X-ray footprinting solves mystery of metal-breathing protein

04-Sep-2017 - Scientists have discovered the details of an unconventional coupling between a bacterial protein and a mineral that allows the bacterium to breathe when oxygen is not available. The research, conducted by a team of scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ...

New mechanism for genome regulation found

23-Jun-2017 - The same mechanisms that quickly separate mixtures of oil and water are at play when controlling the organization in an unusual part of our DNA called heterochromatin, according to a new study by researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley ...

On the path toward bionic enzymes

17-Jun-2016 - There may soon be a new way to make molecules to form the basis of pharmaceuticals, fuels, agrochemicals, materials, and an array of other products in our modern life. Chemists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have successfully married chemistry ...

3D IR images now in full color

Berkeley Lab and University of Wisconsin researchers unveil FTIR spectro-microtomography

07-Aug-2013 - An iconic moment in the history of Hollywood movie magic was born in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz when Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale stepped out of the black and white world of Kansas into the rainbow colored world of Oz. An iconic moment in the history of infrared imaging may have been born ...

Berkeley Researchers Identify Photosynthetic Dimmer Switch

13-May-2008 - In a study of the molecular mechanisms by which plants protect themselves from oxidation damage should they absorb too much sunlight during photosynthesis, a team of researchers has discovered a molecular "dimmer switch" that helps control the flow of solar energy moving through the system of ...

New Clues to How Sex Evolves

07-Dec-2006 - Sex is a boon to evolution; it allows genetic material from parents to recombine, giving rise to a unique new genome. But how did sex itself evolve? Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have found clues to one ...

Enzyme Crystal Structure Reveals "Unexpected" Genome Repair Functions

New Discovery Could Help Improve Some Forms of Chemotherapy

10-Apr-2006 - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have determined the crystal structure of an enzyme called xeroderma pigmentosum group B (XPB) helicase, identifying several unexpected functions and helping to address important questions about the enzyme's ...

Scientists Create a New Way to Study T Cell Signaling

18-Nov-2005 - An experiment that began as a "fantasy pipe dream" just three years ago is now a reality. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley, combining nanotechnology with biochemistry, have created unique synthetic membranes ...

Nano-Probes Allow an Inside Look at Cell Nuclei

22-Mar-2005 - Nanotechnology may be in its infancy, but biologists may soon use it to watch the inner workings of a living cell like never before. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a way ...

Key Mechanism in Genetic Inheritance During Cell Division Identified

07-Feb-2005 - A key mechanism in the passing of genetic material from a parent cell to daughter cells appears to have been identified by a team of Berkeley researchers. Their study ( Molecular Cell, 2005) may explain how a complex of proteins, called kinetochores, can recognize and stay attached to ...