“Philipp Holliger and his co-workers at LMB have engineered an RNA enzyme to synthesize another active RNA enzyme from an RNA template. This models one theory for how life originated on Earth: with RNA molecules that both encoded genetic information and catalysed reactions to express that information.” More…
No DNA needed, RNA goes solo
Biologists create one of life’s first enzymes
“tC19Z, synthesised in Phil Holliger’s lab at LMB, could be a version of one of the first enzymes that ever existed on our planet – and a clue to how life itself got started.” More…
Heptares Therapeutics helps push GPCR drug discovery forward
“G-protein-coupled receptors are hot drug targets, and plenty of companies want to know what they look like to get an edge on making new drugs. Despite recent advances, getting X-ray crystal structures for GPCRs is still far from easy. Heptares Therapeutics, joins a trio of firms in licensing their structure-determining technology and partnering with large drugmakers to help push GPCR drug discovery forward. Heptares Therapeutics obtains GPCR X-ray structures with help from thermal stabilization – a targeted mutation technique developed by Chris Tate and Richard Henderson at LMB.” More…
Max Perutz: his life and legacy
“LMB scientists take part in a round-table discussion about Max Perutz.” More…
Mariann Bienz talks about signalling pathways as a target for cancer therapies
“A number of signalling pathways discovered in Drosophila flies and other model organisms have subsequently turned out to be important in cancer and specifically in cancer stem cell function. Mariann Bienz talks about the role of the Wnt signalling pathway in cancer growth and cancer metastases but warns of difficulties developing therapies to target this pathway. Prof Bienz explains what progress has been made by academic labs working to develop therapies to target signalling pathways and explains the mechanisms through which the pathways can be affected.” More…
Light turns on caged enzyme
“An unnatural amino acid has given researchers a switch to turn on a specific enzyme with light. This tool will allow scientists to determine the timing of cellular signaling and identify which parts of a signaling network might be good drug targets. When organisms or cells receive signals from their surroundings, a cascade of enzymes known as kinases pass those signals along. These signaling cascades are complicated networks that can be hard to interpret in real time. Jason Chin and Arnaud Gautier from LMB, along with Alexander Deiters of North Carolina State University, may have found a way to make such interpretation easier.” More…