Mirrorimage

How fast is the universe expanding? It depends on who you ask. Cast your gaze to the relatively nearby stars and galaxies that surround us in space, and you’ll arrive at a certain number for this value, known as the Hubble constant. But look into the far more distant universe, and you’ll get a slightly different number. This discrepancy, known as the Hubble tension, is small but carries weighty ramifications. The tension might simply be caused by flaws in our measurements—or it could be pointing to fundamental gaps in our…

The team plans to use their new approach to study different cell types and discover chemical compounds that impinge upon any readout in the future.Scripps Research scientists are able to pinpoint potential new drug targets by analyzing the effects of mirror image versions of small molecules on clusters of proteins.Scientists from Scripps Research Institute have devised an innovative technique to identify small molecules capable of modifying protein functions, paving the way for targeted drug discovery. Working alongside…

All of life exists on just one side of a mirror. To put it more technically, the biomolecules that comprise living things—DNA, RNA, and proteins—are all “chiral.” Their building blocks have two possible mirror-image shapes, but in every case, life chooses just one. At least so far. Today in Science, researchers report they’ve made strides toward exploring the other side of the mirror. They re-engineered a workhorse enzyme that synthesizes RNA so it makes the…