Biochemistry

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New Method Designs Highly Active and Stable Enzymes

Enzymes with specific functions are becoming increasingly important in industry, medicine and environmental protection.

24 Jan 2026

DHPS Enzyme Deficiency Impairs Macrophage Development and Tissue Repair

A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that an enzyme involved in protein translation is essential for circulating immune cells, called monocytes, to mature into tissue-resident macrophages, a specialized population of immune cells that maintain organ health by clearing dead cells and debris.

22 Jan 2026

Engineering Escherichia coli for Sustainable Biosynthesis of Lauryl Glucoside

By reconstructing a non-natural metabolic route in Escherichia coli, the researchers demonstrated that simple sugars can be biologically converted into lauryl glucoside through the coordinated production of its fatty alcohol precursor and a final glycosylation step.

21 Jan 2026

Mapping the Human E3 Ligase Landscape

Maintaining cellular order is a major logistical challenge: Individual mammalian cells contain billions of protein molecules, which must be synthesized, deployed, and removed with precision.

19 Jan 2026

Model Proteins Could Bring Order to Protein Science

Protein scientists could improve reproducibility and coordination across the field by rallying around a small, shared set of "model proteins," according to a new Perspective by Connecticut College chemist Marc Zimmer.

19 Jan 2026

Study Overturns Understanding About How T Cells Recognize Lipid Antigens

A new discovery about how cells communicate with each other in the body's immune system has revealed deeper insights for an international team of scientists into fundamental immune system function.

16 Jan 2026

Intelectin-2: A Dual-Action Lectin Fortifies Gut Barrier and Fights Bacteria

The mucosal surfaces that line the body are embedded with defensive molecules that help keep microbes from causing inflammation and infections.

14 Jan 2026

Two-Faced Nanoparticles Restore Antibiotic Power Against Superbugs

Over the decades, many strains of disease-causing bacteria have evolved defenses to even the most potent antibiotics, setting off a growing health crisis.

14 Jan 2026

New Enzyme and Bacteria Unlock Efficient Production of Healthy Sweetener

From saccharin in the 19th century to stevia and monk fruit in the 21st, researchers and the food industry have long sought a sweetener that delivers the taste of sugar without its drawbacks-excess calories, tooth decay, and heightened risk for obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

14 Jan 2026

Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering Drive Microbial L-Tryptophan Biomanufacturing

This review synthesizes progress in pathway optimization, regulatory rewiring, and microbial cell factory design that has driven L-Trp titers to industrially relevant levels while enabling the biosynthesis of downstream products ranging from neurotransmitters and plant hormones to dyes and complex alkaloids.

8 Jan 2026

USU Researchers Discover CRISPR Cas12a3's Potential for Viral Protein Inhibition

Across all domains of life, immune defenses foil invading viruses by making it impossible for the viruses to replicate. Most known CRISPR systems target invading pathogens' DNA and chop it up to disable and modify genes, heading off infections at the (cellular) pass.

8 Jan 2026

Loss of Vitamin C Synthesis Protects Animals From Schistosomiasis

Researchers at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have found an advantage to vitamin C deficiency: defense against a significant parasitic disease.

31 Dec 2025

Fungal Detoxification Pathway Enables Infestation of Bark Beetle Pests

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigated how these plant defenses function within the food web, particularly in spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus), which ingest the compounds through their diet. Could the beetles use substances from the spruce's defenses to protect themselves against pathogenic fungi?

30 Dec 2025

Mitochondrial Protein That “Erases” Huntington’s Aggregates

DGIST has made a groundbreaking announcement: a research team, under the guidance of professors Jiwon Um and Jaewon Ko, has achieved a global first by elucidating the function of ‘ClpB.’

29 Dec 2025

Researchers Find Enzyme That Controls Fat Production, Offering New Drug Target

Obesity is a global epidemic and a major cause of morbidity and mortality because it increases the risk for comorbidities, including heart disease and fatty liver disease (MASLD). Rates of these disorders have risen as the world increasingly adopts energy-dense diets and sedentary lifestyles.

24 Dec 2025