Molecular Machine

A researcher in Purdue University's College of Science is developing a patent-pending platform technology that mimics the dual-layer structure of viruses to deliver nucleic acid (NA)-based therapies to targeted cancer cells.

And it's getting worse with extreme heat.

Welcome to the Cordova Ice Worm Festival, a quirky local tradition honoring the mysterious creatures that live in glacial ice

A first-ever, atom-by-atom supercomputer simulation shows how antibiotics kill bacteria and illustrates other processes of the molecular machinery in living cells. The research opens fresh pathways to improving antibiotics, designing new ones to fight drug-resistant bacteria and developing vaccines for viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

Photosynthesis is a crucial process that allows plants to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds using solar energy. Light-harvesting complex II (LHCII) is a complex of pigment molecules bound to proteins. It switches between two main functions—dissipating harmful excess light energy as heat under high light intensity through nonphotochemical quenching, and transferring absorbed light to the reaction center…

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I have been hearing many arguments from different people regarding catastrophic AI risks. I wanted to clarify these arguments, first for myself, because I would really like to be convinced that we need not worry. Reflecting on these arguments, some of the main points in favor of taking this risk seriously can be summarized as follows: (1) many experts agree that superhuman capabilities could arise in just a few…

A team of chemists and material scientists at the University of Tokyo has developed a new class of interlocking supramolecular systems by combining metal-organic frameworks with rotaxanes. In their study, reported in the journal Nature Communications, the group combined the two structures and found possible uses for the results.

It has almost been 20 years since the establishment of the field of two-dimensional (2D) materials with the discovery of unique properties of graphene, a single, atomically thin layer of graphite. The significance of graphene and its one-of-a-kind properties was recognized as early as 2010 when the Nobel prize in physics was awarded to A. Geim and K. Novoselov for their work on graphene. However, graphene has been…

Researchers have revealed, at high-resolution, the structure of a human protein complex named SIN3B, which is a 'nanomachine' involved in regulating cell division. Cell division is a fundamental process for life which, if it becomes uncontrolled, can lead to cancer.

Each gene in our DNA has a beginning and an end. Defining the gene's extremities properly is crucial in producing functional protein. Much research has been done to identify what determines when, where, and at which site on the DNA a gene "starts." But where a gene ends is a different story—selection of transcription termination sites has been assumed to depend on downstream elements and extrinsic factors.

These tiny black holes are thought to have formed right after the Big Bang. But will astronomers ever find them?

The RNA molecule is commonly recognized as messenger between DNA and protein, but it can also be folded into intricate molecular machines. An example of a naturally occurring RNA machine is the ribosome, that functions as a protein factory in all cells.

A study using fruit flies, led by researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Leicester, supported by the National Physical Laboratory, has suggested that the animal world's ability to sense a magnetic field may be more widespread than previously thought.

To feed a hotter and drier planet, Stanford scientists are building a smarter plant.

Meta AI has created the first database that reveals the protein structures of the metagenomic world. These proteins – which are found in microbes in the soil, deep in the ocean, and even inside our bodies – vastly outnumber those that make up animal and plant life. But they are the least understood proteins on earth.

Tuberculosis is a stubborn disease, born of yet more stubborn microbes. While many bacterial infections resolve within days of starting antibiotics, tuberculosis often refuses to budge for around six months, and in some cases, may never release its vice grip on the human body. It claimed 1.5 million lives in 2020, second only to COVID-19 among infectious diseases.

A structure that links amino acids suggests that early organisms could have been based on an RNA-protein mix

In MIT class 2.788 (Mechanical Engineering and Design of Living Systems), students explore how mechanics, structure, and materials intersect with biological systems by studying butterflies at every stage of their metamorphosis.

Ever smaller and more intricate—without miniaturization, we wouldn't have the components today that are required for high-performance laptops, compact smartphones or high-resolution endoscopes. Research is now being carried out in the nanoscale on switches, rotors or motors that consist of only a few atoms in order to build what are known as molecular machines. A research team at FAU has successfully built the…