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  • BioXFEL Director Eaton Lattman TEDx Talk

    Most of the pictures that we have of molecules are static – atoms represented as balls linked together by connectors that represent chemical bonds. But molecules, especially those in biology, move when performing functions. When we bend a finger, at the micro level there are little motor proteins taking tiny little steps that add up to the large-scale motion.

  • Structural biologist named president of UK Royal Society

     A Nobel-prizewinning structural biologist will be the next president of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom's pre-eminent scientific institution. Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan will take over from geneticist Paul Nurse, also a Nobel laureate, on 1 December.

  • Mapping Conformational Landscape Through Crystallography

    Determining the interconverting conformations of dynamic proteins in atomic detail is a major challenge for structural biology. Conformational heterogeneity in the active site of the dynamic enzyme cyclophilin A (CypA) has been previously linked to its catalytic function. Here we compare the conformational ensembles of CypA by fixed-target X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) crystallography and multitemperature synchrotron crystallography.

  • 3-D snapshot of protein highlights potential drug target for breast cancer

    3-D snapshot of protein highlights potential drug target for breast cancerThe genome of a cell is under constant attack, suffering DNA damage that requires an army of repair mechanisms to keep the cell healthy and alive. Understanding the behavior of the enzymes defending these assaults helps determine how - and where - cancer gets its foothold and flourishes. New research published in an Advance Online Publication of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology shows that one of these enzymes - human DNA polymerase theta (POLQ) - may be a promising drug therapy target for inhibiting breast cancer.