bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pharmacogenomics: SNPing away!
Authors: Daniels Michael , Trowern Angus
Published: October 2019

Pharmacogenomics is not a new science: for decades it has been known that genes play a role in an individual's susceptibility to disease and their response to a drug. Techniques such as linkage analysis and testing for single-gene diseases have ensured the role of genetics in diagnosis and drug discovery and development. And now, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) look set to build on this.
Mint Imperial: 16–18 December, 2002: Biochemical Society Meeting No. 678, Imperial College, London
Authors: Burd Gary
Published: October 2019

Ah… Christmas in London! But it seems the science was the biggest draw, as delegates came from around the world to listen to two medal lectures, and attend the Annual Symposium in honour of Alan Barrett, Proteases and the Regulation of Biological Processes. The Annual Symposium will be published as part of the Biochemical Society Symposia Series in the summer. Other colloquia included Polyamines and their Role in Human Disease, Human Ageing: from the Bench to the Clinic, Sulphotransferases in Glycobiology, Drug Discovery and Design, and Proteasome Interactions with Viral and Cellular Proteins. The Research Colloquium for young scientists was once again very popular, this time concentrating on Biological Functions of Sulphated Glycoproteins. Unusually, no dancing was observed at this meeting, but there was plenty of eating, with each colloquium having its own dinner.
All aboard!: The secretory pathway
Authors: High Stephen , Crawshaw Samuel G.
Published: October 2019

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a major subcellular feature of most eukaryotic cells, and in specialized secretory cells, like those of the pancreas, it densely packs most of the cell. It is the de facto entry point into the secretory pathway and one of its key functions is to provide an extensive intracellular membrane network that supports protein synthesis (Figure 1). This biosynthetic activity is highlighted by the large number of ribosomes that are bound tightly to much of its surface, and it is these ribosomes that synthesize the secretory and membrane protein cargoes that are ultimately destined for export from the ER to the cell surface via the Golgi complex1,2.
At the heart of the factory: The plant Golgi
Authors: Hawes Chris , Brandizzi Federica
Published: October 2019

If the plant cell is described as a miniature factory, then the Golgi apparatus is a major component of the processing machinery that is situated halfway along a key production line -- the secretory pathway. It is difficult to understate the economic importance of the plant secretory pathway, which is composed of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, vacuoles and an ill-defined prevacuolar/endosomal compartment. As one review stated, “the plant ER virtually feeds the world through the seed storage proteins it synthesises”1. Many of these proteins, especially in the legume crops, pass through the Golgi apparatus for modification, packaging and targeting. Likewise, “there is a lot of extracellular matrix about, and most of it surrounds plant cells”2. Most of the matrix material, cell-wall hemicelluloses, pectins and wall proteins are synthesized in, or pass through, the Golgi apparatus. Therefore, this is certainly an organelle worth studying.
String and knots: Tying clathrin to membranes
Authors: Owen David
Published: October 2019

The transfer of macromolecules on the secretory and endocytic pathways occurs by the trafficking of membrane-bound vesicles between donor and acceptor compartments. These transport vesicles are classified according to the makeup of the protein coat that surrounds them during their genesis and early life. The best characterized class of coated vesicles are the clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs). The formation of clathrin-coated transport vesicles requires, in general, three components. The first of these is the polyhedral clathrin coat, which serves as a scaffold with multiple points of attachment for the second component -- the adaptors. These link the protein cargo that is embedded in the membrane and/or specific phospholipid components of the membrane with the clathrin coat. The final component comprises a number of proteins that play accessory roles in vesicle genesis and subsequent steps including nucleation of coat formation, recruitment of cargo, membrane deformation, modification of phospholipid head-groups and the tethering and targeting of the completed vesicle. There are many proteins with varied structures that carry out these roles, and their functions are generally less well understood than either clathrin or the adaptors. For a review of clathrin-mediated endocytosis, see Brodsky et al.1.
Cellular signalling in sight: Technical challenges in microscopy
Authors: Denham Simon
Published: October 2019

Being able to observe cellular signalling events in action is the life scientist's dream, but the technical challenge for microscopy is daunting. The inside of the cell has been likened to a thick soup in which individual signalling events are obscured by background ‘noise’. There are two problems to overcome. The first problem is spatial, and involves locating the molecules and structures of interest. The second is temporal: following molecules over time to see when, and how quickly, they move to their targets. This article examines important advances in optical microscopy that not only make live-cell imaging a reality, but that even allow researchers to track individual molecules, in real time, with nanometre resolution.
Automated image analysis: Improving accuracy and productivity in drug discovery
Authors: Ellwood Paul
Published: October 2019

