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proteins

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neuroscience

Secret Workings of Smell Receptors Revealed for First Time

By Jordana Cepelewicz
June 21, 2021
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Researchers have finally seen how some smell receptors bind to odor molecules. The work yields new insights into one of the most mysterious and versatile senses.

Illustrated scene showing characters reading glycan-shaped runes on a mystical sculpture shaped like a cell.
molecular biology

Researchers Read the Sugary ‘Language’ on Cell Surfaces

By Rachel Crowell
May 3, 2021
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Glycans, the complex sugars that stud cellular surfaces, are like a language that life uses to mediate vital interactions. Researchers are learning how to read their meaning.

A drawing of a piece of folded paper going back and forth between paper airplane and paper bird shapes.
Abstractions blog

Some Proteins Change Their Folds to Perform Different Jobs

By Viviane Callier
February 3, 2021
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Unusual proteins that can quickly fold into different shapes provide cells with a novel regulatory mechanism.

Video artwork showing yellow blobs move, merge, split, shrink and enlarge inside a clear cube.
molecular biology

A Newfound Source of Cellular Order in the Chemistry of Life

By Viviane Callier
January 7, 2021
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Inside cells, droplets of biomolecules called condensates merge, divide and dissolve. Their dance may regulate vital processes.

Abstractions blog

The Mystery of Mistletoe’s Missing Genes

By Christie Wilcox
December 21, 2020
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Mistletoes have all but shut down the powerhouses of their cells. Scientists are still trying to understand the plants’ unorthodox survival strategy.

Illustration of a blue tiger.
Abstractions blog

How Neutral Theory Altered Ideas About Biodiversity

By Christie Wilcox
December 8, 2020
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The simple insight that most changes are random had a profound effect on genetics, evolution and ecology.

Fluorescent cross-section of a mouse’s brain.
Abstractions blog

Brain Cell DNA Refolds Itself to Aid Memory Recall

By Elena Renken
November 2, 2020
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Researchers see structural changes in genetic material that allow memories to strengthen when remembered.

A digital simulacrum of a protein.
Abstractions blog

A Digital Locksmith Has Decoded Biology’s Molecular Keys

By John Pavlus
June 3, 2020
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Neural networks have been taught to quickly read the surfaces of proteins — molecules critical to many biological processes.

An illustration that shows a fanciful view of cells in terms of electrical circuitry.
synthetic biology

Math Reveals the Secrets of Cells’ Feedback Circuitry

By XiaoZhi Lim
September 18, 2019
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Maintaining perfect stability through negative feedback is a basic element of electrical circuitry, but it’s been a mystery how cells could do it — until now.


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