Biosciences News

Using specialized equipment, including high-resolution cryo-EM researchers were able to study the atomic structure of a complex that allows enzymes to access DNA.

A team of researchers developed a high-throughput drug-discovery workflow leveraging time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) capabilities at the Advanced Light Source’s (ALS) Structurally Integrated Biology for the Life Sciences (SIBYLS) beamline to identify small molecules capable of activating biomolecular dynamics associated with a desired therapeutic outcome.

Margaret Doyle, a graduate student in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division’s YYK group, and Christian Patrick Nikolaus Tanner, a graduate student with MBIB faculty scientist Naomi Ginsberg, were among the 27 young scientists selected to represent the University of California as a UC President Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Fellow at the recent gathering in Germany.

Biosciences researchers conducted the first ever structural analysis of a key protein involved in DNA damage repair and cancer. While the narrative around cancer chemotherapy has historically focused on DNA damage repair pathways, findings from this study underscore the role of RNA-mediated processes on chemotherapy response, which could have major implications for cancer treatment outcomes.

Mango Materials is using methane-eating bacteria to make polymers that can replace carbon-intensive plastics. Scientists at the Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) helped refine their production process.