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Uncovering the Bacterial Basis of Cat Scent Signals

Numerous mammals, ranging from household cats and dogs to massive pandas, employ scent as a means of communication with their peers.

27 Nov 2023

Scientists Decode Plant 'Warning Messages'

Plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere when they experience mechanical damage or insect attacks. New research offers great insight into how this mechanism works.

18 Oct 2023

First atomic-level structure of 'oil-eating' enzyme paves way for bioengineered catalysts

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have produced the first atomic-level structure of an enzyme that selectively cuts carbon-hydrogen bonds-;the first and most challenging step in turning simple hydrocarbons into more useful chemicals.

31 Mar 2023

Study reveals why the FMO5 gene produces an enzyme with a different activity

Our body produces lots of enzymes that break down toxic substances. One class of such enzymes are the flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs), which are present in all tetrapods. Humans have five different FMO genes, of which the first four display the same activity. However, the fifth FMO gene triggers a different breakdown reaction. University of Groningen biochemists have succeeded in resurrecting the ancestral genes of all tetrapod FMOs to show how this divergence has occurred. Their results appear on 24 February in Nature Communications.

28 Feb 2023

Modification of the lignin “chemical code”

According to a recent study, it is possible to genetically alter the lignin chemistry of plants to improve their ability to recover from drought without compromising the size of the plant or seed production.

22 Sep 2022

A simple route for synthesizing fungal compound and its derivatives

The solutions to many of humanity's problems can be found within nature. For instance, who could have guessed that an antibiotic as powerful as penicillin would be found in a common mold, or that the drug aspirin would be derived from the bark of the willow tree?

From Tokyo University of Science 10 Feb 2022