All articles by Philip Ball
-
Research‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Over time biomolecular condensates’ redox activity drops and tangled aggregates linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s build-up
-
OpinionTunnelling to the heart of cell communication
Nanotubes are being found in an increasing number of biological contexts, including the developing heart
-
Research‘Hidden grammar’ explains proteins’ distribution into sub-cellular condensates
Proteins’ amino-acid sequences appear to guide their access to blob-like aggregates involved in many cell processes
-
OpinionScientific institutions have a long history of anticipatory obedience
Societies should learn from this and speak up to support inclusion
-
OpinionCelebrating 100 years of the Pauli exclusion principle
How a quantum view of electron states enabled us to understand the stability of matter
-
OpinionThere are no life lessons to be learned in AI’s Chinese Room
There’s a lot more lab work to do before we understand the ‘language of life’
-
OpinionWhat are the limits of life?
In search of design principles that would apply to living systems evolved anywhere in the universe
-
OpinionA high-pressure insight into the structure of water
The hydrogen-bonded network in liquid water resists compression; density increases instead arise from molecules moving into voids
-
OpinionA broader view of condensates
Exquisite insight into chromosome separation reveals the intricate relationships between molecular changes and large-scale cell processes
-
OpinionEnormous enzymes expand the limits of molecular biology
Identifying the PKZILLAs, used by algae to make toxins, stretched the capabilities of current analytical methods – and the limits of our preconceptions
-
OpinionTriggering a nuclear chain reaction
How Leo Szilard’s concept emerged from a rich interchange of ideas across disciplinary silos
-
OpinionA common misunderstanding about wave-particle duality
Instead of treating quantum particles as shape-shifters, we should think in terms of probability distributions
-
OpinionThe 1920s chemists who thought they’d achieved the alchemists’ dream
The now-forgotten transmutation controversy hung on apparent evidence of mercury transforming into gold
-
-
OpinionHeated crystals jump to enantiomeric separation
Chiral asparagine monohydrate crystals can segregate by handedness – if you arrange them carefully first
-
-
FeatureSmall molecules that switch up cell development could transform medicine
Turning mature somatic cells back into flexible stem cells using small molecules could revolutionise medicine, especially for regeneration and cancer. Philip Ball reports
-
OpinionAn unprecedented supramolecular structure brings new complexities to life
The transcription factor FOXP3’s interactions with DNA present more evidence of the importance of disorder
-
OpinionAtmospheres conducive to life
Researchers propose a new biosignature that could hint at habitable exoplanets
-
ResearchMolecular movie captures DNA repair from start to finish
Study spans pico- to microsecond timescales to uncover enzymatic process