UCLA biochemists and colleagues have answered an important question about the structure of microcompartments — the mysterious molecular machines that seem to be present in a wide variety of pathogens and other bacteria.

For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway — a small side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell — to be involved in the development of insulin resistance. But they could never quite put their finger on the underlying mechanism.

Circular markings on creatures such as butterflies are effective against predators because they are conspicuous features, not because they mimic the eyes of the predators’ own enemies, according to research published today in the journal, Behavioral Ecology[1]. Zoologists based at the University of Cambridge challenge the 150-year-old theory about why these markings are effective against predators.

Drug treatments for depression can take many weeks for the beneficial effects to emerge. The excruciating and disabling nature of depression highlights the urgency of developing treatments that act more rapidly. Ketamine, a drug used in general medicine as an anesthetic, has recently been shown to produce improvements in depressed patients within hours of administration. A new study being published in the February 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry provides some new insight into the mechanisms by which ketamine exerts its effects.

Biological and medical research is on the threshold of a new era based on better understanding of how large organic molecules bind together and recognise each other. There is great potential for exploiting the molecular docking processes that are commonplace in all organisms to develop new drugs that act more specifically without adverse side effects, and construct novel materials by mimicking nature.

The focus of two recent Nobel prizes, a species of roundworm has made possible another advance in the understanding of how cells talk to one another, according to a study published online Feb. 21 in the journal Current Biology.

There are several human characteristics considered to be genetically predetermined and evolutionarily innate, such as immune system strength, physical adaptations and even sex differences. These qualities drive the nature versus nurture debate and ask of our species, who is more successful and why?