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Biological sciences RSS feed

Tiny microbes and molecular machines have an outsized impact on human health, and they play key roles in the vast global cycles that shape climate and make carbon and nitrogen available to all living things. 

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Science of life

This illustration shows arrestin, an important type of signaling protein

Press Release

Researchers used cryo-EM (left) to discover how a chamber in human cells (right) directs protein folding. 

A pom-pom like object with curly tangles in purple and blue shades and yellow tangles at center, reminiscent of a zinnia blossom.
News Brief
Blaine Mooers, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has won this year’s  Farrel W. Lytle...
Blaine Mooers
Illustration
At LCLS, crystallized ribosomes travel through a capillary into the interaction region, where they are zapped with a beam of X-rays. The X-rays scatter...
At LCLS, crystallized ribosomes travel through a capillary into the interaction region, where they are zapped with a beam of X-rays.
Illustration
A new technique allows scientists to map how electrons flow in the oxygen-evolving complex of Photosystem II. The ultimate goal is to assemble an...
Identifying each tiny chemical step in photosynthesis could aid the development of renewable energy technology.
Photograph

Stanford’s Roger Kornberg received the 2006 chemistry Nobel for work on RNA transcriptase, shown on screens. 

Roger Kornberg received the 2006 chemistry Nobel for work on RNA transcriptase
news collection
Research at SLAC

COVID-19

SLAC is uniquely equipped to study viruses like SARS-CoV-2; in fact, we’ve been doing it for decades. This news collection gathers the latest information on COVID-19 research at SLAC.

A photo-collage featuring a technician at SLAC's cryo-EM facilities.
Illustration
This illustration shows arrestin (yellow), an important type of signaling protein, while docked with rhodopsin (orange), a G protein-coupled receptor.
This illustration shows arrestin, an important type of signaling protein
News Brief

The protein could play a key role in soil carbon cycling and soil decomposition.

News Brief

Fan’s X-ray crystallography work at SLAC’s synchrotron moves us closer to a more protective coronavirus vaccine and a better understanding of how vital materials...

Fan wins this year's Klein award from SSRL.
Press Release

Powerful X-rays from SLAC’s synchrotron reveal that our immune system’s primary wiring seems to be no match for a brutal SARS-CoV-2 protein.

SARS-CoV-2-NEMO
Illustration
This image shows the SARS-CoV-2 virus's main protease, Mpro, and two strands of a human protein, called NEMO. One NEMO strand (blue) has been...
SARS-CoV-2-NEMO
News Feature

After almost two decades of synchrotron experiments, Caltech scientists have captured a clear picture of a cell’s nuclear pores, which are the doors and...

The nuclear pore and its components.