Scientific Highlights

Several vaccines have been developed in recent months to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2. Whilst these have been effective in neutralising the initial SARS-CoV-2 virus, many variants have appeared across the globe. This is as...

Since the sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in January 2020, vaccines have been seen as the most effective way to minimise the global risks of COVID-19. Whilst a number have been produced worldwide, several variant strains of the virus have emerged...

Antibodies are crucial to immune protection against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the way in which they interact with the virus, binding and neutralising, can pay significant dividends in the ongoing...

In the past year, researchers around the world have worked to develop therapies and vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main targets for vaccine development is the trimeric spike (S) protein. S is a...

Single particle Cryo-EM has evolved extremely rapidly in the recent years (with great advances in the quality of the instrumentation and the methods used for data analysis) and has become the technique of choice to determine the structure of membrane...

Transcription and replication of alphaviruses such as chikungunya take place in a coordinated fashion in virus-induced membranous organelles called spherules within host cells. The formation of these viral niches facilitates viral RNA synthesis and protects...

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers around the world have sought to understand the infection mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a step towards designing new therapies and vaccines. Recent work at the Rosalind Franklin Institute has...

  Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2) is a mitochondrial protein with a critical role in amino acid and nucleotide metabolism – both of which are essential for cell growth and proliferation. In recent years, it has also been postulated...

To ensure cell survival, growth and differentiation, gene expression must be continuously modulated. Not all gene products are useful at every stage of cell life and the bulk of the genome is silent, packaged as chromatin (DNA wrapped around histone proteins),...

Influenza (commonly known as the flu) is an acute, respiratory infection responsible for over 3 million cases of severe illness each year. Most clinical cases of flu are caused by Influenza A viruses, which are also responsible for widespread outbreaks...

During cell division, duplicated DNA needs to be evenly distributed between two daughter cells so that each receives a single, complete set of chromosomes. When chromosome segregation fails, the consequences can be catastrophic - causing genetic disorders,...

Double-stranded (ds)RNA viruses are a large and diverse group of viruses that infect a range of hosts, including animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Members of the dsRNA viruses include rotaviruses (a common cause of gastroenteritis), bluetongue virus...

A recently developed scientific technique is allowing researchers at Instruct Centre IT to investigate proteins in their natural state. Traditional structural studies could only take place in vitro, which may result in improper protein folding and a lack...

Just like other animals, bees can contract viruses from parasites such as mites. A virus of particular significance is the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), which has been causing epidemics in Western honey bee populations. As the name suggests, DWV causes pupae...

Our ability to fight bacteria using antibiotics is limited by the rise of resistant strains. However, understanding the mechanisms of bacteria’s natural enemy, the bacteriophage, may lead to new treatments. “Bacteriophage phi812 … can...