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies currently spend millions of pounds each working day on global research and development of new therapeutics for a range of diseases. Many of these firms have highly demanding research targets and aim to deliver as many as 15 candidate drugs annually. Nowhere is this felt more keenly than by those involved in genomics and proteomics research for drug discovery. Since these are relatively new fields, they still have to prove that they can help to generate good clinical candidates. Therefore, these groups are constantly trying to find ways of improving the speed and precision of their pre-clinical research processes in order to deliver promising results rapidly. This is where automation can help to improve accuracy and reduce substantial bottlenecks in areas such as quantification of nucleic acids and proteins, as well as counting recombinant clones.
The public is getting the message: animal research leads to medical advances
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

Annual Meeting for Heads of Academic Departments Royal College of Pathologists, London, 1 May 2003
Past times: The efficiency of enzyme catalysis
Authors: Page Michael I.
Published: October 2019

Understanding enzyme catalysis on a molecular and energetic basis has fascinated scientists for more than half a century. In addition to their obvious physiological involvement, the incredible efficiency of enzymes continues to intrigue us. In the absence of enzymes, many reactions of biological interest, e.g. the hydrolysis of proteins, carbohydrates and DNA, have half-lives of hundreds to millions of years. After a substrate is bound at an enzyme's active site, its halflife is usually milliseconds. The low concentration of enzymes in cells, which is often at or below the micromolar level, means that a rapid turnover is necessary to produce a significant rate of reaction and many reactions occur at near the diffusion controlled limit. The high catalytic efficiency of enzymes has not been emulated by artificial systems and therefore many have wondered if they could even be understood by ordinary chemistry.
Cells of the intervertebral disc: Making the best of a bad environment
Authors: Urban Jill , Roberts Sally
Published: October 2019

The intervertebral discs are the largest avascular tissues in the body. They link the vertebral bodies and are the major joints of the spine, providing flexibility to an otherwise rigid structure. These large tissues are maintained by only a small population of cells; the cell density is one of the lowest of any tissue in the body with one cell responsible for synthesizing and maintaining as much as 200 times its volume of matrix. The discs show signs of degenerative change very early in life, possibly because of the hostile environment that they encounter; their nutrient supply is precarious and they experience high mechanical loads. Although recent work indicates that much degeneration is genetically determined, interactions between genes and the physical environment appear to increase the risk of disc degeneration, which itself is associated with one of the most costly medical conditions in the Western world, back pain.
Hot and cold HPLC: Total temperature control: breaking new ground in HPLC
Authors: Clark Jody
Published: October 2019

Chromatography is the most commonly used analytical technique in laboratories world-wide, with HPLC initial systems set to reach sales worth $259 million by 2005. The demand for HPLC columns is driven largely by the need to comply with America's Federal Drugs Administration's 21 CFR Part 11 regulations, and new sales of liquid chromatography (LC)-MS to the pharmaceutical sector, which remains the main industry sector and outlet for sales of HPLC solutions. The main driver influencing the purchase of LC-MS has been the need by companies to replace existing units to meet all the requirements for electronic record-keeping and to enable greater compatibility with data systems. The demand for upgrades has therefore been sustained, as standardization of IT systems has not been forthcoming.
Different dimensions: Intermolecular Associations in 2D and 3D, University of Nottingham; 19–20 June 2003
Authors: Harding Stephen E. , O'Shea Paul
Published: October 2019

On 19 and 20 June 2003, a joint meeting was held at the University of Nottingham between the Biochemical Society (as part of their Focused Meetings series) and the British Biophysical Society, which focused on the molecular interactions. Interactions between molecules underpin the whole of biological science, both in 2D, as in membrane systems, and in ‘3D’, or aqueous systems.
Hunting for cures: Genomics and new diseasecontrol strategies
Authors: Ginger Michael
Published: October 2019

New drugs are needed urgently to win the war against parasites that cause many serious diseases that are endemic or resurgent in some of the World's poorest countries. Post-genomic technologies provide a powerful resource that can be exploited during the drug-discovery process. With genome sequencers able to uncover secrets from even the most experimentally intractable of pathogens, the complete and annotated genomes from a number of the most medically important parasites are now, or will soon be, published. Already, the information that has been released from these projects has been put to good use in identifying new potential drug targets.
Doing research in a developing country: The challenges and opportunities
Authors: Flanagan Colleen
Published: October 2019

What is it like doing scientific research in a developing country? Although each developing country has its own characteristics and peculiarities, I can only tell you about my own country, South Africa. The most marked feature of developing countries is a considerably smaller economy than in most Western countries. This results in much less money, in every aspect of public life.
57th Harden Conference: Proteinase Structure and Function: Oriel College, Oxford, 9–13 September 2003
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

The 57th Harden Conference was more of a single-subject conference (although it is a pretty big subject). Speakers covered areas such drug targets, the link between cholesterol and Alzheimer's disease and the origin of BACE (β-site APP-cleaving enzyme) in sea squirts.
Celebrating 50 years of Live Cell Imaging: Carl Zeiss UK and The Royal Microscopical Society, London, 15 October 2003
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

