“Dictionaries” make fluorescence-based data for integrative structure models and their dynamics accessible

3D structures of biomolecules

23-Oct-2024 - A research team from Germany and the USA led by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has developed a data description that can provide results from fluorescence measurements for structural and dynamic modelling of large biomolecules. The authors explain in the scientific journal Nature ...

Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computational protein design and for protein structure prediction

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about pro­teins, life’s ingenious chemical tools

09-Oct-2024 - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 with one half to David Baker (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA) “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind, London, UK) John M. Jumper ...

Intricate processes in photosynthesis decoded using advanced electron microscopy technique

This enables breakthroughs in multiple areas of biological and chemical research

25-Jun-2024 - Using cryo-electron microscopy a team of scientists from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), the Swedish universities of Umeå and Uppsala and the University of Potsdam has succeeded in visualising atomic structures at an unprecedented resolution at the nanometre level underlying the process of ...

Showtime for photosynthesis

One of nature's most important chemical reactions is now being captured in a breakthrough 'molecular movie'

08-Jun-2020 - Using a unique combination of nanoscale imaging and chemical analysis, an international team of researchers has revealed a key step in the molecular mechanism behind the water splitting reaction of photosynthesis, a finding that could help inform the design of renewable energy technology. "Life ...

How molecular footballs burst in an X-ray laser beam

Study shows effect of X-ray flashes on sensitive biomolecules

26-Sep-2019 - An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive ...

A transparent flexible material of silk and nanotubes

Nanotube interactions with silk fibroins - key to flexible, degradable electronics

02-Nov-2018 - The silk fibers produced by Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm, has been prized for millennia as a strong yet lightweight and luxurious material. Although synthetic polymers like nylon and polyester are less costly, they do not compare to silk's natural qualities and mechanical properties. And ...

New sensor tracks zinc in cells

Shifts in zinc's location could be exploited for early diagnosis of prostate cancer

11-Dec-2013 - Zinc, an essential nutrient, is found in every tissue in the body. The vast majority of the metal ion is tightly bound to proteins, helping them to perform biological reactions. Tiny amounts of zinc, however, are only loosely bound, or "mobile," and thought to be critical for proper function in ...

Search for Advanced Materials Aided by Discovery of Hidden Symmetries in Nature

19-May-2011 - A new way of understanding the structure of proteins, polymers, minerals, and engineered materials was published in Nature Materials. The discovery by two Penn State University researchers is a new type of symmetry in the structure of materials, which the researchers say greatly expands the ...

Designer molecule detects tiny amounts of cyanide, then glows

26-Oct-2009 - A small molecule designed to detect cyanide in water samples works quickly, is easy to use, and glows under ultraviolet or "black" light. Although the fluorescent molecule is not yet ready for market, its Indiana University Bloomington creators report in the Journal of the American Chemical ...

Unlike rubber bands, molecular bonds may not break faster when pulled

19-Jun-2009 - From balloons to rubber bands, things always break faster when stretched. Or do they? University of Illinois scientists studying chemical bonds now have shown this isn't always the case, and their results may have profound implications for the stability of proteins to mechanical stress and the ...