Why do we not have a vaccine against TB or HIV (yet)?
Survival of vertebrate hosts against infections depends on important natural or innate resistance mechanisms combined with adaptive immune responses of T and B cells. Infectious agents probe the limit of immune responses and help to characterize thr....
More details | Watch nowNitric oxide as a messenger molecule and its role in drug development
The role of nitric oxide in cellular signaling in the past three decades has become one of the most rapidly growing areas in biology. Nitric oxide is a gas and a free radical with an unshared electron that can regulate an ever-growing list of biolog....
More details | Watch nowWhy Our Proteins Have to Die so We Shall Live
Between the sixties and eighties, most life scientists focused their attention on studies of nucleic acids and the translation of the coded information. Protein degradation was a neglected area, considered to be a non-specific, dead-end process. Whil....
More details | Watch nowPhotosynthesis, Biomass, Biofuels: Conversion Efficiencies and Consequences
It is generally accepted that the global warming, which we undoubtedly observe, is the result of an increased concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Within this scenario it is evident that we have to re....
More details | Watch nowThe Ubiquitin Proteolytic System as a Novel Drug Development Platform
Between the 50s and 80s, most studies in biomedicine focused on the central dogma - the translation of the information coded by DNA to RNA and proteins. Protein degradation was a neglected area, considered to be a non-specific, dead-end process. ....
More details | Watch nowRoles of the Ubiquitin System in Health and Disease
The selective degradation of many short-lived proteins in eukaryotic cells is carried out by the ubiquitin-mediated proteolytic system. In this pathway, proteins are targeted for degradation by covalent ligation to ubiquitin, a highly conserved sma....
More details | Watch nowEngineering Molecules for Fun, Profit, and Clinical Relevance
Molecules to observe and manipulate biological systems and disease processes can be devised by a variety of strategies, ranging from pure chemical design and total synthesis to genome mining and high-throughput directed evolution. Examples of both ....
More details | Watch nowThe Fuel of Life
The lecture will be devoted to the topic of how the biological world supplies itself with energy to make biology work, and what medical consequences ensue when the energy supply chain in our bodies is damaged or defective. We derive our energy from....
More details | Watch nowG Protein Coupled Receptors: Challenges for Drug Discovery
G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) conduct the majority of cellular responses to hormones and neurotransmitters, and are therefore the largest group of pharmaceutical targets for a broad spectrum of diseases. Identification of genes for GPCRs, ini....
More details | Watch nowDrug Development in the 21st Century – Are We Going to Cure All Diseases?
Many important drugs such as penicillin, aspirin, or digitalis, were discovered by serendipity - some by curious researchers who accidentally noted a "strange" phenomenon, and some by isolation of active ingredients form plants known for centuries to....
More details | Watch nowTickling Worms: Surprises From Basic Research
Research, at least my research, has never been linear. I have found that my lab and I often double back on problems after years of inactivity or go off in entirely new directions as dictated by the work and people's interests. This lack of direct....
More details | Watch nowProteases and Their Control in Health and Disease
Proteolytic enzymes catalyse a very simple chemical reaction, the hydrolytic cleavage of a peptide bond. Nevertheless, they constitute a most diverse and numerous lineage of proteins. The reason lies in their role as components of many regulatory....
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