1413 results found for

Despite the enormous advances in structural studies of biological systems we are frequently left without a clear structure function correlation and cannot fully describe how different systems actually work. This introduces a major challenge for compu....

Intermittently fluorescing single molecule systems are found in many materials, including semiconductor quantum dots (QD), dyes on crystalline or nanoparticle film surfaces, and biological systems. The QD's show a ~ -3/2 power law for the distributio....

For cancer diagnosis and therapy, we are developing activatable cell penetrating peptides (ACPPs), synthetic molecules with a novel amplifying mechanism for homing to diseased tissues. ACPPs are polycationic cell penetrating peptides whose cellular u....

For the discovery of the physics phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1952. NMR has then been used in a wide range of fundamental studies in physics, and in the 1960....

Quasicrystals - or, as Shechtman would prefer, quasi-periodic materials - now have scientists thinking about matter in a new light, but they also have many possible practical applications. Because of their uneven structure, quasicrystals do not have ....

We are exiting the era where our approach to treatment of these and many other diseases is 'one size fits all', and enter a new era of 'personalized medicine' where we shall tailor the treatment according to the patient's molecular/mutational profile....

The discovery and synthetic applications of a widely applicable and highly enantioselective (>99% ee) protocol consisting of the 'ZACA reaction' (Zr-catalyzed asymmetric carboalumination of alkenes), purification of the ZACA-products by lipase-cat....

This lecture addresses the question if spatio-temporal self-organisation of matter which is so characteristic for living systems can also be verified with a simple inorganic reaction in which the observed phenomena of complexity can be traced back to....

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 small....

This lecture starts out with a very brief review of the history of protein crystallography and continue with our studies since 1970 on proteolytic enzymes and their control. Proteolytic enzymes catalyse a very simple chemical reaction, the hydrolytic....

Scientific research is a never-ending 'journey of knowledge'. There is more meaning in experiencing various encounters and making a good journey itself than reaching the destination. Basic science has eternal cultural value; it has served to heighten....

Molecular chemistry implementing reversible chemical bonds between atoms in molecules, as well as supramolecular chemistry, whose molecular components are held together by intermolecular interactions, are able to undergo a continuous change in consti....

Aquaporin channels allow water to rapidly cross cell membranes in all living organisms. AQP1 confers red cells and proximal renal tubules with high water permeability. Present in renal collecting duct, AQP2 is regulated by vasopressin, and human muta....

It has been a hundred years since molecules were first visualized directly by using x-ray crystallography. That gave us our first look at molecules as simple as common salt to one as complex as the ribosome that has almost a million atoms. In the las....

Throughout the 20th century it was widely accepted that a light microscope relying on conventional optical lenses cannot discern details that are much finer than about half the wavelength of light (200-400 nm), due to diffraction. However, in the 199....

Mark Cutkosky is Fletcher Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford. Here he discusses climbing robots and how they can take their cue from nature.

Professor Ray Goldstein FRS is the Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems at the University of Cambridge. Here he describes a biological example of topological inversion, with relevance to engineering problems in human technology.

Florian Hollfelder is based in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in mechanism in chemistry and biology. Here he describes using principles of natural selection to make functional proteins.

Stanislav Gorb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Kiel, Germany, with an interest in functional morphology and biomechanics. Here he discusses clustering as a form of self-assembly, and applications in adhesion.

Directrice de Recherche Patricia Bassereau, Institut Curie Centre de Recherche Laboratorie Physico-Chimie, France, speaks on bioinspired membrane-based systems for a physical approach of cell organization and dynamics: usefulness and limitations.

Stephen Hyde is Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University in Canberra. Taking the popular children's game as a starting point, he asks whether crystalli....

Yuru Deng is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore with a background in dentistry. Here she discusses the enigmatic functions of biological cubic membranes.

George Whitesides is the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University. Best-known for his work in NMR spectroscopy, organometallic chemistry, molecular self-assembly and nanotechnology, here he introduces sof....

The sight of a little warbler feeding an enormous cuckoo chick has astonished observers since ancient times. It was once thought that cuckoos were unable to raise their own young because of defective anatomy and behaviour, and so other birds were onl....

These things are HOT! - and have a variety of biochemical effects.

Tom looks at the intriguing differences between three states of matter

A fascinating discussion between two humanoids about the mystery force of gravity.

Chiho describes her important work in looking for varieties of wheat which could help increase food production in arid areas.

Tomoha describes her work in helping preserve this threatened species of plant.

Nao describes her work in investigating the ways in which wheat can be made to cope with the higher temperatures expected from global warming.

Aki decribes her experiments in improving soils using various buffering materials.

How iron powder can catalyse bacterial production of hydrogen.

An interesting look at how the direction of water flow affects shell growth in barnacles.

Disturbing facts about the way alcohol and humans react.

Sophie and Stephanie take a light-hearted look at solar energy.

A discussion of the problems caused by genetic engineering.

Hydrogen - the fuel of the future?

The cell wall is a crucial structure found in almost all bacteria. It is the target for our best antibiotics and fragments of the wall trigger powerful innate immune responses against infection. Surprisingly, many bacteria can switch almost effortl....

Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and Lord Stern, President of the British Academy, discussed the new opportunities – and need – for collaboration between the traditional academic disciplines to respond to the big issues of our time,....

Find out what we have learnt from the outbreak so far (March 2015) and what is being done to ensure continued resilience to epidemic scenarios.

Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day by exploring the history of women writing about science.  How did early women scientists use writing in order to further their careers? In which ways were they limited by their gender? What influen....

The discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN’s LHC accelerator in 2012 by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations was the culmination of a decades-long search that had started in 1964 with the proposal of this unique particle, a signature of the origin of the....