Biological Sciences
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SLAC X-ray Laser Brings Key Cell Structures into Focus
Scientists have used SLAC’s X-ray laser to produce detailed images of tiny cellular structures that play a major role in Earth’s life-sustaining carbon cycle.
New Project Will Expand Opportunities for Biological Discovery With SLAC’s X-ray Laser
A new experimental station in development at SLAC will expand capabilities for atomic-scale explorations in human health, biology, energy and environmental science.
Researchers Take Snapshots of Potential 'Kill Switch' for Cancer
Scientists at Genentech and SLAC have watched a key human protein change from a form that protects cells to one that kills them, providing valuable new insights to cancer research.
Study Reveals 'Bellhops' in Cell Walls Can Double as Hormones
Researchers have discovered that some common messenger molecules in human cells double as hormones when joined to a protein that interacts with DNA.
Research Pinpoints Role of 'Helper' Atoms in Oxygen Release
Experiments at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory solve a long-standing mystery in the role calcium atoms serve in a chemical reaction that releases oxygen into the air we breathe.
Scientists Map Protein in Living Bacterial Cells
Scientists have for the first time mapped the atomic structure of a protein within a living cell. The technique, which peered into cells with an X-ray laser, could allow scientists to explore some components of living cells as never before.
Researcher Wins X-ray Science Award for SSRL Work Aiding Chemistry Studies
A postdoctoral researcher, whose work at SLAC's synchrotron was key in adapting an X-ray technique to probe chemical bonds in new ways, will receive an annual scientific award.
X-ray Laser Measures Leaping Electrons
In an experiment at SLAC's X-ray laser, scientists split molecules into two fragments using pulses of infrared light, and then used X-ray pulses to observe the transfer of electrons.
X-ray Laser Gives Buckyballs a Big Kick
Scientists at SLAC have been blowing up "buckyballs" – soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules – with an X-ray laser to understand how they fly apart. The results, they say, will help them interpret X-ray images of tiny viruses, individual proteins and other important biomolecules.
Scientists Use X-rays to Look at How DNA Protects Itself from UV Light
DNA’s molecular building blocks absorb ultraviolet light so strongly that sunlight should deactivate them – yet it doesn’t. A new SLAC study reveals details of a “relaxation response” that protects these molecules and the genetic information they encode.
