Scientific Communication: Lessons from Penicillin

 :: Posted by American Biotechnologist on 12-11-2014

Despite its life-saving potential, the therapeutic benefits of penicillin were not realized until a decade after its discovery. While modern advances in literature dissemination has enabled even the most obscure paper to reach the hands of thirsty scientists, our ability to process the information contained in these papers has remained limited by the capacity of the human mind.

In the talk below, Dr. Andrew Su from Scripps Research Institute, proposes that the solution to the human mind bottleneck is what is colloquially known as citizen science.

Visualizing Unfolded Protein Movement Within the Cell

 :: Posted by American Biotechnologist on 12-10-2014

In an interesting study, Professor Martin Gruebele from the University of Illinois, led a team that developed a way to watch how unfolded proteins move through a cell using a fluorescent microscope and three-dimensional diffusion modeling.

While it had been widely considered that, due to their large size, unfolded proteins move slower through cells than their folded counterparts, the current study found that interactions between unfolded proteins and chaperones play a large part in controlling the velocity of protein movement throughout the cell. In general, unfolded protein binds to chaperones which help facilitate their movement throughout the cell. When the ratio of unfolded proteins to chaperones becomes too high, the unfolded protein gets stuck in a cellular traffic jam which retards their movement throughout the cell.

In addition, unfolded proteins also bind to other non-chaperone proteins which, in effect, disrupt their flow within the cell.

The team plans to use a specialized microscope to study other proteins and how unfolding affects their diffusion, to see if the properties they observed are universal or if each protein has its own response.

Citation: Guo M, Gelman H, Gruebele M (2014) Coupled Protein Diffusion and Folding in the Cell. PLoS ONE 9(12): e113040. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113040

President Obama Secretly Tinkering with Molecular Biology

 :: Posted by American Biotechnologist on 12-09-2014

The President recently visited the NIH and let everyone in on his secret, world-class, molecular biology lab. Flow cytometer included!

H/T NIH

Learn Total Protein Normalization from the Experts

 :: Posted by American Biotechnologist on 12-08-2014

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Image Lab™ Software

Presented by: Kate Clark, PhD Senior Technical Support Specialist

Presented by:
Kate Clark, PhD
Senior Technical Support Specialist

Join us for a 30 minute live webinar developed and delivered by our knowledgeable Technical Support Team.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 | 10:00 AM Pacific
As you get ready to use your new system, we will provide you with an opportunity to learn about total protein normalization using Stain-Free Technology.
This training will cover the steps to use Image Lab software to normalize your western blot data, as well as provide guidelines for using housekeeping proteins as loading controls.

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A Movie that Reflects YOUR Reality!

 :: Posted by American Biotechnologist on 12-04-2014

This movie looks awesome! A story of our lives!