Targeted drug delivery is a powerful and promising area of medicine. Therapies that pinpoint precise areas of the body can reduce the medicine dosage and avoid potentially harmful “off target” effects. Researchers at the UW took a significant step toward that goal by designing proteins with autonomous decision-making capabilities. By adding smart tail structures to therapeutic proteins, the team demonstrated that the proteins could be “programmed” to act based on the presence of specific environmental cues. 

Researchers at Umeå University have identified a key molecular player that helps bacteria survive the hostile environment inside the body. Their study reveals how the protein RfaH acts as a protective shield for bacterial genes — and points to new strategies for fighting persistent infections.

Proanthocyanidins, also known as condensed tannins, are a class of flavonoid polymers with multiple health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, and eye-protective effects. Now, researchers have discovered that the TaMYB10 gene controls the presence or absence of condensed tannins in wheat grains. Their findings reveal that TaMYB10 directly activates the expression of core flavonoid pathway genes CHS and DFR, initiating condensed tannin synthesis.

Recently, the research team led by Prof. Hanyang Li at Harbin Engineering University has integrated functionalized liquid crystal (LC) microcavities with whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) laser technology to establish a novel real-time biosensing platform, enabling highly sensitive detection of ALT.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) in Japan have discovered how animals sense the pleasantness or unpleasantness or odors, one of the abilities that allow us to appreciate the flavor of foods. The study shows that these different sensations are computed by separate circuits of neurons in the brain but are not in fact opposites of each other. The findings were published in the scientific journal Cell.

Researchers at UBC Okanagan have uncovered how plants produce mitraphylline, a rare natural compound that may help fight cancer. 

The Kennesaw State University assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology recently earned a $720,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to seek clues about the hormonal control of cancer.