Structural biology – Page 3
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FeatureThe incredible antibodies of sharks, llamas and camels
Sharks and llamas share a strange quirk of their immune systems. Hayley Bennett finds out how their ‘nanobodies’ could help us tackle Covid and a host of other diseases
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ResearchBiochemical secrets of tarantula’s painful bite could point to perfect painkillers
King baboon spider venom could help scientists develop potent analgesics
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ResearchGel-forming proteins could help tardigrades survive extreme conditions
Biophysical dissection of tardigrade’s disordered protein could uncover how microscopic animals survive conditions that kill most other forms of life
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NewsScience behind sense of touch and temperature wins medicine Nobel prize
David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian honoured for discovery of ion channels activated by temperature and mechanical force
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ResearchHeavy metal proteins are the secret weapon in ant bites
Protein-rich biomaterials containing zinc, manganese, copper and bromine allow ants, crabs and scorpions to pack more punch for their size
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ResearchOverreliance on cryocooled protein structures may compromise computational structure-based drug design
Scientists behind first of its kind study encourage more researchers to analyse protein structures at room temperature
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FeatureHow a virus ancestor powers our memory’s chemistry
Andy Extance tells the astonishing story of the Arc protein and its capsid forms, and the questions it poses
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NewsMachine learning delivers ‘human genome’ moment for proteins
Protein structure prediction tools AlphaFold and RoseTTAFold take the latest steps towards maturity and make their software open source
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ResearchEnigmatic DNA dubbed ‘Borgs’ discovered in methane-metabolising microbes
The large nucleic acid structures may help bacteria play a role in regulating global methane
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ResearchNew class of biomolecule baffles scientists
GlycoRNAs found across several cell types and organisms
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ResearchRedox switches up possibilities for signal transduction in artificial cells
Vitamin C triggers membrane translocation in a synthetic system, which generates an amplified fluorescent response
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NewsOxford University to open antimicrobial research centre after £100m donation from Ineos
Petrochemical giant highlights dangers of antibiotic resistance
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NewsDecoding the virus – what we know about Sars-CoV-2 a year on
Scientists have never learnt so much about a pathogen in such a short time
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ResearchGoogle’s AI aces protein prediction competition
Deep-learning network AlphaFold2’s perfomance at predicting how proteins fold has caused great excitement in the scientific community
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FeatureArtificial photosynthesis: solar water splitting
The chemistry to mimic ones of nature’s greatest feats still has some hurdles to overcome
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FeatureArtificial enzymes: catalysis by design
Enzymes are nature’s ultimate catalysts and chemists are now on the verge of making their own versions from scratch
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ResearchFruit flies’ protective corneal coatings reproduced
Anti-reflective and anti-adhesive nano-coating that covers the eyes of insects could find uses in medical implants and contact lenses
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ResearchViewpoint shift designs drug binding proteins from scratch
New method focuses on the groups touching amino acid side chains
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OpinionBarbara Low, penicillin and the protein pi helix
Mike Sutton celebrates the remarkable career of a female crystallographer, once mistaken for the tea-lady
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ResearchDecoding the chemistry behind cicada’s bacteria-killing wings
Organisation and composition of nanostructures help to explain unique properties