In 1930, Frits Zernike developed a way of making the invisible visible: he had perfected a method for the examination of living, unstained cells. The human eye and brain are good at distinguishing the amount of light (contrast) or its wavelength (colour), but are unable to distinguish differences in phase (there is no common name for it). Zernike had invented a technique that would make the invisible phase difference of a living cell a visible difference in light and shade. He took his invention, which he called phase contrast, to the greatest microscope manufacturer, Carl Zeiss, in 1932. Zeiss told him to get lost.
Biologists in the 21st century: from ideas to intellectual property: The Royal Institution, 23 October 2003
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

The Henry Dale Prize is awarded annually under the auspices of The Royal Institution and bestowed by the Kohn Foundation. It carries a personal award of £10000 to an individual scientist of any discipline who has performed outstanding work on a biological topic by means of an original multidisciplinary approach.
Bacteria as biological weapons: The war of the flea
Authors: Poxton Ian R
Published: October 2019

Since ancient times, centuries before the term ‘biological warfare’ had been coined and before Pasteur and Koch had developed the germ theory of disease, bacteria have been used as weapons. For example; in 1343 an invading Mongol army threw plague-infested bodies over the walls of a besieged city in Northern Italy to cause outbreaks of the Black Death (plague)1. It was common practice to put animal carcasses into wells or watercourses to pollute a water supply.
Anthrax: How it kills, and how it can be stopped
Authors: Mogridge Jeremy
Published: October 2019

The intentional release of Bacillus anthracis spores in the USA during the autumn of 2001 alerted the public to the possibility of future attacks using biological weapons. It also underscored the importance of understanding the pathogenesis of the organism and the need for developing new therapeutics and vaccines. Fortunately, there has been a resurgence in anthrax research. This review focuses on the characteristics of B. anthracis that have led to its use as a biological weapon and the approaches that are being taken by medical researchers to minimize the impact of another release.
How the Archaea live: Unique features of archaeal metabolism
Authors: Oost John van der
Published: October 2019

A major scientific milestone was Carl Woese's discovery that the evolution of life on Earth has resulted in three distinct types of living systems:Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya1. Organisms that belong to the eukaryal domain are clearly different from the former two because of their more complex structural organization: without exception, they possess intracellular compartments (at least a nucleus, often with additional organelles), and in addition they often have a multicellular composition. The Archaea and the Bacteria are prokaryotes: they have neither a nucleus nor any other cytoplasmic compartments, and are generally unicellular.
The changing face of live-cell imaging: From phase contrast to single photon
Authors: Jepson Mark , Clements Darran
Published: October 2019

The imaging of live cells using light microscopy has come a long way from the early days of phase contrast. There have been many exciting developments in technology that now deliver live-cell images that previously would not have been thought possible. The study of dynamic processes right down to the molecular level as they happen in living cells is now common practice in the drive to understand cell function. So what has happened over the past 50 years to make live-cell imaging so much more accessible today?
Dynamic imaging seminar: Imperial College, London, UK, 27 April 2004
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

Live-cell imaging has experienced a rapid growth in the past three decades and every year brings new techniques and another set of acronyms. Leica Microsystems held a seminar and workshop on this area at Imperial College, London, in April.
Multiple alignments get faster and better: Speech recognition and sequences
Authors: Blackshields Gordon , Wallace Iain , Higgins Des
Published: October 2019

The number of possible gap placements in even small sequences is vast and processing requirements grow expotentially with the number of sequences. Handling genome data needs raw computing power and clear thought.
Creating innovative public dialogue: Teaching the scientists of tomorrow
Authors: Dargan Sheila
Published: October 2019

Many scientists would like to be playing a more active role in ‘Science in Society’ activities but simply don't have the time, motivation or resources to do it. This article addresses the need for public engagement, highlights problems faced by academics in communicating their work and puts forward some potential solutions.
The worm's turn: Genome-wide RNAi in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Poulin Gino , Welchman David P.
Published: October 2019

RNAi-mediated silencing is now being used in multiple species, from plants to humans, to identify gene functions. This new technology is fully exploited in Caenorhabditis elegans, since an RNAi feeding library that has the potential to inactivate 86% of the predicted genes of the C. elegans genome is publicly available. This tool made systematic screening of genes involved in biological processes of interest easier, but there are some pitfalls: specificity, reproducibility and hypomorphic effects. However, as with any other technology, RNAi is getting better as time goes on. Once these caveats are taken into account, RNAi-mediated silencing is still a very powerful approach to identify new gene functions and to dissect complex pathways.
Biochemical Society finances: Where the money comes from and where it goes
Authors: Finch Chris
Published: October 2019

The first accounts of the Biochemical Society (or Biochemical Club as it was then known) in 1911 show income of £69.13s.7d, mainly from members' subscriptions. Expenditure included an amount of £8.1s.0d on tea and servants at meetings (History of the Biochemical Society 1911–1986 by T.W. Goodwin (1987); Biochemical Society; page 17). Today's accounts look somewhat different.
Biochemistry and violence: The molecular basis of aggression
Authors: Campbell Colin , Williams Brenda
Published: October 2019

