The chains of amino acids that make up proteins are critical to every form of life. The complex ways that these proteins fold and interact has fascinated researchers for decades. Exactly how a protein folds determines its function. For instance, a particular protein can take on the job of transporting molecules, attacking invading cells, or repairing DNA.

About 1 million people in the U.S. live with multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease that inflames the nervous system and scrambles communication between the brain and body. MS, for which there is no single cause or cure, affects people of all demographics with symptoms like fatigue, memory difficulties, vision impairment and mobility loss.

A research team from the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB), Kiel University (CAU), the University of Lübeck (UzL), and the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), together with additional partners, has gained new insights into the development of post-COVID syndrome.

An eco-friendly system capable of producing propylene oxide (PO) without external electricity or sunlight has been developed. PO is a vital raw material used in manufacturing household items such as polyurethane for sofas and mattresses, as well as polyester for textiles and water bottles.

In a study published in Analytical Chemistry, a research team led by Wang Junfeng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a novel immobilization method for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays of membrane proteins, effectively addressing major technical constraints in the field.

A team of European researchers has developed a versatile, open-source luminescence imaging instrument designed to democratize access to advanced fluorescence and electroluminescence techniques across disciplines ranging from plant science to materials research.

A team of researchers at the Max Born Institute have managed to fully characterize few-femtosecond-long light pulses tunable in the vacuum ultraviolet. These results unlock the possibility for studying valence electron dynamics of many materials in the VUV. The research is published in the journal Nature Photonics.

The northern and southern maned sloths may look very similar from the outside, but their genomes reveal different stories: The two species have faced very distinct conditions in Brazil's Atlantic Forest in the past and confront different conservation threats today.

For the first time, researchers have made niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties, a long-sought goal in advanced materials science. According to the international team, including a researcher at Penn State, that made the accomplishment, the new nanomaterial that could open the door to faster electronics, efficient electricity transport via superconductor wires and even future quantum computers was made possible with a surprising ingredient: table salt.

High-temperature superconductivity is still not fully understood. Now, an international research team at BESSY II has measured the energy of charge carrier pairs in undoped La₂CuO₄. Their findings revealed that the interaction energies within the potentially superconducting copper oxide layers are significantly lower than those in the insulating lanthanum oxide layers. These results contribute to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity and could also be relevant for research into other functional materials.