All Biology articles – Page 9
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FeatureThe function of folding
Can chemists make molecules that fold up as well as proteins? Rachel Brazil talks to the people trying to create foldamers
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PodcastTannic acid
Tannic acid in green acorns can kill wild animals and livestock, but you can prevent poisoning with pannage pigs
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OpinionMaking light of bioluminescence
Glowing may be a side-effect of a very different original purpose
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ResearchLight-harvesting wheel reinvented by chemists copying bacterium
Synthetic mimic of complex at the heart of photosynthesis offers new ways to capture solar energy
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Podcast2AP (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline)
Frances Addison on the aromatic compound found in both buttered popcorn and the bearcat’s scent glands, and responsible for the distinctive smell of both
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ResearchUnnatural reaction benefits from computational tool that teaches an old enzyme new tricks
Method could generate artificial enzymes that are more suitable for directed evolution
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FeatureMetalloenzyme mastery
There are natural metalloenzymes that make difficult chemistry look easy. James Mitchell Crow talks to the bioinorganic chemists figuring out how to copy them
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ResearchUnprecedented biosynthetic transformation found to connect antibacterial polyketides from ant microbiome
Study identifies enzymes that convert flat fasamycins into three-dimensional formicamycins
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ResearchDrone blows clouds of pollen laden bubbles that could help farmers out
Automated bubble-firing drones could pollinate crops when insects numbers are down
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ResearchProteins pinpointed in cells at nanometre resolution
Combining fluorescence microscopy and electron tomography will reveal more about how cells work and how diseases disrupt them
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ResearchProtein synthesis revolution on way as large peptides made in hours not days
Flow chemistry can now make peptide chains up to 164 amino acids long in one go
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ResearchFirst natural Diels–Alder enzyme discovered in mulberry tree
Enzyme beats most synthetic catalysts when it comes to enantioselective intermolecular [4+2] cycloadditions
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ResearchDecoding the chemistry behind cicada’s bacteria-killing wings
Organisation and composition of nanostructures help to explain unique properties
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PodcastDMT – Dimethyltryptamine
Georgia Mills investigates the psychoactive found in ayahuasca that may mirror near-death experiences
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ResearchUnnatural cyclic amino acids push limits of ribosome
Expanding repertoire of monomers for ribosome-mediated polymerisation is boon for scientists wanting to harness nature’s protein factories
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PodcastChlorine dioxide
Katrina Krämer investigates how industrial-strength bleach became promoted as ‘miracle mineral supplement’ – a supposed ‘cure’ for autism, cancer and even Covid-19.
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ResearchPhotosynthesis rewired to generate hydrogen
Gene transplant repositions algal hydrogenase so that it directly captures electrons from photosystem I
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ResearchYeast thriving in hydrogen hints at possibility of life on exoplanets
First demonstration of non-adapted microorganisms growing in 100% H2 shows that life could exist even under seemingly hostile conditions
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ResearchTrapped enzyme reveals its unexpected shape-shifting ability
Metamorphic protein confined in nanopore found to switch between different 3D shapes as it catalyses a redox reaction