Tag Archive | biochemistry
Brucella and the Fake Self-Destruct
By Rob Mitchum Brucella abortus is a particularly pesky pathogen. Frequently infecting cattle in many countries around the world, the bacterium causes the most common zoonotic infection, usually passing from animal to humans through ingestion of unpasteurized dairy products. While the infection, known as brucellosis or undulant fever, is rarely deadly, it can cause assorted […]
The Risky Value of Imperfection
By Rob Mitchum Cells, like people, are not perfect. If a cell’s primary responsibility is to produce proteins, then it makes a remarkable amount of mistakes in that job, with some studies estimating that an error appears in as many as 1 out of every 5 proteins. Defective proteins can be a serious problem — […]
Complexity and the Language of Proteins
All of the animal life on Earth, including human beings, can be traced back to a unicellular ancestor somewhat similar to the modern-day protozoa. In one sense, the hundreds of millions of years of evolution is the story of how organisms became more and more complex, growing from a single cell to trillions of highly […]
The Cellular UPS, Dr. Octopus, & a Hand-Off
Cells are often described as factories, and their product is protein. Thousands of different proteins are built by cellular structures called ribosomes, which translate DNA instructions into chains of amino acids. But in a cell, as in industry, manufacturing is only the first part of the story: products must also be shipped to their final […]
The Leaky Pipeline of Women in Science
By Meghan Sullivan That there even was a luncheon at Crerar library last week to welcome Nancy Hopkins was a sign of progress. Speaking of a committee formed at MIT in 1995 to explore gender discrimination among tenured faculty, she commented that their meetings were generally held off campus since “having that many women in […]
Eugene Goldwasser & The Unforeseen Legacy of Epo
When Eugene Goldwasser launched the project that would become his life’s work, he thought it would only take a matter of months. Since the early 20th century, biologists had predicted that a hormone they named erythropoietin must exist to promote the production of red blood cells when the body was running low. But in 1955, […]
A New Building, A New Discipline
Today, the University of Chicago announced plans to construct the William Eckhardt Research Center, an innovative new building along Ellis Avenue that will be home to many researchers in the physical sciences. But just as newsworthy as the new building is one of its prominent tenants: the Institute for Molecular Engineering, the largest new department […]
Depleting the Thanksgiving Amino Acid
Thanks to its association with the Thanksgiving turkey, tryptophan has become probably the most popular amino acid. Whether it’s being blamed for the strong post-meal desire for a nap or being rhymed with “gravy in the pan” in a dancey clothing store commercial, tryptophan is the envy of its 19 peers in the standard amino […]
Folding Failures and Brain Diseases
Proteins are a little like laundry: folding matters. When folded properly, proteins can go about their intended business as the machinery of the cell, responsible for its structure and function. A misfolded protein or two can be an annoyance, temporarily throwing off the order of the cell but easily handled by a cell’s internal janitors. […]
