Biochemistry

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Researchers describe new approach involving "antivitamins" to develop new antibiotics

Antibiotics are among the most important discoveries of modern medicine and have saved millions of lives since the discovery of penicillin almost 100 years ago.

25 Aug 2020

Study shows strigolactones enhance tolerance to insects in tobacco plants

A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, has discovered that strigolactones, a class of novel plant hormones, mediate the fine-tuning of the production plant defensive substances in the stem of plants of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata.

25 Aug 2020

Researchers discover antibodies that may provide effective immunity against SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School published in Nature Communications suggests that COVID specific IgA monoclonal antibodies may provide effective immunity in the respiratory system against the novel coronavirus - a potentially critical feature of an effective vaccine.

25 Aug 2020

Lipid-based nanoparticles can help treat genetic disorders

Introducing genetic material into the body to treat diseases can work, but making sure that those materials are safely sent to the right location is complicated.

24 Aug 2020

Study shows Annexin molecule promotes resistance to anticancer drugs

Headed by Kumamoto University (Japan), a collaborative study has identified a novel mechanism for anticancer drug resistance in gastric cancer.

24 Aug 2020

New bioluminescent reporter tracks DNA double stranded break repair in cells

A new bioluminescent reporter that tracks DNA double stranded break (DSB) repair in cells has been developed by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

24 Aug 2020

Newly discovered molecule can help develop anticancer treatments

A molecule recently discovered by scientists can trigger a natural immune-boosting protein, known as STING (short for STimulator of INterferon Genes).

24 Aug 2020

Study examines the impact of low-carb, high-fat diet in older people

A new study, published in Nutrition and Metabolism, from researchers with the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Nutrition Obesity Research Center observed improvements in body composition, fat distribution and metabolic health in response to an eight-week, very low-carbohydrate diet.

21 Aug 2020

Eliminating tumors with engineered ‘off-the-shelf’ therapeutic T cells

Personalized cancer treatments are no longer just options of the future. In the past few years, researchers have made significant progress in 'teaching' the body's immune T cells to recognize and kill specific cancer cells, and human clinical trials have shown that this approach can successfully eliminate tumors

21 Aug 2020

A metabolic enzyme could be potential target for immunotherapies

The metabolic enzyme IL4I1 (Interleukin-4-Induced-1) promotes the spread of tumor cells and suppresses the immune system.

21 Aug 2020

'Genetic Code Kit' could transform how biology and biochemistry are taught

An open-source educational biotechnology called the "Genetic Code Kit" has been developed by California Polytechnic State University researchers to allow students to interact with the molecular process inside cells in new ways.

20 Aug 2020

Improving the accuracy of DNA melt curve

DNA is not only the blueprint of life, it has become the backbone for making tiny structures that can be inserted into the human body to diagnose and treat disease.

20 Aug 2020

Developing new fluorescent metal sensors to explore the gastrointestinal tract

A University of Houston researcher is developing a new set of metal sensors that will be able to function in the gastrointestinal tract, a low oxygen environment, to examine how gut bacteria respond when trace metal nutrients, like iron and zinc, are thrown out of balance either through diet or disease.

20 Aug 2020