Rna Molecular Biology News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

Apr 03, 2019

Michael Axtell Among Five Receiving Faculty Scholar Medals

Five Penn State faculty members have received 2019 Faculty Scholar Medals for Outstanding Achievement for excellence in scholarship, research and the arts.

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Membraneless protocells — called complex coacervates — can bring together molecules of RNA, allowing the RNAs to perform certain reactions, an important step in the origin of life on Earth. The Image shows droplets of complex coacervates as seen under a microscope. The inset shows RNA molecules (cyan) are highly concentrated inside the droplets compared to the surrounding (dark). At roughly 2-5 micrometers in diameter, the droplets are about 14-35 times thinner than human hair. IMAGE: BEVILACQUA LABORATORY, PENN STATE

Feb 01, 2019

Membraneless protocells could provide clues to formation of early life

Membraneless assemblies of positively- and negatively-charged molecules can bring together RNA molecules in dense liquid droplets, allowing the RNAs to participate in fundamental chemical reactions. These assemblies, called “complex coacervates,” also enhance the ability of some RNA molecules themselves to act as enzymes — molecules that drive chemical reactions.

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Apr 02, 2017

Paul Babitzke elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

Paul Babitzke, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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Aug 04, 2014

Scientist uses giant spectrometer to search for cure for cancer

Working with the ScholarSphere " essentially a gigantic MRI on stilts " Scott Showalter is moving closer to the biomedical breakthrough he so desires: to help find a cure for cancer.

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Jul 01, 2014

NSF grant will help create beneficial biofilms on water purification membranes

A team of chemical engineers at Penn State that includes Huck Institutes faculty researcher Thomas Wood has received a three-year, $400,000 National Science Foundation grant to help prevent biofouling of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes.

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May 29, 2014

Probing Question: Could polio make a comeback?

Melissa Beattie Moss talks with Craig Cameron about the possibility of another polio epidemic.

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Dec 19, 2013

DNA study gives insight into the evolution of food crops, other flowering plants

New light has been shed on a major event in the history of life on Earth the origin of all major food crops and all other flowering plants with the publication of the newly sequenced genome of the Amborella plant by researchers including Huck Institutes faculty members Claude dePamphilis, Hong Ma, Stephan Schuster, Naomi Altman, and Michael Axtell, and graduate student Saima Shahid.

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Dec 03, 2013

New tool developed for profiling critical regulatory structures of RNA molecules

A research team led by Huck Institutes affiliates Sarah Assmann and Philip Bevilacqua has developed a molecular technique that will help the scientific community to analyze on a scale previously impossible molecules that play a critical role in regulating gene expression.

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Oct 14, 2013

Turning biologists into programmers

Research by Huck Institutes affiliate Howard Salis demonstrates how synthetic life could create real benefits.

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Aug 28, 2013

Researchers track antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella from farm to fork

Continuing research on Salmonella may enable researchers to identify and track strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria as they evolve and spread, according to researchers including Huck Institutes affiliate Edward Dudley in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

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