Molecular & Structural Biology

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Coffee Can Now Serve as a Biological Switch for Medicines

For many of us, a warm cup of coffee is how we start our day. For Texas A&M Health researchers, it may also offer a new way to control engineered cells in future medicines.

9 Jun 2026

Microtubule Skeleton Determines How Heart Muscle Cells Change Under Stress

Microtubules, part of heart muscle cells' internal "skeleton," help determine how the heart changes shape under stress, and a common signaling pathway called the ERK pathway acts as a key controller of where the building materials for these cells' growth are delivered inside them, a pair of new studies show.

9 Jun 2026

New Open Access Connectome Unveils Intricate Fruit Fly Neural Connections

In a first, a large, international team led by multiple labs at Harvard Medical School and Princeton University has published a complete wiring diagram of all the connections between neurons in the central nervous system of an adult fruit fly.

9 Jun 2026

Scientists Identify EHMT2 Enzyme as Main Cause of 5-FU Failure

One of the most widely used chemotherapeutic agents for colorectal cancer is 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a cornerstone treatment that has improved outcomes for countless patients.

9 Jun 2026

Creatine Linked to Cancer-Fighting Dendritic Cell Function

According to recent UCLA research, creatine, the organic acid that athletes and bodybuilders frequently use as a supplement, supercharges a crucial class of immune cells that activate and prime the body's primary cancer-fighting agents.

8 Jun 2026

Label-Free Raman Spectroscopy Accelerates Precision Phage Therapy

This study was led by Prof. Jian Xu (Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) in collaboration with Prof. Hongzhou Lu (Shenzhen Third People's Hospital) and Prof. Jiadong Huang (University of Jinan).

8 Jun 2026

Deep Mutational Scanning Unlocks Hidden Blueprint of Antibody Selection Processes

A new study tracking thousands of B cells across more than 100 germinal centers in mice reveals how the system consistently produces highly effective antibodies.

8 Jun 2026

New Method Dissects Light Signaling and Heme Pathways in Chloroplast Formation

For plants, light is an important environmental factor not only as a source of energy for photosynthesis but also as a signal for capturing environmental information. Light signals are sensed by photoreceptor proteins called phytochrome. The amino acids that make up proteins are transparent and cannot absorb visible light.

8 Jun 2026

Study Shows Environmental Mixing Drives Primitive RNA to Extinction

Recent research showed that an artificially constructed RNA self-replicating system modeling primitive life at the origin of life evolved to become more prone to extinction under certain experimental conditions.

8 Jun 2026

New Study Proves Research Models Accurately Replicate Cancer ecDNA Loops

Damage to DNA in cancer cells can lead to pieces breaking off chromosomes and floating away, like icebergs cracking off from a glacier. Just as icebergs are a threat to ships and their crew, these scattered bits of DNA loom large to physicians and cancer patients by having titanic effects on tumor progression and treatment resistance.

8 Jun 2026

Biologists Capture Snapshot of Evolutionary Transition in Y Chromosome Gene

The study, published in Volume 153, Issue 9 of the journal Development on May 14, 2026, by The Company of Biologists, is the first to precisely map endogenous UTY occupancy across the human genome and demonstrate that UTY remains functionally involved in transcriptional regulation during early human development.

8 Jun 2026

Antibody-Directed Xenophagy Pathway Blocks Intracellular Infections From Spreading

Scientists have revealed the process by which cells can internally digest bacteria and viruses.

5 Jun 2026

Scientists Identify Microglia Immune State Changes for Novel Alzheimer’s Therapies

Researchers from VIB, KU Leuven, the UK-DRI and Muna Therapeutics, funded by, among others, ERC, have uncovered a critical biological transition that may determine whether Alzheimer's disease pathology leads to dementia.

5 Jun 2026

New Antibiotic Compound Blocks Ribosome to Starve Dangerous Pathogens

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a new antibiotic that kills some of the world's most dangerous and drug-resistant bacteria - and does so by targeting a previously unknown vulnerability, opening the door to an entirely new class of treatments.

5 Jun 2026