The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson for their development of Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM), which simplified and improved the imaging of biomolecules’ structure. Did you notice, when you look at biochemical related news a certain period of time before, the pictures of the virus or other biomolecular structure just looked like the rough photos in old 3D horror games, or…
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The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Announced
2017/10/02, the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. They will share 9 million Swedish kroner bonuses award. Jeffrey C. Hall, born in New York in 1945. 1971 received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, 1971 to 1973 got post-doctoral position at the California Institute of Technology. In…
Trispecific Antibodies Show Exceptional Potency Against Diverse HIV Viruses
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, in 2016, a total of about 36 million people suffering from human immunodeficiency disease in the world. Faced such a dilemma, in the efforts of scientists’ study, it seems have a breakthrough. A study on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody was published in the September 20, 2017 of the journal Science, which is an important milestone in HIV research. Researchers create am…
Worldwide Mortality Rates: One in Five Deaths Linked to Poor Diet
Recent study reveals: the number of deaths among children under five is decreasing. Though overall both men and women around the world are living longer, one in five deaths were linked to poor diet last year. Life expectancy in 2016 worldwide was 75.3 years for women and 69.8 for men. Japan has the highest life expectancy at 84 years and the Central African Republic has the lowest at just…
Cryo-EM Technique – Uncovered the Atomic Structure of a Key Alzheimer’s Protein for the First Time
Tau protein abnormal deposit is one of the most important characteristics for Alzheimer. Recently, a new finding published in Nature obtained high-resolution images of those protein deposit structures caused by Alzheimer and other neurodegenerative disease for the first time. These finding can help scientists understand how these protein harmful deposit process function at the molecular level, and help develop new treatments to prevent the formation of these proteins, and thus…
Learn FDA’s Review of Bio-similar from ABP215
ABP215 is a biosimilar drug developed by Amgen and Allergan, using Avastin (bevacizumab) as a prototype drug. Amgen filed a drug application to the FDA in November 2016. The FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) met on July 13, 2017, and the members voted in favor of approving the ABP215 drug application. The ABP215 is expected to become America’s first Avastin bio-similar drug. Liu Shining, the research manager in TrendForce,…
Antiviral Proteins Designed by Computer May Help Halt Pandemic
Bill Gates said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference that three threats are closely related to the fate of our human species: nuclear warfare, climate change and the next global pandemic. “If we are going to prepare for the worst, we should build an arsenal.” The factory he mentioned is not referring to any guns or ammunition, but the vaccine, drugs and diagnostics. At present, what troubles us…
Tea and Coffee Consumption in Relation to DNA Methylation
In a recent study published in Human Molecular Genetics, researchers from the University of Uppsala, found that tea consumption may lead to DNA methylation changes of some special genes in women bodies, while those genes are thought to have interactions between cancers and estrogen metabolism. As we all know, lifestyle factors, like food choices, smoking and exposure to chemicals, can alter DNA methylation and lead to changes in gene…
How does FGF-dependent Metabolic Control Vascular Development?
The vasculature is the earliest organ to develop. Unlike other organs it has to be functional throughout development and therefore has to constantly adapt to the changing requirements of embryogenesis. As soon as an embryo grows bigger than about 2mm it critically depends on a functional vasculature because passive diffusion is not sufficient to supply all cells with oxygen and nutrients. Similar to embryos, any tumor wanting to grow bigger than…
Would You Accept a Pig’s Heart One Day?
Imagine: your heart is failing to work, and a replacement is deadly in need. Consistently, your family waits anxiously for a call from the hospital for the found of donor. At that point, one day, the call comes. In your fervor you scarcely hear what the doctor on the flip side of the line is letting you know. There’s something you ought to know, she says. The contributor is not…