News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Progress in treating Parkinson’s disease—a progressive neurological illness that causes tremors, muscle rigidity, and dementia—has been painfully slow, in large part because scientists still don’t fully understand the molecular events that kill select brain cells. What they do know is Parkinson’s leaves behind a telltale mark: clumps of the misfolded alpha synuclein (αS) protein in … Read more
Scientists have built the tiniest antenna ever made – just five nanometers in length. Unlike its much larger counterparts we’re all familiar with, this minuscule thing isn’t made to transmit radio waves, but to glean the secrets of ever-changing proteins. The nanoantenna is made from DNA, the molecules carrying genetic instructions that are around … Read more
Pyroptosis, a type of programmed cell death related to infection and an inflammation response, can actually be stopped and managed, according to new research – whereas it was previously thought that the process was irreversible once it gets going. Killing off cells with pyroptosis is something the body uses to stay healthy, though such … Read more
A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, at least from a thermodynamic standpoint. It’s defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius (2.2 pounds by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). But when it comes to health and your body’s energy balance, not all … Read more
In July, DeepMind announced that its AlphaFold model had worked out how most of the proteins in our bodies fold. Pushmeet Kohli tells New Scientist that there is more to come Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes A 3D model of a fruit fly protein from DeepMind DeepMind IT TOOK decades for scientists to … Read more
In his 1972 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, American biochemist Christian Anfinsen laid out a vision: One day it would be possible, he said, to predict the 3D structure of any protein merely from its sequence of amino acid building blocks. With hundreds of thousands of proteins in the human body alone, such an advance would … Read more
An experimental vaccine successfully eliminated aging cells from the bodies of mice, helping to prolong the rodents’ lives and reverse some signs of age-related disease. The researchers say the experiment is a step on the road to a similar vaccine for humans, but could it really work? “I think the data was extremely strong… I think … Read more
The drumbeat of exercise’s brain benefits may sound familiar. Most of us know that getting our move on can mean a boost to mental and neurological health. But what if, through understanding these biochemical processes, we could get all of that brain gain without going through the exercise pain? Mouse experiments have already demonstrated the … Read more