Category Archives: Biochemistry
Holidays, drug addiction...and cancer research
Cell signalling is the mechanism by which cells communicate with each other and with their environment. Stimuli, which are generally chemical, are transmitted via a signalling cascade to effector molecules that orchestrate the appropriate response. Signalling pathways are not isolated […]
Lung cancer can be detected through your nose
There is a word everybody fears and that is because when you listen to it out loud, it could be too late. Even though we have likely coexisted with cancer since complex multicellular organisms evolved, to us human beings, it […]
Carotenoids, I see your true colours
When autumn arrives to temperate climate forests, deciduous trees lose their characteristic green tonalities and start showing a wide spectrum of new colours: yellow, brown, orange, red… Chlorophyll reabsorption takes place in the leaves and carotenoids, present in a lower […]
Graphene nanopore DNA sequencing
Nanopore DNA sequencing was one the ten scientific breakthroughs of 2016 highlighted by Science magazine. In principle, graphene is the perfect pore material for DNA sequencing . Its monoatomic thickness of 0.35 nm is similar to the DNA base spacing […]
SNPs, RNA and Celiac Disease
Author:
Ainara Castellanos-Rubio obtained her phD on genetics of autoimmune diseases at the University of the Basque Country in 2010. Then she moved to NY where she did her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Prof. Sankar Ghosh at […]
Laforin, protein of the year
Unveiling the three-dimensional structure of proteins is one of the most useful strategies for understanding the molecular and cellular basis of human pathologies. Since proteins accomplish myriad cellular functions, but they are formed by combinations of only 20 different pieces, […]
Opening the systemic avenue from chemistry to biology
Author: Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo, Permanent Researcher, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU)
Although «cracking the origins-of-life puzzle», regardless of the reputation of the journalist who tells the news, is clearly not within the reach of science quite […]
The beginning of life, uncracked by cyanide?
“In the beginning, there was simplicity”
Richard Dawkins, “The selfish gene”, chapter 2
The question of how life began on Earth is as old as the human race and has occupied the thoughts and time of scientists and philosophers for […]
It’s not an infection, it’s an invasion!: An army of exosomes loaded with non-coding RNAs reaches endothelial shores
On 6 June, 1944 (also termed “the D-day”), the Allied army irrupted into the shores of western France in what was called the Invasion of Normandy, during the last stages of World War II. The operation began with hundreds […]
Dog’s DNA methylome uncovers hints on human cancer metastasis
Tracking back human civilization there are evidences of dog domestication as far as 10,000 years ago. During this time, the ancient wolves’ genome evolved to give rise to the domestic dog that gradually adapted to human habitat as many […]