Violence is increasingly being recognized as a major international public health problem, resulting in significant mortality and physical, sexual, reproductive and psychiatric morbidity. Proposed new mentalhealth legislation in England and Wales places greater emphasis on public protection, and this, together with the Government's programme for those deemed dangerous as a result of severe personality disorders, has created a new sense of urgency in understanding the mechanisms underlying aggression and violence.
Pupils will respond: Has academia anything to contribute to school science?
Authors: Sargent Michael G.
Published: October 2019

This year, the Edexcel Examination board asked A-level biology students to explain how the position of anthers and stigma in thrum-eyed and pin-eyed primroses might affect cross-pollination (for eight marks). This seems to reflect a saddening lack of ambition, the latest example in a sequence of arcane riddles that have involved the coppicing of trees and the effect of ‘woodland rides’ on vegetation. I doubt I am alone in suspecting that students consider such ‘retro’ topics boring and notably silly tests of ability. However, such obscurantism seems less culpable than the lack of interest in the role of promoters in controlling gene expression.
Living hell: Life at high temperatures
Authors: Kashefi Kazem
Published: October 2019

Modern hot environments, such as those found in hydrothermal vents, are of great interest to the scientific community because they resemble those ancient environments where life first arose on Earth and also share many characteristics with environments in other planets where life may have actually existed. Evidence to date strongly indicates that Fe(III) respiration may have been one of the first, if not the first, forms of respiration in a hot, early Earth. The abundance of Fe(III) minerals in many modern and ancient hot environments suggests that studies of Fe(III)-reducing hyperthermophilic micro-organisms are likely to be instrumental for our understanding of how life originated and evolved at high temperatures. The isolation and characterization of novel hyperthermophilic, Fe(III)-reducing micro-organisms has greatly increased our understanding of how microbes can live and thrive in such inhospitable environments. The study of these amazing microbes provides clues as to how life might have arisen on Earth and has implications for our search for traces of life in other planets.
More PhDs stay at home: Summary of the Biochemistry Graduate Employment Survey 2003
Authors: Withnall Mike
Published: October 2019

The initial destinations of first-degree and Masters graduates were very similar to the previous year, but there were marked reductions in the proportions of PhD graduates choosing to work abroad (down from 9.3 to 1.4%) or to move outside science (down from 6.5 to 1.8%).There was a corresponding increase in the proportion of PhD graduates undertaking research in UK institutions (up from 40.7 to the unusually high figure of 50.7%).
Who deserves your vote?
Authors: MP Robert Key
Published: October 2019

Last year, we asked the science spokesmen for the three major parties to summarize their party's science policies in 1000 words. We told each that “Your readership will be scientists working in the life sciences, most of them with PhDs and above. They are aware of the contribution they make to the prosperity of the nation… They want to know what each party will do for science and for them. What we require is a manifesto of firm policies, rather than aspirations.” Here are their replies, in the order they arrived.
Mitochondria and cell death: Apoptosis and necrosis
Authors: Brown Guy C.
Published: October 2019

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them? To die” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
A label-free alternative to ELISA: Protein interaction analysis in drug development and production
Authors: Franklin Gary
Published: October 2019

With the ever-increasing understanding of the complexity of human protein interactions that impact directly on the safety and efficacy of therapeutic interventions, so the responsibility of researchers and drug companies to fully characterize drug candidates becomes a more and more onerous task. Using conventional methods, like ELISA, to examine even the most obvious interaction of, for example, a therapeutic antibody can add weeks or months on to the development process and clog up R&D programmes with thousands of man hours. And failure to fully examine the nature of important interactions may result in costly drug failures further down the pipeline.
Prion protein genetics: Host PrP control of TSE susceptibility
Authors: Goldmann Wilfred
Published: October 2019

TSEs (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies) are fatal, degenerative disorders of the central nervous system. The best-known members of this disease family are sheep scrapie, cattle BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and human CJD (Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease). By far the most important host gene in TSEs is the PrP (prion protein) gene. It modulates TSE susceptibility at many levels and is the crucial element in the treatment and eradication of these diseases. This article will highlight the advances in our understanding of PrP genetics in animals and man.
Single-molecule detection: Unravelling surface receptor diffusion in live neurons
Authors: Groc Laurent , Choquet Daniel , Lounis Brahim , Cognet Laurent
Published: October 2019

Over the last decade, single-molecule detection (SMD) gave biologists a tool to turn their dream, to follow a single molecule in live cells, into reality. SMD provides the advantages of identifying subpopulations and of localizing molecules with sub-wavelength precision. The use of nanometre-sized ligand–fluorophore complexes has even made it possible to track targets within confined cellular compartments. In this review, we first describe the main benefits of SMD in cellular imaging. We then show how SMD was used to unravel the membrane diffusion of glutamatergic receptors and how it sheds light on the way neurons can regulate membrane distribution of receptors.
The nicer side of E. coli: Escherichia coli as a model organism
Authors: Thomas Gavin
Published: October 2019

