How Thiostrepton Was Made in the Laboratory

Revolution in the valley - the insanely great story of how the Mac was made

How the biotin–streptavidin interaction was made even stronger: investigation via crystallography and a chimaeric tetramer

The interaction between SA (streptavidin) and biotin is one of the strongest non-covalent interactions in Nature. SA is a widely used tool and a paradigm for protein-ligand interactions. We previously developed a SA mutant, termed Tr (traptavidin), possessing a 10-fold lower off-rate for biotin, with increased mechanical and thermal stability. In the present study, we determined the crystal str...

How can we enhance the value of laboratory tests?

Today, the pressures on the healthcare systems for the controlling of the costs are extreme and all sectors try to demonstrate the value of their services by justifying the activities and expenditures so the value can be describe in terms like quality, efficiency, effectiveness, patient satisfaction, cost effectiveness .The value of the lab testing is generally directed to their costs and the c...

How the quest was won

Not long after Jim Watson's The Double Helix appeared, there was talk about making a movie about the DNA story. The author of the book took this very seriously and did not find all the many suggestions made to him very helpful. One idea put forward was that Jim should be played by Woody Allen and Francis Crick by Peter O'Toole. Another was to do it as a musical with a dance based on the entwini...

How it's made: the synapse.

How are synapses made? This question is one of the most important issues in neurobiology today and has been the subject of intense study in recent years. This review focuses on the mechanisms of presynaptic terminal formation in the mammalian central nervous system. Building a synapse requires stabilization of contacts between axons and dendrites and formation of synaptic subcellular structures...