First image of antigen-bound T-cell receptor at atomic resolution

Basis for novel therapeutic approaches targeting severe diseases

22-Aug-2022 - T cells are our immune system’s customised tools for fighting infectious diseases and tumour cells. On their surface, these special white blood cells carry a receptor that recognises antigens. With the help of cryo-electron microscopy, biochemists and structural biologists from Goethe University ...

Monitoring gene activities in living cells

Cell Biopsy instead of cell lysis

19-Aug-2022 - Researchers from ETH Zurich and EPFL are expanding the emerging field of single-​cell analysis with a ground-​breaking method: Live-​seq makes it possible to measure the activity of thousands of genes in a single cell without having to isolate and destroy it. Modern biology is increasingly ...

The mystery gene which helps mice survive virus infections

17-Aug-2022 - Researchers from UNSW Sydney have discovered that a particular transposable element, or jumping gene, in the genome has a profound effect on the immune response to virus infection. The findings in mice, published in Nature, provide new information about how the immune system is regulated, and ...

Pimp my Spec: Upgrade for Magnetic Resonance Methods with a 1,000-fold Amplifier

Atomistically accurate description of proteins at native concentrations can help to better understand the process of cell proliferation to tumour growth

15-Aug-2022 - Researchers determine the structure and dynamics of proteins using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy. Until now, however, much higher concentrations were necessary for in-vitro measurements of the biomolecules in solution than found in our body's cells. An NMR method enhanced by a ...

Making it easier to differentiate mirror-image molecules

Researchers have shown that mirror-image substances – so-called enantiomers – can be better distinguished using helical X-ray light

06-Jul-2022 - Using a new method, scientists are better able to distinguish between mirror-image substances. This is important amongst others in drug development, because the two variants can cause completely different effects in the human body. Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, EPF Lausanne ...

How to find marker genes in cell clusters

New method facilitates identification of cell-type specific genes in single-cell data

06-Jul-2022 - The thousands of cells in a biological sample are all different and can be analyzed individually, cell by cell. Based on their gene activity, they can be sorted into clusters. But which genes are particularly characteristic of a given cluster, i.e. what are its “marker genes”? A new statistical ...

Mass spectrometry-based draft of the mouse proteome

A milestone for biomedical research

30-Jun-2022 - Proteins control and organize almost every aspect of life. The totality of all proteins in a living organism, a tissue or a cell is called the proteome. Using mass spectrometry, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) characterize the proteome, or protein complement of the genome, ...

Sniffing out your identity with breath biometrics

Researchers develop an olfactory sensor using your unique chemical composition to confirm who you are

24-Jun-2022 - Biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris scans are a staple of any spy movie, and trying to circumvent those security measures is often a core plot point. But these days the technology is not limited to spies, as fingerprint verification and facial recognition are now common features on ...

On-site food freshness testing

Near infrared spectral analysis for mobile applications

15-Jun-2022 - Anyone who has ever ruined a cake knows that the correct identification of visually similar substances such as sugar and salt has great significance in food preparation. However, complex compositional analyses can also provide information about the quality, ripeness or freshness of products. ...

Scientists create luminescent gels with multitude of applications from counterfeiting to bio-sensing

15-Jun-2022 - Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have taken inspiration from nature to create luminescent, self-healing gels with a suite of potential applications ranging from bank note counterfeiting to next-gen bio-sensing and imaging. Crucially, the scientists have been able to introduce guanosine (a ...