The enteric bacterium Escherichia coli is a ubiquitous component of every human being, forming a part of the normal gut flora, and is arguably the most well understood free-living organism on the planet. It is a model organism that is also well known by the general public -- usually by the abbreviated name E. coli. Most people associate E. coli with illness and have some recollection of cows, undercooked burgers and strains like O157:H7, after the outbreaks that killed elderly people in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in the 1990s. This article introduces the side of E. coli that the public know less about -- its role in the past, present and future as a model organism in the study of biology and the numerous applications that have been spawned from E. coli research.
Stem cell research: Ethics and geography
Authors: Minger Stephen
Published: October 2019

The UK provides a model regulatory and scientific environment for promoting human stem cell research and cell-based translation medicine. As an American expatriate who has been pursuing stem cell research in the UK for almost 10 years, I have a unique perspective of the huge gulf that exists between the USA and the UK when it comes to human embryo and embryonic stem cell research.
RNA catalysis: More than a messenger
Authors: Lilley David M.J.
Published: October 2019

Among the many roles that RNA has in the cell, one of the most surprising is that of an enzyme -- surprising because it has very sparse resources for this role. Yet some extremely important cellular reactions are catalysed by ribozymes, and such species may have played a key role in the evolution of life on the planet. Explaining the mechanistic origins of catalysis has been a challenge to the RNA chemist, but significant progress has been made in recent times. Ribozymes seem to use similar approaches to function as catalysts, but achieve them in different ways.
Riboswitches: Regulators of modern and ancient metabolism
Authors: Kim Jane , Breaker Ronald
Published: October 2019

Advances in nucleic acid biochemistry continue to reinforce the hypothesis that RNA has enormous potential for forming complex shapes. Some structured RNAs are known to function as highly specific receptors and others as efficient enzymes. These examples prove that some of the basic needs of primitive life forms could have been satisfied by RNA alone. Recent findings suggest that RNAs also can work as molecular sensors and switches that control biological processes in modern cells. This article provides an overview of the function of metabolite-sensing ‘riboswitches’ and explores the possibility that such molecules were used by primitive organisms to regulate complex biochemical pathways.
Astrobiology: Biochemistry at a distance
Authors: Lathe Richard , Prave Tony
Published: October 2019

It is reputed that the discipline of astrobiology was a purely academic pursuit until, in a moment of insight inspired by a Martian meteorite, President Clinton undertook to fund the search for life in the universe. This initiative has thrived to become the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) based at Ames, California. The first director, Nobel Laureate Dr Baruch Blumberg, was appointed in 1999. A Russian Astrobiology Centre has been established at St Petersburg, with parallel initiatives in Spain, Japan and Australia. The European Exo/Astrobiology Network Association (EANA), co-ordinated from Paris, held its inaugural meeting in 1999.
The messenger: the structure of RNA
Authors: Reece Richard
Published: October 2019

In the early part of the 20th Century, the nature of nucleic acid and what its role was within the cell were a bit of a mystery. DNA itself was first isolated as far back as 1869 by the Swiss chemist Johann Friedrich Miescher. He separated nuclei from the cytoplasm of cells and then isolated an acidic substance from these nuclei that he called nuclein1. Chemical tests by Miescher showed that nuclein contained large amounts of phosphorus and no sulphur, characteristics that differentiated it from proteins1. The first step in determining the structure of nucleic acid (either DNA or RNA) would be to identify its precise composition. RNA was considered a more approachable target for composition analysis because the simple treatment of RNA with hydroxide rapidly and completely hydrolyses the molecule to its individual component nucleotides. DNA, on the other hand, is resistant to such treatment.
Enzyme kinetics: the velocity of reactions
Authors: Baici Antonio
Published: October 2019

In the post-genomic world, why are we interested in enzyme kinetics? Judging from the volume of papers published every year, the discipline is far from becoming obsolete. Rather, there is a growing interest spanning from theoretical aspects to practical applications, such as those of pharmacological relevance, with enzyme inhibition in pole position.
Supporting Excellence in the Science Base: What now for the Biosciences Federation?
Authors: Dyer Richard
Published: October 2019

Richard Dyer, Director of the Babraham Institute for the past 15 years, became the new Chief Executive of the Biosciences Federation at the beginning of this year. Here, he discusses the role of the Federation and his aspirations for the future.
Society News: Biochemical Journal celebrates its 100th birthday
Authors: Burgess Mark
Published: October 2019

Leading figures from the life sciences community gathered in London at the British Library on 18 February to celebrate the digitization of the back archive of the Biochemical Journal.
Glycobiology against viruses: Antiviral drug discovery
Authors: Dwek Nicole Zitzmann, Joanne M. O'Leary and Raymond A.
Published: October 2019

