A species of mushroom has been found producing psilocybin using a completely different pathway to the one used by 'magic' mushrooms, suggesting the psychotropic compound evolved at least twice. The ...

Study in fission yeast revealed a key role for a set of enzymes called agmatinases, which break down the metabolite agmatine into polyamines.

A combination of cryogenic electron microscopy and molecular simulations has been used to study the structure and dynamics of an enzyme called ACE.

Pea-sized brains grown in a lab have for the first time revealed the unique way neurons might misfire due to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, psychiatric ailments that affect millions of people ...

In a new study, scientists have shown that chemical receptors that plants use to recognize nitrogen-fixing bacteria have developed the same function independently on at least three separate occasions ...

A research team led by Prof. Wang Yanli from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed the structure and mechanism of a highly active Type II-D Cas9, offering a ...

Fungi are critical to human life and the planet. They recycle nutrients, helping keep our soil and plants healthy; they store carbon, helping to tackle climate change; and they play a key role in ...

Diabetes mellitus—known to many as type 1 and type 2 diabetes—gets all the attention with its rising global prevalence and connection to lifestyle and autoimmunity. Meanwhile, its lesser-known ...

Mayo Clinic scientists uncovered how excessive drinking triggers fatty liver disease by disrupting the enzyme VCP, which normally prevents harmful protein buildup on fat droplets in the liver. Alcohol ...

Though the chemical mechanisms of many enzymes have been elucidated, the mechanisms by which specificity and rate acceleration are achieved remain less explored. A new study suggests that physically ...