect primarily humans
A special variant of a sugar molecule in the human nose might explain why pneumococcal infections are more common in humans than in other animals, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden...
View ArticleProtein-like structures from the primordial soup
Experiments performed by ETH scientists have shown that it is remarkably easy for protein-like, two-dimensional structures—amyloids—to form from basic building blocks. This discovery supports the...
View ArticleResearchers discover how selenium is incorporated into proteins
Humans need eight essential trace elements for good health, and one of them is selenium - a powerful antioxidant that is important for thyroid and brain function as well as metabolism.
View ArticleResearchers reveal 3-D structure of cell's inflammation sensor and its...
Inflammation is a good thing when it's fighting off infection, but too much can lead to autoimmune diseases or cancer. In efforts to dampen inflammation, scientists have long been interested in CC...
View ArticleNovel technique helps ID elusive molecules
Among the most important molecules in the living world are sugars or carbohydrates, which play a vital role in life processes. Sugars provide the main source of fuel for the body, protect muscles from...
View ArticleLooking for life in all the right places—with the right tool
Researchers have invented a range of instruments from giant telescopes to rovers to search for life in outer space, but so far, these efforts have yielded no definitive evidence that it exists beyond...
View ArticleOtzi the Iceman: Researchers validate the stability of genetic markers
Biomarkers are biological attributes that can give doctors or researchers clues about the health status or illnesses of a patient. Scientists are placing great hope in a new type of biomarker,...
View ArticleNew study shines light on photosynthesis
Terry Bricker, Moreland Family Professor in the Louisiana State University (LSU) Department of Biological Sciences, and colleagues at Palacký University in the Czech Republic and at the University of...
View ArticleConverting water into hydrogen more efficiently
Scientists have long been puzzled why it is easier to produce hydrogen from water in an acidic environment than in an alkaline environment. Marc Koper comes with an explanation: the reason is the...
View ArticleSun's UV light helped spark life
High energy, ultraviolet radiation from the Sun is a known to hazard to life, yet the energy provided by our star has played an important role as the essential driver of life on Earth.
View ArticleAstrochemistry: how life may have begun in space
We usually imagine comet impacts as a threat and not as the source of life. But perhaps they were precisely that. Researchers in Bochum are looking for evidence for this theory.
View ArticleDiscovery of 'helical molecular glue'
Hideto Tsuji, professor in Toyohashi University of Technology, and his colleagues have made a world-first discovery of 'molecular glue' action of a counterclockwise-helical molecule to glue two...
View ArticleScientists watch fat metabolism in live fish, observe real-time lipid...
Studying how our bodies metabolize lipids such as fatty acids, triglycerides, and cholesterol can teach us about cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems, as well as reveal basic...
View ArticleHydrogen bonds directly detected for the first time
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in studying the strength of hydrogen bonds in a single molecule using an atomic force microscope. Researchers from the University of Basel's Swiss...
View ArticleHow RNA formed at the origins of life
A single process for how a group of molecules called nucleotides were made on the early Earth, before life began, has been suggested by a UCL-led team of researchers.
View ArticleNew approach set to make peptide stapling widely available
UK scientists have created a new method to structure peptides, which they say will be cheaper and make the process of using stapled peptides in drug discovery much more widely available.
View ArticleFirst aid kit in some living organisms helps fix DNA after lengthy sun exposure
Sunburn in living organisms is caused by ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun damaging the DNA in the cells. Many organisms, however, have an in-built mechanism for repairing the sun damage. This is...
View ArticleBiochemists link synthetic compound to hunger-hormone production
New research suggests that a man-made cousin of a small molecule found in olive oil can disrupt the hunger-signaling pathway. Researchers identified this promising new target by screening a library of...
View ArticleLab-made protein chomps co-factor like a big ol' gator
Proteins have the power to turbo-charge biochemical reactions inside the body.
View ArticleCould interstellar ice provide the answer to birth of DNA?
Researchers at the University of York have shown that molecules brought to earth in meteorite strikes could potentially be converted into the building blocks of DNA.
View ArticleDesigner binders protect silicon battery electrodes
In your electric car's battery, swapping an electrode with one made of silicon could let the battery store 10 times more energy. Why isn't silicon used? It falls apart. Scientists designed binders,...
View ArticleCooking fats in the atmosphere may affect climate more than previously thought
Fats being released into the atmosphere from cookers such as deep fat fryers may be enhancing the formation of clouds, which have a major cooling effect on the planet.
View ArticleSnatching at the cradle of life
Silence of the WA outback key in detecting low-frequency radio waves and, maybe, the precursors of life itself.
View ArticleChemists discover plausible recipe for early life on Earth
Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a fascinating new theory for how life on Earth may have begun.
View ArticleFlexibility and arrangement—the interaction of ribonucleic acid and water
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) plays a key role in biochemical processes that occur at the cellular level in a water environment. Mechanisms and dynamics of the interaction between RNA and water were now...
View ArticleVitamin C in the body can be tracked by fluorescence
Vitamin C is best known as a nutrient. In high enough doses, however, vitamin C also shows potential against many cancers, according to recent studies. To successfully develop vitamin C (chemically...
View Article
