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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

News Feature

Given a year to mature, the Institute for Chemical Biology is relaunching under a new name that better reflects its vision of bringing Stanford's...

News Feature

Five years ago, the brightest source of X-rays on the planet lit up at SLAC. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser's scientific...

Image - Some of the LCLS team members stand by the newly installed undulators in this 2009 photo. From right: Mike Zurawel, Geoff Pile from Argonne National Laboratory, Paul Emma, Dave Schultz, Heinz-Dieter Nuhn and Don Schafer. (Brad Plummer)
News Feature

X-ray studies conducted at SLAC and in the United Kingdom have resurrected the detailed chemistry of 50-million-year-old leaves from fossils found in the western...

A composite optical and X-ray image (red is copper, green is zinc, blue is nickel) of a 50-million-year-old leaf fossil. Trace metals correlate with the leaf's original biological structures. Also visible are ancient caterpillar feeding tubes.
News Feature

A new tool for analyzing mountains of data from SLAC’s Linac Coherent Lightsource (LCLS) X-ray laser can produce high-quality images of important proteins using...

Photo - Nicholas Sauter, middle, points to a monitor during an experiment this month at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser.
News Feature

A 2-ton instrument the size of a compact car, now available at SLAC's X-ray laser, makes it possible to capture more detailed images of...

Photo - A view of the LAMP instrument at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser. (SLAC)
Press Release

New Technology Allows Faster, More Accurate Imaging of Hard-to-study Membrane Proteins

Illustration - man with migraine, serotonin receptor bound to anti-migraine drug
Press Release

A study shows for the first time that X-ray lasers can be used to generate a complete 3-D model of a protein without any...

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News Feature

Researchers hope to hijack a natural process called RNA interference to block the production of proteins linked to disease and treat medical conditions for...

The crystal structure of the human Argonaute2 protein...
News Feature

In a new state-of-the-art lab at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, components of ribosomes – tiny biological machines that make new proteins and play a...

Photo - Hasan Demirci, a visiting investigator from B...
News Feature

A new screening program will allow researchers to quickly confirm whether precious biological samples yield useful information when struck by the intense X-ray pulses...

Photo - Marc Messerschmidt, a staff scientist who leads the Protein Crystal Screening Program at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser, works at the Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) experimental station. (Matt Beardsley)
News Feature

Last year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry – shared by Stanford School of Medicine Professor Brian Kobilka and Robert Lefkowitz of Duke University – recognized...

Image: Researchers Dingjie Wang and Garret Nelson fro...
News Feature

Daniel DePonte, a pioneer in finding ways to serve up a steady and precise supply of crystals, viruses and other precious samples for laser...

Photo - Daniel DePonte standing in experimental station.