Most aspects of glycobiology play important roles in the ‘life’ of viruses, for example in the correct folding of their envelope glycoproteins as well as in immune representation and escape. The pathogenicity of three major human pathogens, HCV (hepatitis C virus), HBV (hepatitis B virus) and HIV, which collectively infect more than 560 million people worldwide, is dependent on their glycoproteins. As the sugars (or glycans) that the viruses rely on are supplied by the host cell, we can exploit our knowledge of glycobiology to target this apparent Achilles' heel of these viruses.
Teaching the scientists of tomorrow: A PhD student's passion for science
Authors: Thorndycroft Faye
Published: October 2019

Are you looking for freedom at work, job satisfaction and a chance to change the world? Hannah Baker, the Biochemical Society's Professional and Education Projects Manager, interviewed Faye Thorndycroft, a 24-year-old PhD student at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, about what biochemistry means to her and why she's sticking with research… the perfect job!
Green revolution: Metabolic engineering of crop plants
Authors: John Philip
Published: October 2019

Metabolic engineering of crop plants is being driven by the need to increase the nutritional value of our food crops, and by geopolitical forces for crops as sources of raw materials and energy.
Walking off lunch: Moderate exercise and postprandial lipoprotein metabolism
Authors: Gill Jason M.R.
Published: October 2019

Free-living humans consume meals at frequent intervals and consequentially spend about three-quarters of each day in the postprandial state. During this time, a number of metabolic perturbations occur that are likely to play a role in the atherosclerotic disease process.
A class act: The discovery of the Theta class glutathione transferases
Authors: Board Philip
Published: October 2019

Two frequently cited papers published in the Biochemical Journal in the early 1990s highlight the importance of the glutathione transferase (GST) superfamily and the major contributions made to the field by Brian Ketterer and colleagues at University College London1,2. Over a span of 31 years, Brian Ketterer published over 45 papers in the BJ, the majority concerning GSTs.
Art and science: Chalk and cheese
Authors: Wolpert Lewis
Published: October 2019

The enthusiasm to bring the arts and science closer together, even to emphasize similarities, is rather peculiar, as they are so very different. They are not two cultures, as pronounced by C.P. Snow, but both are aspects of a common culture that includes industrial management, engineering, banking, architecture, economics, politics and sport. Yet the journal Nature has recently devoted 30 of its much sought after pages to just this link. I remain puzzled, even bemused, at the continuing efforts to show that art -- particularly the visual arts -- is very similar to science, both in content and in the creative processes involved.
Pretty proteins and striking structures: Molecular art in glass
Authors: Goldsmith Alex
Published: October 2019

I remember clearly the first time I stopped to think about how a model ship comes to be trapped inside a bottle. I can't have been more than 8 years old, and I cannot say it crossed my mind to ask why ships end up in bottles in the first place. That's just not the kind of thing that 8-year-olds worry about. So it was a different story many years later when I first came across a three-dimensional image (of a small cherub, as it happens) floating inside a block of glass: while I certainly marvelled at the apparent impossibility of what I was seeing, I also wondered why anyone would have thought it was necessary to use what was clearly an exciting and powerful new technology to create three-dimensional cherubs.
Talking to people: The Biochemical Society: Supporting Excellence in the Science Base
Authors: Defriend Lily
Published: October 2019

I am taking the opportunity to reflect upon the main subject matter of this year's BA Festival of Science which took place in Norwich from 2 to 9 September. The theme was ‘Science and Society’, which provided abundant opportunities to explore some key issues doing the rounds on the science policy circuit.
Little Red Riding Hood and the big, bad wolf: Biochemical pathways in advanced level biology
Authors: Reiss Angela Hall and Michael
Published: October 2019

Many students learning biology at advanced level (16 to 19 year olds) find biochemistry difficult. This is despite the fact that they say the topic is interesting and important1. Our contention is that students find it difficult to see the wood for the trees. They may be able to learn aspects of biochemistry off by heart, but find it difficult to have a memorable overview of the subject.
Is the party over: Ecstasy
Authors: Morton Jenny
Published: October 2019

To a generation of partygoers, Ecstasy [3,4methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)] represents one of the safest illegal drugs available and, superficially, evidence supports this notion. Compared with other recreational drugs, there have been relatively few Ecstasyrelated deaths and there is little direct evidence for shortterm neurotoxicity at recreational doses. However, Ecstasy causes 5hydroxytryptamine (5HT) nerveterminal damage in rats, mice and monkeys, and, in several studies, the damage is irreversible.
Performance enhancement?: Gene doping
Authors: Miah Andy
Published: October 2019

Over the last 5 years, the world of elite sport has spent a considerable amount of time and money investigating the science behind the next generation of performance enhancements, i.e. genetic enhancement. While scientists are still struggling to develop effective therapeutic interventions based on gene transfer, it is anticipated that athletes will soon try to use the same science to enhance their performances. Some have even argued that it is happening already.
The gender issue
Authors: Dolphin Annette
Published: October 2019

