Scientists have succeeded in observing an important cell protein at work. To do this, they used a method that allows to measure structural changes within complex molecules. The further developed procedure makes it possible to elucidate such processes in the cell, i.e. in the natural environment.
The key to their survival, a study reveals, is the ability to more than triple how fast they capture light energy and funnel it through to molecules that convert it into food. The finding could generate new bio-inspired designs for light-harvesting systems.
Much like motors power our cars, they also ensure that proteins get to the right place in our cells, and a wide variety of diseases - from cancer to heart problems - can result when they don't. Now scientists have evidence of more flexibility and a little crosstalk in how motors maneuver our cells' intricate roadway system.
As part of an effort to develop drought-resistant food and bioenergy crops, scientists have uncovered the genetic and metabolic mechanisms that allow certain plants to conserve water and thrive in semi-arid climates.
Scientists have developed a powerful new technique that reveals for the first time the mechanical environment that cells perceive in living tissues - their natural, unaltered three-dimensional habitat.
Researchers have developed an odor-detecting sensor made from a membrane protein found in mosquitoes called an olfactory receptor, which responds to the smell of human sweat, that they embedded in an artificial cell membrane.
Researchers have created sOPTiKO, a more efficient and enhanced inducible CRISPR genome editing platform. They describe how the freely available single-step system works in every cell in the body and at every stage of development. This new approach will aid researchers in developmental biology, tissue regeneration and cancer.