Biochemistry Archives

Resilience, scepticism, and mRNA: The story of Katalin Karikó

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Katalin Karikó mRNA vaccines for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic presented the world’s governments and health organisations with a vaccination challenge on a scale it had never experienced before. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines were critical in the production and distribution of affordable vaccines across the globe. Katalin Karikó’s 40 years of research into mRNA was the cornerstone of what made this possible. In this interview, we find […]

The success of simple metaphors in communicating brain science

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The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) researches science of brain development to support positive lifelong health outcomes for all.

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, supported by the Calgary-based Palix Foundation, has succeeded in achieving individual, organisational, and systems level change regarding brain development, epigenetics, mental health, and addiction. The Brain Story, which uses simple metaphors to communicate complex brain science, has proven an effective tool to achieve this change and move towards building more resilient individuals and communities. Until […]

Preterm birth and danger-associated molecular patterns

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Adult hand lifts the foot of a premature baby

Preterm birth is the leading cause of infantile mortality. Dr Claire Kendal-Wright from the Chaminade University of Honolulu works on human extra-embryonic membranes. More specifically, she studies danger-associated molecular patterns, or DAMPs, and examines how these molecules contribute to the prelabour rupture of the membranes that leads to birth. Understanding the mechanisms involved in healthy pregnancy could eventually allow the […]

How ubiquitin determines the fate of our proteins

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Regulation of the multitude of protein-protein interactions that take place in the cell is essential. HECT E3 ubiquitin ligases play an important role in regulating protein functions and maintaining cellular health. However, many questions about their biological functions remain unanswered. Working at the interface of biochemistry and biophysics, Dr Donald Spratt from Clark University in Massachusetts, uses NMR spectroscopy to […]

Seeing the structures of molecules: insights from NMR and industry

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Professor Anthony Serianni's work centres around identifying the structure of molecules, which remains a key challenge within modern chemistry.

Many of the essential chemical constituents of life, including carbohydrates, are made up of complex atomic arrangements. Knowing the particular structure of a compound is important not only for identification purposes, but also for understanding how biologically relevant compounds react. Through this knowledge, their biological functions can ultimately be deciphered. Professor Anthony Serianni at the University of Notre Dame has […]