This collection of articles was born out of a letter that I wrote to Nature1, documenting the highly unrepresentative gender distribution in the receipt of scientific prizes and named lectures, taking the Biochemical Society as a example. A subsequent meeting with representatives of the Biochemical Society led to the idea of devoting an issue of The Biochemist to a collection of articles on the barriers facing women and minorities in bioscience careers, and the ways in which these hurdles can be overcome. The Editor, Mark Burgess, has done a wonderful job in commissioning a series of essays that portray how far we have come, describe the state we are in today, and indicate the ways in which the problems facing women can be tackled.
Teaching science in school…: and I still have a blackboard!
Authors: Alink-Brunsdon Sheila
Published: October 2019

Sarah Darkins teaches science at Langtree, a school in South Oxfordshire with 550 pupils, which has just attained Performing Arts status. The school has a comparatively rural catchment area and has no sixth form. I put some fairly probing questions to Sarah on the subject of being a science teacher. Her responses were considered, frank, some surprisingly upbeat and some critical of today's teaching environment.
Making binding relationships: Histone methylation
Authors: Bannister Andrew J
Published: October 2019

The nucleosome is the fundamental unit of chromatin and its highresolution Xray crystal struc ture was solved in 19971. This remarkable achievement showed the elegant and highly ordered packing of histones within 1.75 turns of DNA and it hinted at ways in which histones may be involved in regulating higherorder chromatin structure. Perhaps most striking is the way in which histone Nterminal tails protrude from their own nucleosome and, in some cases, make contact with adjacent nucleosomes. Simple extrapolation from this observation has implicated these interactions in higherorder chromatin regulation and many considered it likely that PTM (posttranslational modification) of the tails would affect internucleosomal stability and hence DNA processes such as transcription. Histone tails actually support multiple PTMs, including acetylation (see the article by Colyn CraneRobinson in this issue), phosphorylation and methylation. In this brief overview, I will consider histone methylation and discuss what we understand concerning its role.
Putting on fat: Palmitoylation
Authors: Bijlmakers Marie-José
Published: October 2019

The modification of proteins by the attachment of palmitate is a reversible process that has profound effects on protein function. Although palmitoylation was first documented almost 30 years ago, it is still poorly understood. Progress in this field has been hampered by the elusive nature of the enzymes involved and the absence of an obvious consensus palmitoylation motif. However, major steps forward have recently been made. The cloning of two yeast enzymes revealed the existence of a family of palmitoyltransferases, and new techniques have been developed for the large-scale detection and identification of the palmitoyl-proteome.
Cosmeceuticals: What are they?
Authors: Knaggs Helen E.
Published: October 2019

Skincare products can be divided into cosmetics, to improve the appearance of skin, and drugs, used to treat skin diseases; drugs are distinguished as having a biological effect on living tissue. The term ‘cosmeceutical’ was first coined by a leading dermatologist by combining the words cosmetic with ‘pharmaceutical’. However, in most countries, this term is not recognized by regulatory bodies as a separate product class, thus it is not clear what type of products are considered to be cosmeceuticals.
Teaching genetics: A genomic science bootcamp
Authors: Dunn Scott , Rudman Sarah M. , Marchant Jonathan S.
Published: October 2019

How can school teachers get hands-on training in using DNA-based methods? Here, we highlight the availability of a free course, supported by the Goldsmiths' Company, which provides the opportunity for educators to get back into the laboratory and gain confidence with molecular genetic techniques.
Asterion: The Sheffield spinoff experience
Authors: Sayers Jon
Published: October 2019

Early in the Spring of 2000, I attended a series of increasingly animated and exciting meetings with Richard Ross, a clinician with a passion for research specializing in endocrinology, and Pete Artymiuk, an equally enthusiastic structural biologist working in Sheffield University's Krebs Institute.
Iduron: A niche market …
Authors: Gallagher John
Published: October 2019

Iduron is a dedicated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) company situated at the University of Manchester in the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. The principlal scientific finding that underpinned the formation of Iduron were two papers published in the early 1990s from the laboratories of Avner Yayon and Alan Rapraeger that revealed that the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate (HS) was essential for the efficient transmembrane signalling and mitogenic activity of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF and bFGF; now known as FGF1 and FGF2 respectively), the two prototypic members of the FGF family of growth and migration factors.
Life at low water activity: Halophilic microorganisms and their adaptations
Authors: Oren Aharon
Published: October 2019

Life, or at least life as we know it, depends on water. Water is the solvent in which the cytoplasmic enzymatic machinery functions. However, life on Earth has adapted to a variety of environments with low water activity. Availability of water can be reduced both by the presence of salts and other solutes in the cells' surroundings (‘osmotic water stress’) and by drought (‘matric water stress’). As biological membranes are permeable to water, intracellular water activity equals that of the outside medium. A water activity of 0.60–0.62 appears to be the lower limit for life. Salt lakes and other hypersaline environments are popu lated by a diverse world of microorganisms adapted to life at salt concentrations up to NaCl saturation. The study of those organisms growing at the highest salinities shows that the problem how to cope with low water activity can be solved in different ways.
How dried flowers bloom again: Dehydration tolerance in resurrection plants
Authors: Phillips Jonathan , Bartels Dorothea
Published: October 2019

