Wiggly proteins guard the genome

Dynamic network in the pores of the nuclear envelope blocks dangerous invaders

03-May-2023 - Tiny pores in the cell nucleus play an essential role for healthy aging by protecting and preserving the genetic material. A team in Germany from the Department of Theoretical Biophysics at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main and the Synthetic Biophysics of Protein ...

Cool Microscopy: Making the invisible visible

Ultrarapid cooling enables the observation of molecular patterns of life

15-Dec-2021 - Fluorescence light microscopy has the unique ability to observe cellular processes over a scale that bridges four orders of magnitude. Yet, its application to living cells is fundamentally limited by the very rapid and unceasing movement of molecules and the light-induced destruction of ...

The pyrenoid is a carbon-fixing liquid droplet

26-Sep-2017 - Plants and algae use the enzyme Rubisco to fix carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere and converting it into biomass. However, Rubisco performs this reaction slowly and can also have unwanted reactions with oxygen. Algae have figured out a clever way to increase the efficiency of carbon ...

Blinking neurons give thoughts away

07-May-2010 - Electrical currents are invisible to the naked eye – at least they are when they flow through metal cables. In nerve cells, however, scientists are able to make electrical signals visible. Working with fellow experts from Switzerland and Japan, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical ...