Microscopy News and Research

Latest Microscopy News and Research

Gold nanoparticles put spotlight on small drug molecules in live cells

Successful drug development has a significant impact on people's quality of life worldwide. Being able to track how molecules get into target cells, and observing what they do when they are inside, is key to identifying the best candidates.

From Osaka University 19 Nov 2020

New removable coating cleans desalination membranes

A removable coating that can be used to clean desalination membranes has been developed by KAUST researchers. The nontoxic coating could provide a safer and more efficient alternative to harmful chemicals used to clean reverse osmosis systems for seawater desalination.

17 Nov 2020

Interleukin 10 levels could warn about the progression of COVID-19

Immunology experts have collaborated to use their groundbreaking research techniques to put people’s response to COVID-19 disease under the microscope.

16 Nov 2020

Study reveals 3D structure of crucial phage component in atomic resolution

Scientists from Berlin-based FMP are particularly interested in the tube employed by phages to insert their DNA into bacteria.

16 Nov 2020

Study demonstrates utility of novel method in fluorescent labeling

Thirty years ago, the cloning of the green fluorescent protein GFP, together with genetic engineering tools, revolutionized the field by enabling researchers to fuse a fluorescent 'beacon' to any protein of interest so that it can be directly observed in living cells using fluorescence microscopy.

16 Nov 2020

Specialist microscope allows scientists to make one-molecule measurements

Researchers have designed and constructed a single-molecule specialist microscope, and shared the build instructions to help make this system available.

9 Nov 2020

Glass surface embedded with self-assembled gold nanoparticles can improve live-cell imaging

In the quest to image exceedingly small structures and phenomenon with higher precision, scientists have been pushing the limits of optical microscope resolution, but these advances often come with increased complication and cost.

9 Nov 2020

Study shows how coronavirus block cells’ ability to produce protective proteins

One of the novel coronavirus' most insidious tricks is that it can block the ability of cells to produce protective proteins without hindering its own ability to replicate.

6 Nov 2020

Experts use super-resolution microscopy to observe individual synapse proteins

In the synapses of nerve cells (neurons), there are hundreds of specialized proteins that are important for the functioning of the nervous system. If something goes wrong here, neurological or psychiatric diseases can be the result - Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, depression, and schizophrenia are just a few of them.

6 Nov 2020

Researchers reveal identity of the last unknown protein of autophagy

Drs. Nobuo Noda (Director) and Kazuaki Matoba (Senior Researcher) et al. at the Institute of Microbial Chemistry (BIKAKEN, Tokyo, Japan) discovered that Atg9, one of the proteins that function to mediate autophagy, has phospholipid-translocation activity (the lipid scramblase activity) between the two layers of the lipid bilayer and elucidated that the protein's activity brings about autophagosome membrane expansion.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists detect light-absorbing 'tarballs' in the Himalayan atmosphere

Some people refer to the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau as the "third pole" because the region has the largest reserve of glacial snow and ice outside of the north and south poles.

5 Nov 2020

Researchers use AI tool to study the dynamics behind cancer, Alzheimer’s disease

With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), scientists from the University of Copenhagen have solved a crucial issue that, to date, has been a major barrier to significant protein research into the dynamics behind various diseases, like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and also in the development of novel gene-editing techniques and sustainable chemistry.

4 Nov 2020

New research finds clues for disarming antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A virus can stop bacteria from sharing genes for antibiotic resistance among themselves, Texas A&M AgriLife researchers have discovered.

4 Nov 2020

Researchers unlock new possibilities for development of sustainable, clean bioenergy

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have unlocked new possibilities for the future development of sustainable, clean bioenergy.

4 Nov 2020

Mature SARS-CoV-2 particle development by host-protein interactions

The proteins of SARS-CoV-2 play a key role in self-arrangement and particle formation, and current work suggests that an assembly is formed in the lipid bilayer of the endoplasmic reticulum.

3 Nov 2020

Researchers describe how drug use change specific brain cells responsible for motivation

In the October 28, 2020 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and the National Institutes of Health describe how reminders of drug use can change specific brain cells responsible for motivation, increasing the desire to seek drugs.

30 Oct 2020

Combination of microscopy and machine learning helps detect fossil pollen grains

Plant biology researchers at the University of Illinois and computer scientists at the University of California Irvine have developed a new method of fossil pollen identification through the combination of super-resolution microscopy and machine learning.

27 Oct 2020

Researchers identify new potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 infection

To identify new potential therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2, a team of scientists at the New York Genome Center, New York University, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, performed a genome-scale, loss-of-function CRISPR screen to systematically knockout all genes in the human genome.

27 Oct 2020

Study explains the nuances of mechanical signaling in cells

Actin is among the most abundant proteins in cells, and it has many jobs--from giving the cell its very shape and structure to managing networks of proteins crucial to numerous cellular functions. Without it, the fragile fundamental unit of life would crumble.

27 Oct 2020

Scientists use molecular dynamics simulations to reveal the secrets of SARS-CoV-2 virus

The virus wreaking havoc on our lives is an efficient infection machine. Comprised of only 29 proteins (compared to our 400,000), with a genome 1/200,000 the size of ours, SARS-CoV-2 is expertly evolved to trick our cells to contribute its machinery to assist in its propagation.

22 Oct 2020