New Technique Allows Scientists to Switch ATP Synthase On and Off Using UV Light
The enzyme complex ATP synthase is one of the most important molecular machines in the cell. It produces adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which serves as the…
Max Planck Institute
New Insights Into Exactly How Bacteria Import DNA
Bacteria are consummate survivalists. They are aided in this by their ability to assimilate DNA from their surroundings, which allows them to constantly acquire new…
Astronomers Measure the Inner Structure of Distant Stars
At first glance, it would seem to be impossible to look inside a star. An international team of astronomers, under the leadership of Earl Bellinger…
Boosting FoxO3 Activity Halts the Progress of Pulmonary Fibrosis
To date, the molecular basis of pulmonary fibrosis has been poorly understood. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad…
Study Shows Chimps and Infants Want to Punish Antisocial Behavior
Living together in communities requires mutual cooperation. To achieve this, we punish others when they are uncooperative. Until now, it has been unclear as to…
Genetic Variability Supports Plant Survival During Droughts
In the first study to predict whether different populations of the same plant species can adapt to climate change, scientists from the Max Planck Institute…
Researchers Show That a Hyperactive Network Causes Stuttering
Roughly, one in a hundred adults has problems with speaking fluently. Not much is known about the causes of persistent developmental stuttering, which is the…
The Costly Efforts Bacteria Use to Defend Against Predators
Even bacteria have enemies – in water, for example, single-celled ciliates preferably feed on microbes. The microbes protect themselves against predators by employing a variety…
Inhibition of FKBP51 Protein Reduces Obesity and Diabetes
For the first time, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich could prove that a stress protein found in muscle has a…
Stem Cells Sense Density to Make Decisions
Human skin is a remarkable organ serving as a barrier protecting us from pathogens, toxic substances and others. Our skin needs to constantly renew throughout…
Scientists Examine Microbial Life on a Sand Grain
A newly published study details microbial life on a sand grain: from bulk sediment to single grains. Just imagine, you are sitting on a sunny…
Scientists Analyze the Chemical Elements That Make Up Comet 67P
The dust that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko emits into space consists to about one half of organic molecules. The dust also belongs to the most pristine and…
Researchers Discover Oldest Images to Date of Dogs on Leashes
While conducting research in the Saudi Arabian desert, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the Max Planck Institute…
Researchers Compile First Atlas of the Healthy Human Heart
A healthy heart beats about two billion times during a lifetime – thanks to the interplay of more than 10,000 proteins. Researcher from the Max…
Researchers Decipher the Structure of the MHC-I Peptide-Loading Complex
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Goethe University in Frankfurt and Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg are deciphering the structure of the MHC-I…
Study Shows Six-Month Old Babies Have a Sense of Probability
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig have now shown that even six-month-old babies have a sense of…
Researchers Shed Light on the Nature of Risk Preferences
People differ in their willingness to take risks. An individual’s propensity for risk taking can also vary across domains. But new research conducted at the…
Biologists Show Food Odor Enhances Male Flies’ Attractiveness
“A way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.” New research shows that this popular saying isn’t only true for humans. In the vinegar fly…