New study reveals how human astroviruses bind to humans cells and paves the way for new therapies and vaccines Human astroviruses are a leading viral cause of the stomach bug—think vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. It often impacts young children and older adults, leading to vicious cycles of sickness and malnutrition, particularly for those in low and middle income countries. It’s very commonly found in wastewater studies, meaning it’s frequently circulating in communities. As of now, there are no vaccines for…
Without fat, nothing works in the body: These substances serve as energy suppliers and important building blocks – including for the envelopes of living cells….
Secondary metabolites – the compounds produced by microbes to mediate internal and external messaging, self-defense, and chemical warfare – are the basis for…
Rapid communication of neurons in the brain, as well as the ability to learn, fundamentally rely on neurotransmitter receptors located in the contact sites of…
The Luteoviridae are pathogenic plant viruses responsible for major crop losses worldwide. Transmitted by aphids, the viruses infect a wide range of food crops…
Recent advances in fluorescence microscopy allow researchers to study biological processes below the classical diffraction limit of light. Ralf Jungmann, Professor for Experimental Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich and research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and colleagues developed DNA-PAINT, a variant of these so-called super-resolution approaches. “DNA-PAINT yields super-resolved images using comparably simple microscopes”, says Jungmann. The technique uses short, dye-labeled DNA strands that transiently interact with their target-bound complements in order to create the…
Some 300,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year. Caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by the bite of infected Ixodes…
You can find them everywhere – at the shower curtain, in pipes or at the tap. Biofilms can form on almost any surface, as long as the supply of moisture is…
Some of the body’s proteins are not just made up of amino acids, they are also ‘decorated’ with lipid chains, which significantly influence the biological…
Dr. Jörn Petersen and his team of scientists at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures have jointly with Dr. John…
Microarrays are state-of-the-art tools in molecular biology that enable the rapid and parallel diagnosis of various diseases. Therefore, they are indispensable…
Hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are fascinating and rich habitats. Mussels, for example, thrive in this seemingly hostile environment, nourished by…
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to identify the presence of a specific type of antibody, called anti-citrullinated protein…
Many people think of the padding on their stomach or hips when they hear the term “body fat”. “But no human being could survive without lipids, as these…
Tuberculosis is a highly contagious infectious disease that is typically spread through aerosols and mainly affects the lungs. According to the World Health…
The ability to hear relies on neurons to constantly transmit information at very rapid timescales. This rapid rate of information transmission results in…
Michigan State University researchers, however, have found and flipped a switch in the brain, revealing a single circuit in mice that activates during stress…
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