Cancer ‘guardian’ breaks bad with one switch
March 5, 2021
A mutation that replaces a single amino acid in a potent tumor-suppressing protein makes it prone to nucleating amyloid fibrils implicated in many cancers as well as neurological diseases.
Study could explain tuberculosis bacteria paradox
February 22, 2021
Tuberculosis bacteria have evolved to remember stressful encounters and react quickly to future stress, according to a study by computational bioengineers at Rice University and infectious disease experts at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Understanding frustration could lead to better drugs
November 23, 2020
Atom-scale models of proteins that incorporate ligands, like drug molecules, show a strong correlation between minimally frustrated binding sites and drug specificity. Such models could lead to better-designed drugs with fewer side effects.
At our cores, we’re all strengthened by ‘dumbbells’
October 21, 2020
Scientists at Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics detail the structure of dumbbell-like sequences in DNA during interphase that suggest several unseen aspects of chromosome configuration and function.
Hidden symmetry found in chemical kinetic equations
April 30, 2020
Rice University researchers have discovered a hidden symmetry in the chemical kinetic equations scientists have long used to model and study many of the chemical processes essential for life.