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Department of Biochemistry

 
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Read more at: Jammy plants!
A gosamt1 gosamt2 mutant Arabidopsis plant in a pot of 'Dupree Lab'-branded jam.

Jammy plants!

The Dupree Group and their collaborators have identified genes that regulate the properties of pectin, with their mutants causing pectin to gel as jam in the plant cell wall.


Read more at: Algae-powered computing: our scientists create a reliable and renewable biological photovoltaic cell
A container holding the blue-green algae that powered a microprocessor.

Algae-powered computing: our scientists create a reliable and renewable biological photovoltaic cell

The Howe Group have used a widespread species of blue-green algae to power a microprocessor continuously for a year - and counting - using nothing but ambient light and water. The system has potential as a reliable and renewable way to power small devices.


Read more at: Effectiveness of antibiotics significantly reduced when multiple bugs present
Laboratory model of human airways.

Effectiveness of antibiotics significantly reduced when multiple bugs present

The Welch Group has found that much higher doses of antibiotics are needed to eliminate a bacterial infection of the airways when other microbes are present. Their study helps to explain why respiratory infections often persist in people with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis despite treatment.


Read more at: Accelerating cancer drug development by targeting a DNA repair protein
Hotspot map of the DNA-PKcs ATP binding site with inhibitors docked in.

Accelerating cancer drug development by targeting a DNA repair protein

The Blundell Group and our Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility have published in Nature an exciting breakthrough in understanding how cancer drugs targeting the DNA repair protein DNA-PKcs bind to their target.


Read more at: Swapping Spike genes may promote emergence and spread of new coronaviruses
Artist's impression of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus.

Swapping Spike genes may promote emergence and spread of new coronaviruses

A group of scientists from Cambridge, Greece and Belgium has discovered that the genome region of coronaviruses that specifies the viral Spike protein is highly unstable and mobile.