The ability to survive desiccation is commonly found in seeds or pollen and is widespread in lower organisms, but it is rare in the vegetative tissues of flowering plants. These ‘resurrection plants’ are socalled because they appear to be dead in the dried state and brought back to life by the addition of water.
Caged birds: the natural philosophy of Margaret Cavendish
Authors: Cox Amy
Published: October 2019

“I endeavour,” said she, “to be as singular as I can; for it argues but a mean nature to imitate others… for my nature is such, that I had rather appear worse in singularity, than better in the mode.”1
How original: Catching the cheats
Authors: Barrie John M.
Published: October 2019

Earlier in life, I never would have imagined myself as the world's plagiarism authority. I didn't have any particular axe to grind with cheating students. My goals as an early academic had nothing to do with plagiarism or plagiarists, but my experiences during that time brought myself and some colleagues to the point where we have revolutionized how education works.
New Year's resolutions
Authors: Smith Rebecca
Published: October 2019

The Biochemical Society is committed to addressing the issues facing women in science. During 2008, we have significantly increased our work in this area. We have published original research in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET (science, engineering and technology) on how the realities of the doctoral experience affect attrition rates. We have presented the work of the Society at international conferences and there is a section dedicated to Women in Science on the website.
The hows and whys
Authors: Hurst Laurence D. , Pál Csaba
Published: October 2019

In the majority of organisms, most gene knockouts have little or no affect on viability. Does this mean that most genes are dispensable to an organism? What are the underlying mechanisms of dispensability and why did dispensability evolve?
Malaria genomics: New tools to fight an old disease
Authors: Neafsey Daniel E.
Published: October 2019

Malaria is a disease caused by unicellular parasites that long ago gave up an independent photosynthetic lifestyle in exchange for a parasitic existence inside terrestrial vertebrates and mosquitoes. The precise evolutionary steps taken more than 100 million years ago to achieve this remarkable transition from innocuous red alga to insidious parasite of two biologically disparate classes of host are probably unknowable, but the end result has been disease of varying severity for millions of mammals, birds and reptiles, including, in all probability, dinosaurs.
Life on contact lenses: Exploiting a modern habitat
Authors: Lonnen James
Published: October 2019

There are an estimated 125 million contact lens wearers across the world, and the majority experience few complications; however, it is well known that contact lens wear is a risk factor for microbial keratitis (infection of the cornea of the eye). Owing to the ubiquitous distribution of micro-organisms, it is extremely di cult to prevent them from colonizing contact lens storage cases. Bacteria, fungi and protozoa have all been found in contact lens storage cases; these micro-organisms can adhere to the contact lens, which then acts as a vector to transport the microbes on to the surface of the eye. Bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, fungi such as Fusarium solani and the protazoan parasite Acanthamoeba–to name but a few–can cause infection of the corneal epithelial cells, which, if untreated, can lead to blindness. It is therefore essential that wearers clean and disinfect their contact lenses and storage cases e ectively to minimize the risk of infection.
Boundary layers: The biophysical mastery of indentured servants
Authors: Quinn Peter J.
Published: October 2019

Lipids are an extremely diverse assortment of biochemical compounds that defy a unified structural definition. The physical characteristic that distinguishes them from non-lipid compounds is their solubility in solvents of low polarity. This feature is handy when it comes to isolation because they can be conveniently extracted into organic solvents virtually free of contamination by other cellular constituents.
New directions: Lipidomics and stable isotope labelling
Authors: Postle Tony
Published: October 2019

Advances in the design of electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) over recent years have revolutionized approaches to the study of lipids and lipid metabolism. In additional to providing compositional information in great detail and at high sensitivity, with minimal sample preparation, ESI-MS coupled with the incorporation of substrates labelled with stable isotopes permits the analysis of rates of synthesis and turnover of individual lipid molecular species. Also, being non-radioactive, this technology is readily used in clinical studies to probe disease mechanisms directly.
Lithium and bipolar disorder: Exploiting the unexpected
Authors: Fyfe Ian
Published: October 2019

Bipolar disorder is characterized by long-lasting episodes of mania during which mood is elevated and sufferers are restless. Behaviour is altered, leading to poor attention, impaired judgement, delusions and, in some cases, psychosis and increased risk of suicide. This mania may alternate with periods of major depression. The most commonly used treatment for bipolar disorder today is lithium, yet its mechanism of action is not known. Its effects on mania were reported by John Cade in 1949, a discovery that has often been described as serendipitous. But looking beyond Cade's experiments shows that there was more to it than just luck.