Scicurious Guest Writer! X-Ray Crystallography: 100 Years at the Intersection of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology | The Scicurious Brain. We’re having this month’s Scicurious Guest Writer a little early, to make sure he gets some exposure and to avoid the holiday rush! Please welcome Satchal Erramilli!! In the summer of 1912, a young man and his father worked feverishly to interpret the results of a German physicist. The physicist, future Nobel Laureate Max von Laue, had recently observed the behavior of X-rays when exposed on a crystal, and was struggling to describe the interference of X-ray waves that resulted. Though the solution eluded him, the discovery, which soon would give birth to one of the most important techniques in science, came at an exciting time. Upon his return to graduate school at Cambridge, where he was studying mathematics, the younger Bragg had made his breakthrough, and his doctoral adviser, the Nobel Laureate J.J.
Figure 1: Diffraction from edge of razor blade. (Source) First off, what is crystallography, and how do X-rays come into play? But why is a crystal required? (Source) (Source) (Source) Optical tweezers and sub-nanoscale precision: Following the process—and the consequence—of RNA folding. (Phys.org)—In a soundproofed, vibration-stabilized, temperature-controlled room, Stanford biophysicist Steven Block was watching a very small origami project. "The apparatus is so sensitive that, if you talk in the room, the vibrations in the air disturb the movement you're trying to measure," he said quietly. On a black-and-white monitor, two microscopic plastic beads were being slowly drawn apart.
Although we couldn't see it even at this high level of magnification, between the beads was stretched a single strand of RNA, folding up in real time. Because RNA nucleotides are so small – each is only nanometers long – these effects had never been directly observed before. The Block Lab apparatus is so precise, it can measure distances to within the diameter of a hydrogen atom. But Block's feat isn't remarkable only for its sensitivity. "Issues of gene control are arguably more important than the genes themselves," Block said. Laser traps Switching the riboswitch. Stanley Miller and the Quest to Understand Life’s Beginning | Cross-Check. Thursday 26th July saw the launch of SciLogs.com, a new English language science blog network. SciLogs.com, the brand-new home for Nature Network bloggers, forms part of the SciLogs international collection of blogs which already exist in German, Spanish and Dutch.
To celebrate this addition to the NPG science blogging family, some of the NPG blogs are publishing posts focusing on “Beginnings.” Participating in this cross-network blogging festival is nature.com’s Soapbox Science blog, Scitable’s Student Voices blog and bloggers from SciLogs.com, SciLogs.de, Scitable and Scientific American’s Blog Network. Join us as we explore the diverse interpretations of beginnings – from scientific examples such as stem cells to first time experiences such as publishing your first paper.
You can also follow and contribute to the conversations on social media by using the #BeginScights hashtag. – Bora One of the 20th century’s most diligent and respected origin-of-life researchers is Stanley Miller. Researchers develop new method to detect, analyze DNA and RNA. (Phys.org)—University of Georgia researchers have employed specially designed nanomaterials to develop a new, label-free DNA detection method that promises to reduce the cost and complexity of common genetic tests. Their discovery may be used to help clinicians diagnose certain cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. It can detect the presence of viruses in tissue.
And it can be used for a variety of forensic applications, such as paternity testing or crime scene DNA analysis. Led by Yiping Zhao, professor of physics in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and director of the university's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, and Ralph Tripp, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, the researchers proved the efficacy of their new DNA analysis method by experimenting with short strands of RNA called microRNA. Their research was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. 3-D RNA modeling opens scientific doors. In a paper published today in the journal Nature Methods, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill demonstrates a simple, cost-effective technique for three-dimensional RNA structure prediction that will help scientists understand the structures, and ultimately the functions, of the RNA molecules that dictate almost every aspect of human cell behavior.
When cell behavior goes wrong, diseases – including cancer and metabolic disorders – can be the result. Over the past five decades, scientists have described more than 80,000 protein structures, most of which are now publicly available and provide important information to medical researchers searching for targets for drug therapy. However, a similar effort to catalogue RNA structures has mapped only a few hundred RNA molecules. As a result, the potential of RNA molecules has just barely been developed as targets for new therapeutics.
"With Dr. Explore further: Synthetic gene circuits pump up cell signals. Elements of the Periodic Table. Table of contents : Nature Chemical Biology. Dynamic Periodic Table. ChemFeeds - Your Graphical Chemical Abstracts Portal. Chemistry.