39 results found for bacteria

What is there in your computer which is attractive to bacteria and fungi?

In 2010, we chemically synthesized the 1078 Kb Mycoplasma mycoides genome and transplanted it into a recipient cell cytoplasm to create a 'synthetic cell', JCVI-syn1.0 (Science, 329, 52-56, 2010). We identified several hundred non-essential genes by ....

Reversible protein phosphorylation can be considered one of the most prevalent mechanism by which eukaryotic cellular events are regulated. It is directly involved in numerous pathological conditions, and bacterial and viral diseases. This process wa....

Beginning with an exception to normal function caused by a genetic aberration, one may hope to find at least one protein with non-redundant function in a certain biological process. This approach permitted the identification of the receptor for bacte....

Both evolutionary biology and genetics have their roots 150 years ago in work with phenotypic variants of plants and animals. In contrast, microbial genetics originating as recently as the 1940s, rapidly revealed that filamentous DNA molecules are th....

How iron powder can catalyse bacterial production of hydrogen.

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....

Aditya and William give a cartoonists vision of this important subject.

The association of DNA with water is known since the deciphering of its double helical structure by X-Ray diffraction in 1953 (Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin). However the power of DNA for organizing water seems to go far beyond the direct fill....

Structural studies of the ribosome exemplify the evolution of structural studies in cell biology from the early negatively stained images of macromolecular assemblies in whole cells, to a detailed atomic understanding of the mechanism of action of a ....

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....

During the past century a number of chemical and physical risk factors for human cancers have been identified. Only relatively recently, mainly during the past 30 years, infectious agents have been identified as important human carcinogens. Besides....

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....

Synthetic biologists seek to design, build, and test novel biological systems. We have chemically synthesized a bacterial genome (Mycoplsama mycoides, 1078Kb) and brought it to life by transplantation into the cytoplasm of a related species. We are....

Structural studies of the ribosome exemplify the evolution of structural studies in cell biology from the early negatively stained images of macromolecular assemblies in whole cells, to a detailed atomic understanding of the mechanisms of action of a....

Slightly more than 20% of the global cancer incidence is presently being linked to viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections. The mechanisms by which these agents mediate malignant transformation differ substantially. Some contribute directly, freq....

Analysis of the immune system is fascinating and progressing rapidly. As a field of medical enquiry, it has however, drifted and turned purely academic. This is because interest and appreciation of protective immunity in infectious disease medicine....

The epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori continues to be an area of discovery and controversy in the 21st century. The transmission of this bacterium from mother to child allows Helicobacter DNA to mimic the evolution of maternal mitochondria DNA. B....

Flies challenged with bacteria or fungi rapidly transcribe a battery of genes encoding potent antimicrobial peptides which oppose the invading microorganisms. Genetic analysis has identified two signaling cascades which control their expression: (1)....

We live in a fascinating world surrounded by life. Much of that life is clearly visible like the plants and animals that we see every day. However, far more is invisible to the naked eye and it is to this realm, the microscopic world, that I will t....

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....

There are numerous kinds of luminous organism on earth. Mysterious emission of light from them inspired the curiosity of mankind ever since the ancient times. In history, Raphael Dubois discovered luciferin and luciferase from one of them, a click ....

Ribosomes, the universal cellular machines that translate the genetic code into proteins, are targeted by many antibiotics that paralyze them by binding to their functional sites.  Antibiotics binding modes, inhibitory actions and synergism pathways....

The oxygen, you breathe in, is converted to water by cytochrome c oxidase, using electrons provided by cytochrome c and protons from the aqueous milieu of the body.  This fundamental enzyme has been discovered already in 1886, and studied extensivel....