E-Mail
IMAGE: A trio of studies has revealed how a viral DNA packaging motor works, potentially providing insights for new therapeutics or synthetic molecular machines. Each of five proteins scrunches up in. view more
Credit: Joshua Pajak, Duke University
DURHAM, N.C. - A group of researchers have discovered the detailed inner workings of the molecular motor that packages genetic material into double-stranded DNA viruses. The advance provides insight into a critical step in the reproduction cycle of viruses such as pox- herpes- and adeno-viruses. It could also give inspiration to researchers creating microscopic machines based on naturally occurring biomotors.
Credit: PRODI/ Till Rudack
Researchers from Bochum and Osnabrück have gained new insights into the structure of the Ras protein, which acts as a molecular switch for cell growth and is involved in the development of cancer. With the help of fluorescence markings, they have demonstrated that the protein is deposited in a pair at the cell membrane, and with the very structure that they predicted in theory back in 2012. The team from the Bochum Center for Protein Diagnostics (PRODI) hopes that these findings will open up a new approach for the development of cancer medications. The researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and Osnabrück University published the results in the
A Virginia Tech team has discovered the method ducks use to suspend water in their feathers while diving, allowing them to shake it out when surfacing. The discovery opens the door for applications in marine technology.
E-Mail
IMAGE: Wilker notes that not everyone in his lab has a chemistry degree; some of the lab members are shellfish about 1,000 of them to be exact. The shellfish play. view more
Credit: Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe
Don t look now, but you re surrounded. Really. Within arm s reach - probably even touching you - are troublesome, sticky, potentially even toxic, substances. Bad for the planet, permanent, maybe even bad for your health. They re in your shoes, in your phone, in your laptop, lurking in the folds of envelopes, on books, in the chair you re sitting in, the flooring beneath your feet, and in uncountable other objects in your house, office and everyday world.
Credit: POSTECH
Mussels survive by sticking to rocks in the fierce waves or tides underwater. Materials mimicking this underwater adhesion are widely used for skin or bone adhesion, for modifying the surface of a scaffold, or even in drug or cell delivery systems. However, these materials have not entirely imitated the capabilities of mussels.
A joint research team from POSTECH and Kangwon National University (KNU) - led by Professor Hyung Joon Cha and Ph.D. candidate Mincheol Shin of the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH with Professor Young Mee Jeong and Dr. Yeonju Park of the Department of Chemistry at KNU - has analyzed Dopa and lysine, which are the amino acids that make up the surface adhesive proteins secreted by mussels, and verified that their roles are related to their location. The team has taken a step closer to revealing the secret of underwater adhesion by uncovering that these amino acids can contribute to surface adhesion and cohesion differently dependi