Crystallography News and Research

RSS

Northwestern Chemists Repurpose Flexible DNA as Programmable Molecular Glue

For decades, scientists have largely relied on painstaking trial and error to coax proteins into crystalline forms.

30 Jul 2026

Atomic Level Discovery Reveals Exactly How Inhaled Anesthetics Silence Neurons

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Birkbeck, University of London, have identified a site where a commonly used anesthetic binds to sodium ion channels, revealing a molecular mechanism that may explain how these drugs dampen communication between neurons.

10 Jul 2026

Laser Phase Plate in the Electron Microscope Promises Clear Images of Tiniest Proteins

Nearly 100 years ago, a seemingly simple discovery revolutionized the microscope. The introduction of phase-contrast, which garnered a Nobel Prize in 1953, brought into clear view structures inside cells that had previously been too faint or washed out for biologists to study.

12 Jun 2026

Atomic Snapshots of Human SMUG1 Unveil the Secrets of DNA Repair

Researchers have captured the first atomic structures of human SMUG1, an enzyme that helps cells repair damaged DNA.

3 Jun 2026

New Protein Discovery Reveals How Bacteria Transport Complex Sugars

Even though sugars are often framed as simple sources of energy, they also serve as structurally complex and functionally diverse molecules that mediate interactions between organisms.

1 Jun 2026

Advanced Molecular Blueprints Guide Development Of Next-Generation Malaria Drugs

Researchers from the Universities of Bath and Leeds (UK) have made a significant advance in the fight against malaria by uncovering a promising new potential target for drug discovery.

7 May 2026

Fragment-Based Drug Design Accelerates Efficient Discovery of New Medicines

Modern medicine has played a significant role in improving the length and quality of our lives. While many treatments may seem like miracles, they are the result of a lengthy, rigorous research process.

24 Apr 2026

Scientists Uncover How "Sorting Hubs" Clear Damaged Proteins From Cells

Inside every cell, a cleanup operation runs around the clock. Proteins are constantly damaged by wear and tear. Some can be repaired, while others must be dismantled and recycled. When this system fails, damaged proteins accumulate in clumps associated with diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia.

16 Apr 2026

Solving a 50-year Bottleneck in Chemotherapy Drug Production

A multinational team of researchers has made a significant advance in the manufacturing of doxorubicin, a crucial chemotherapy drug.

16 Mar 2026

Rigid Protein Molecular Rulers Enable Precise Control of Antibody Conformation

By extending a naturally rigid bacterial protein by 50% while preserving geometry and stability, the study introduces protein-based "molecular rulers" that could probe antibody shape, limit unwanted motion, and support safer, more effective antibody drug design.

21 Jan 2026

New Insights Into LARP6-RNA Binding Could Lead to Fibrosis Therapies

A research team at the Institute of Molecular Biophysics and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University has made a significant discovery regarding the interaction between a protein present in the human body and RNA, which may pave the way for innovative treatments for tissue scarring, commonly referred to as fibrosis.

12 Dec 2025

TUM Researchers Discover Molecular Switch Controlling Programmed Cell Death

In the fight against disease, programmed cell death – also known as apoptosis – is a key protective function of the body.

4 Nov 2025

Rapid Cell-Free Crystallization Method Reveals 3D Structures of Flexible Sugars

A quick, purification-free method was developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo, to capture the detailed 3D structures of flexible sugar molecules.

31 Oct 2025

Discovery of Glucocorticoid Receptor Multimerization Opens Path to Safer Therapies

Drugs to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases - such as asthma, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis or Chrousos syndrome - act mainly through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR).

28 Oct 2025

Structural Insights into Heat Shock Chaperone Complex and Protein Handoffs

The first full-length structures of two heat shock chaperone proteins in a complex reveal the key structural region regulating their function, according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

15 Oct 2025

Predicting Protein Metal Binding with New Artificial Intelligence Model

Biologists and computational scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory recently refined two artificial intelligence (AI) programs originally built by Meta, the company that owns Facebook, to predict protein shapes.

10 Sep 2025