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Enzymes: A Very Short Introduction
across the country and has tackled hundreds of topics from Abolitionism to Zionism. The task of introducing readers to ‘enzymes’ falls to Paul Engel, emeritus professor of biochemistry at University College Dublin. He begins by gently steering us away...
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The plastic eaters
release chemicals that are toxic to most bacteria. In both of these cases the plastic degradation was aided by cocktails of enzymes secreted by the microbes. These generally contain a subset of enzymes that act directly on the solid polymers and...
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Chemistry for Biologists
a great deal of biochemistry depends on the three-dimensional shapes of molecules - how substrates fit the active sites of enzymes, how drug molecules fit receptors in cells, for example. Downloadable resources Topic Material Test Answers Somebasic...
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A whole new world
normal circumstances, immune cells killaberrant cells – including cancer cells or virus-infected cells – by secreting toxic enzymes into them. These enzymes are stored inside immune cells within small droplets of liquid, called lytic granules, each...
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All together now
to shed some light on the question, with the results published recently in Biochemistry (Moscow)[10]. Lipoxygenase enzymes (also known as LOX enzymes) are a convenient peg to hang the research on. This protein participates in oxylipin biosynthesis in...
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The key to ‘the vault’
application of vaults, Rome’s colleague at UCLA Shaily Mahendra is exploring the use of vault nanoparticles packaged with enzymes to degrade environmental contaminants. Multiple enzymes for degrading organic pollutants, including manganese peroxidase,...
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Learning to love Lucilia
for eyes,” says Daniel Morris, a research scientist and R&D project manager at BioMonde. “Whereas the larvae just secrete enzymes that selectively degrade all of the dead tissue within that wound.” The larvae quickly burrow around the wound and digest...
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"No-one is looking for sequences with anywhere near the scale and depth that we do”
In 25% of enzyme classes, they have 10 times as many sequences as can be found in public databases, and in six per cent of enzymes classes, they have 50 times more. The start up says this database or ‘map’ of life’s molecular diversity “unlocks the next...
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Interview: Basecamp Research
In 25% of enzyme classes, they have 10 times as many sequences as can be found in public databases, and in six per cent of enzymes classes, they have 50 times more. The start up says their database or ‘map’ of life’s molecular diversity “unlocks the...
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Going back in genes
355 genes. The number of genes we found was not the surprise; the surprise was what the genes encoded. They encoded enzymes typical of modern cells that live in the strict absence of oxygen and in the presence of H2, CO2, CO, and N2, growth substrates...
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Resistance fighters
mechanism by which a pesticide is prevented from reaching its target protein is metabolism. All organisms have enzymes that break down chemicals, including pesticides. Once broken down, the pesticide will no longer work. If this process works well, not...
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Back to the future
root growth, producing moisturising compounds and protecting agents, and increasing nutrient availability via extracellular enzymes. One of the newest strategies scientists are investigating is engineering the soil microbiome or, more specifically the...
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The speed of life
and shutter speeds. Do we really understand things that are extremely fast? I don’t think so. Within cells, there are enzymes that perform millions of chemical reactions each second. Protein ‘motors’ make energy-storing molecules by spinning around...
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My Lab Unlocked: New England Biolabs Senior Scientist and Durham University Professor Tim R Blower
under huge evolutionary pressure and forced the evolution of means to protect themselves. This has resulted in a wealth of enzymes and systems for “phage defence”. The most famous examples are the restriction enzymes that revolutionised biotechnology in...
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Caught in a trap
their common names: pitcher plants and monkey cups. The fluid lurking inside is a deadly concoction of water, sugars and enzymes that work to trap, drown and digest prey. Vital yet scarce elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus are released from its...
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Coming of Phage
the bactericidal effects. An early debate centred on whether phages were indeed of a viral nature or instead were autolytic enzymes produced by the bacteria themselves, and it was not until 1940 that electron micrographs were published visually...
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Breaking down barriers
including the use of bacteriophages (viruses that infect and kill bacteria) and bacteriophage endolysins (bacteriophage enzymes that digest the bacterial cell walls) can also be hindered by the protective effects of the biofilm, and resistance to these...
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Will AlphaFold change bioscience research?
Above: A range of glycolytic enzymes visualised by David Goodsell, courtesy of PDB-101. Google-backed AI platform AlphaFold has predicted 3D protein structures from DNA sequences with such accuracy that some regard the protein folding problem as...
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The value of venom
from the venom of the Brazilian pit viper (Bothrops jararaca). The peptide acts as an inhibitor to angiotensin-converting enzymes, preventing the release of molecules that cause blood vessel constriction. When taken orally it lowers blood pressure...
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Serpent solutions
drugs are emerging as candidates for the treatment of SBE, as many of these molecules inhibit the toxic actions of key enzymes within the venom. For example, varespladib, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor, was initially developed to treat patients with acute...
