Molecule

Share your dreams with the world Media Molecule’s Dreams allows players to unleash their creativity, and the results have been nothing short of awe-inspiring. The latest update to Dreams‘ content policy gives creators greater freedom regarding how they use their creations. This update comes as the studio prepares to pull its live support. Image via Media Molecule. Changes are coming to Dreams Earlier this year, Media Molecule announced that it would be ending its live support of Dreams on September 1, 2023. This decision…

Finding new drugs – called "drug discovery" – is an expensive and time-consuming task. But a type of artificial intelligence called machine learning can massively accelerate the process and do the job for a fraction of the price.My colleagues and I recently used this technology to find three promising candidates for senolytic drugs – drugs that slow ageing and prevent age-related diseases.Senolytics work by killing senescent cells. These are cells that are "alive" (metabolically active), but which can no longer…

SARS-CoV-2 creates dangerous enzymes, called proteases, which help the virus replicate and also disable an immune system’s messaging system. Here, one of the virus’s primary protease’s, PLpro, grips a new molecule that is meant to slow PLpro. Credit: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryA molecule equipped with hooks that can grip and disable the virus’s pesky protease demonstrates promising potential in combatting infections.Scientists have engineered a molecule capable of mitigating the harmful effects of a…

The Webb Space Telescope recently peered into a gassy region of the Orion Nebula and managed to spot a carbon-based molecule that could be a “cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry,” according to a European Space Agency release.Webb Telescope Images the Pillars of CreationThe molecule has never been detected in space before, the release stated. It was found in a system called d203-506, about 1,350 light-years from Earth. The system is surrounded by gas and dust, and has a small red dwarf star—about one-tenth the…

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a key crucial carbon molecule in space for the first time. A team of researchers found this compound in the Orion Nebula which is about 1,350 light-years away from Earth.The detected molecule, called methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on), is said to be a key life-building block as it plays an important role in forming more complex carbon-based molecules, NASA said in a tweet. Why Carbon discovery is importantIt is to be noted that Carbon compounds are essentially the…

Scientists have detected a new carbon compound, methyl cation, in space for the first time using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. This compound, crucial in forming complex carbon-based molecules, was found in a young star system in the Orion Nebula. The discovery could enhance our understanding of life’s potential development beyond Earth.This molecule, never before seen in space, is believed to be a cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry.Carbon compounds form the foundations of all known life, and as such are of…

Deep in the delicate traceries of the Orion Nebula, we've finally found an important carbon molecule never before seen in interstellar space.Methenium, also known as the methyl cation (CH3+), is a carbon compound long predicted to play a pivotal role in organic chemistry in interstellar space. Now, using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have identified it in the disk of dust and gas surrounding a baby star, confirming the plausibility of this role.Although CH3+ is not considered one of the essential ingredients…

Being the control center of the body, your brain needs strong security against circulating pathogens or toxins. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) performs this vital function, but it can become “leaky.” Now, scientists at Stanford have identified therapeutic molecules that could help patch it up, to potentially prevent neurological diseases.Forming a semipermeable lining inside blood vessels that feed the brain, the BBB is your brain’s bouncer, turning away almost everything at the door except for the nutrients, ions and…

Researchers at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) have discovered that zebrafish, like humans, require oxytocin to mirror the emotions of others, a phenomenon known as emotional contagion. The zebrafish’s recognition of and reaction to emotions within their group, their use of similar brain areas to humans for this process, and their oxytocin-regulated behavior make them an ideal model for understanding emotional contagion, its impact on well-being and society, and its potential applications in various…

A gene called MYC is implicated in the majority of cancers, but unfortunately it’s often considered “undruggable.” In a new study scientists have developed a molecule that chops up the RNA of this gene, effectively clearing cancer in mice.The MYC gene plays a key role in regulating cell proliferation, metabolism and controlled cell death, but it’s not always helpful. In fact, it’s been implicated in as many as 70% of all human cancers, covering a wide range of types of the disease, and overexpression is associated with…