Category Archives: Molecular biology
Blood test for autism diagnosis
One of the priority objectives in autism research is to have a biological marker that allows early, rapid and reliable diagnosis. In the past year there have been several important studies that identified children with autism at ages as early […]
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 […]
Molecular Detectives: discovering new ion channels (II)
The identification of previously unknown proteins is a difficult task and often requires to follow unconventional thinking. In my previous post, I have described how the TRPV1 ion channel (formerly known as the capsaicin receptor) was discovered by combining […]
Molecular Detectives: discovering new ion channels (I)
Doing research in molecular biology is not straightforward, because most of the experimental work is based in the study of molecules which cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Instead, we rely on indirect evidence given by methods which are […]
Dirty mice are the next revolution in immunology research
Laboratory mice are one of the most valuable tools scientists rely on to understand how pathologies work. In order to find a cure for a disease, we need to have comprehensive knowledge of the physiological processes which are impaired. […]
How sweet! Right, call me miraculin
We perceive the world surrounding us through our senses. Thanks to them we can have a pleasant time listening to Claude Debussy or get delighted by the scent of rosemary. We blindly trust them, but are they always truthful? A […]
One pore to rule them all: Bax assembles into rings and arcs in apoptotic mitochondria
Author:
Raquel Salvador-Gallego studied Biochemistry at the University of Zaragoza, then moved to Heidelberg (Germany) to pursue her Ph.D. in the Membrane Biophysics group headed by Ana García-Sáez at the German Cancer Research Center and the Max Planck Institute […]
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, […]
Transcriptional noise seems to correlate with more closed chromatin environments.
I still remember the order and control exhibited by the chemistry of life that they explained to me in the early years of college. For me, the regulation of gene expression was the supreme paradigm of organization. The promoters, […]
The love hormone and its disregarded sibling
Author:
Marcos Otero García has just earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Valencia
We got it wrong.
Media have outlined a rosy picture of Oxytocin as the “love hormone” that floods our brain when we interact with […]