Published: July 26, 2021
The parents of Montserrat Samso could not have predicted the symmetry of her name and her future work as a scientist. She is named for a large geologic structure near Barcelona where she …
News
Published: June 28, 2021
If insects had horror movies, one of the scariest would feature tiny monsters. The grisly drama would spotlight the real-life threat to insects from young threadworms, smaller than eyelashes, and their symbiotic gut …
Published: Feb. 25, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has schooled scientists in unexpected ways. Ho Leung Ng, for example, was surprised to learn coronavirus infections are common and often fatal in cats. “I’m more of a dog person,” …
Published: Jan. 29, 2021
As a kid, Ernesto Fuentes lived in Brazil just long enough to stock up on the soccer skills he now shares with his kids. His affinity for structural biology may have arisen at …
Published: Nov. 27, 2020
The story of how a viral protein meets a cell membrane has become a compelling narrative during the COVID-19 pandemic. James Hurley at University of California, Berkeley, understands the appeal better than most …
Published: Nov. 12, 2020
Many thanks to all who joined our most recent mini-series - Cryo-electron microscopy: from Sample to Structure - hosted in collaboration with Prof. Kurt Krause of University of Otago, Prof. Piotr Sliz of …
Published: Sept. 28, 2020
Inside cells, DNA is coiled around histone proteins, making spools of nucleosomes. Cynthia Wolberger studies the molecular machines that unwrap the chromatin packing to transcribe or repair genes. The structures reveal complicated biological …
Published: July 31, 2020
Priyamvada Acharya studies how proteins on the surface of HIV move to invade cells and evade the immune system. For many years her research has been focused on the HIV-1 envelope (Env), a …
Published: June 27, 2020
As one of best selling games of all time, Minecraft and its spinoffs are familiar to hundreds of millions of dedicated fans. But few people know about the video game’s legacy in cryo-electron …
Updated: April 29, 2020
Three weeks after most research on campus was paused in the first wave of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, Yuh Min Chook learned that a cancer drug her group helped develop was going into …
Updated: March 30, 2020
Some things take time and patience. Like generating higher atomic resolution structures from cryo-electron microscopy. Or reconstructing a protein’s hidden coils in atomic models. Or mastering the skills and teamwork in field hockey. …
Updated: March 25, 2020
We've got a couple of operating system alerts for those of you looking to buy new computers or update existing Mac or Linux machines: SBGrid is not compatible with MacOS 10.15 "Catalina without …
Published: Feb. 27, 2020
For sports buffs, the end of winter ushers in a new season of competitive delights. Alan Brown’s spring thoughts turn to Formula One and the pre-season test runs of new designs and rampant …
Updated: Jan. 30, 2020
One day soon, the process of collecting data from cryo-electron microscopes may be as automated as it is on synchrotron beamlines. Until then, Guy Schoehn and his team will be busy training and …
Updated: Dec. 18, 2019
A few years ago on a visit to Cape Cod, Michael Rosen was walking along the beach at low tide. He came across a tidal pool set in a giant rock. The pool …
Updated: Sept. 30, 2019
Kissing a frog might not spark a fairy tale ending, but learning how frogs survive some of nature’s most deadly poisons has opened a new chapter in the laboratory of Daniel Minor Jr. …
Published: July 31, 2019
The evolution of SBGrid tracks with advances in structural biology, and cryo-EM is at the forefront of that change. This article reflects on 3 pivotal papers that describe key advances in cryoEM, from …
Published: July 30, 2019
When Marcos Sotomayor explains his research out loud, his voice tickles the topic of his studies. A core biological question in his laboratory addresses how hearing happens at the molecular level. For words …
Updated: June 28, 2019
Hao Wu is a third generation scientist whose formative years were shaped by the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In fact, it’s fair to say the revolution, better known for persecution of academics and intellectuals, …
Updated: June 27, 2019
With the 2017 Nobel Prize, cryo-electron microscopy became briefly famous outside of the growing clutch of scientists using the techniques to capture detailed views of molecules that keep life humming along. The prize …