News by Subject Biology

Active mutations of a certain signaling receptor protein called KIT tyrosine kinase are found in several cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, the different locations in the AML cells where KIT induces cancer-specific signaling remain unclear. Now, a group of scientists from Japan has aimed to answer this question by using a newly synthesized compound (along with other existing ones) that targets intracellular transport, which may offer an attractive strategy to combat cancer.

Researchers have discovered that gene expression regulators work together to raise an individual's risk of developing schizophrenia. Such synergistic interactions seen with schizophrenia-like gene expression changes in modeled induced human neurons matched changes found in patients' brains.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, disprove the prevailing theory of how DNA binds itself. It is not, as is generally believed, hydrogen bonds which bind together the 2 sides of the DNA structure. Instead, water is the key. The discovery opens doors for new understanding in research in medicine and life sciences. The researchers' findings are presented in the journal PNAS.

An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive proteins and other biomolecules, which are also frequently studied using bright X-ray laser flashes.

The genomes of mitochondria are usually depicted as rings or circles. But in plants, 1 ring does not rule them all. A new study of lettuce shows that the mitochondrial genome often forms branching structures with elements that can be swapped around like a chopped salad.