Molecular & Structural Biology

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First shared Swiss platform to promote regenerative medicine launched in Bern

Regenerative Medicine is one of the fastest growing sectors in biomedical research – replacing diseased cells, tissues or organs.

31 Oct 2018

Dopamine neurons play role in reinforcing addictive effects of heroin

Scientists have made a major advance in untangling the brain circuits that lead to the powerful addictive effects of heroin, a study in the open-access journal eLife reports.

30 Oct 2018

Game-changing microscope enables UK scientists to understand amyloid structure

Scientists have used cryo-electron microscopes to generate 3D images of amyloid, showing that aggregates form long, twisted fibers.

30 Oct 2018

Research reveals high stability of hepatitis B viruses

At room temperature, hepatitis B viruses (HBV) remain contagious for several weeks and they are even able to withstand temperatures of four degrees centigrade over the span of nine months.

30 Oct 2018

Researchers deconstruct royal jelly that determines honeybee hierarchy

Katharina Paschinger's father, a conservation chemist in Vienna, was a devoted beekeeper. Paschinger remembers fondly that he would bring royal jelly, an important food for bee larvae, as a gift on visits to her maternal grandmother.

30 Oct 2018

Scientists discover cell adhesion mechanism used by mycoplasma genitalium

Researchers from the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona and the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine have discovered the mechanism by which the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium) adheres to human cells.

29 Oct 2018

Researchers uncover new insights on cancer growth

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have uncovered new insights into how the normal controls on cell growth are lost in cancer cells, leading to rapid tumor expansion.

29 Oct 2018

Insights into tumor initiation pave way for new skin cancer treatments

Researchers from VIB and KU Leuven uncovered a key vulnerability of melanoma. While studying the role of the melanoma-specific long non-coding RNA SAMMSON in tumor initiation, the researchers found that it boosts protein synthesis in different cellular compartments. Normal cells are alerted by modification in protein synthesis and react to this threat, but only if this process is altered in one compartment at the time.

29 Oct 2018

New method increases virus production in cells to generate more vectors for gene transfer

Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University have established a method to increase the released lentiviral particles produced by host cells, which will aid the use of the vectors for introducing foreign genes into cells

29 Oct 2018

Scientists discover kill code in all cells that can be triggered to destroy cancer

Researchers have discovered a kill code present within every cell of the body in the form of microRNAs that can cause cancerous cells to self-destruct

29 Oct 2018

Forced expression of a natural protein reduces fat in mice by a third

In a mouse model of obesity, forced expression of the protein FGFBP3 (BP3 for short) significantly reduced the animals’ fat mass.

29 Oct 2018

Study sheds new light on evolution of olfactory systems in vertebrates

In all animals, including humans, smell - the oldest of the five senses - plays a predominant role in many behaviors essential for survival and reproduction. It has been known since ancient times that animals react to odors.

29 Oct 2018

New method allows detection of direct biomolecule interactions

Proteins are the building blocks of the cell. They do most of the work and are essential for the structure, function and dynamic regulation of the cell and body's tissues and organs.

26 Oct 2018

Barcelona researchers win one of the most prestigious EU grants to study CLL

The European Research Council today announced the results of the 2018 Synergy Grants call for proposals. The aim of Synergy Grants is to address ambitious research questions that can only be answered by the coordinated work of a small group of two to four principal investigators and their teams, bringing together their complementary skills, knowledge and resources.

26 Oct 2018

Baby's tears make female mice to reject male sexual advances

A substance in young mice's tears makes female mice more likely to reject male sexual advances. This research is part of ongoing efforts at the University of Tokyo to understand how animals communicate using chemicals called pheromones.

26 Oct 2018

Molecular breakthrough may improve prognosis for pancreatic cancer

Scientists have discovered a method by which fibroblasts in the stroma of pancreatic tumors can be reprogrammed to suppress tumor cell growth.

26 Oct 2018

Researchers develop new way to detect hidden urinary tract infections

Researchers in infection biology have developed a new way to detect hidden urinary tract infections. The research was led by Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, head of the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet and published in NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes.

26 Oct 2018