Metabolic pathways may seem arbitrary and unnecessarily complex. In many cases, a chemist might devise a simpler route for the biochemical transformation, so why has nature chosen such complex ...

As an assist to his students back in 1960, microbiologist Donald Nicholson sketched out a big chart of metabolic pathways; he thought it would help them to have it pinned up on a wall for ready ...

New research into the mechanisms of neurofibromatosis finds that flaws in the gene Nf1 can lead to a biochemical domino effect that results in tumors. The research, which appears in the January 10 ...

In low-oxygen conditions, some organisms such as the single-cell alga Chlamydomonas are able to generate cellular energy from the breakdown of sugars without taking up oxygen. They do this using a ...

Every year, thousands of biochemistry majors and medical students around the world learn to memorize the major biochemical pathways that allow cells to function. How these 10 or so pathways are ...

The pathway consisting of the receptor programmed cell death 1 (PD-1; also called CD279) and its ligands, PD-L1 (B7-H1 or CD274) and PD-L2 (B7-DC or CD273), plays a vital role in the maintenance of ...

When I joined medical school as a teacher/student, I was mildly surprised to hear that biochemistry had a "bad rep" on campus. Many people told me that they felt that if they could get through ...

For decades, the basics of plant growth have been taught in grade school: Plants make their food out of water from the soil, light from the sun and carbon dioxide from the air in a process called ...

A new study shows how mutation of the ADAR1 gene sets off biochemical pathways that produce an autoimmune response that harms the developing brain and other areas of the body. The ADAR gene contains ...