News by Subject Biology

A team of scientists from Russia studied the role of double-stranded fragments of the maturing RNA and showed that the interaction between distant parts of the RNA can regulate gene expression.

Various beetle species have gobbled through grain stores and weakened food production worldwide since ancient times. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a better way of targeting and eliminating these teeny pests. Instead of using toxic pesticides that damage biodiversity, environment and human health, the researchers seek to exploit beetles' greatest strength against them -- their precisely regulated mechanism of balancing fluids.

More than 70% of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and the concussion-related disorder CTE, are believed to be fueled by protein clusters called tau aggregates. A new study sheds light on how they damage brain cells and could ultimately lead to new therapies for such "tauopathies."

Scientists have figured out how to modify CRISPR's basic architecture to extend its reach beyond the genome and into what's known as the epigenome -- proteins and small molecules that latch onto DNA and control when and where genes are switched on or off.

The researchers have discovered that USP7 inhibitors -under development by several pharmaceutical companies for the treatment of cancer- trigger a premature activation of cell cycle proteins, leading to uncontrolled cancer cell division and death. * The paper rejects the premise that the therapeutic efficacy of these inhibitors is due to their effects on activating the tumor suppressor protein P53, as currently accepted by the international scientific community. These results extend the potential use of USP7 inhibitors to a wider range of patients.

Oblique Therapeutics AB, a Sweden-based biotech company, in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden), Gothenburg University (Sweden) and several local biotechs published promising research results in the highly-acclaimed scientific journal Science Advances (AAAS) entitled: Rational Antibody design for Undruggable Targets using Kinetically Controlled Biomolecular probes.