bioquimica

Cruciferous vegetables generate that unmistakable stench when cooked as a defense mechanism.

Experts compare the genome's instructions for turning genes on with the language of poetry. Understanding it will help treat diseases like cancer.

In her book Essentials in the Endocrine and Reproductive System, Madeleine Debuse defines them as "chemicals produced by the body that control numerous bodily functions." A description that shows how much hormones can cover. In the words of the researcher Luis Miguel García, from the Cajal Institute of the CSIC, in Madrid, they are “chemical substances that, moving through the blood, communicate the cells of one organ with those of another”.

After seven years of research, researchers at the University of Alberta (USA) have just calculated that there are more than 3,000 different chemicals or metabolites in urine. "Urine is an extremely complex biofluid," says David Wishart, co-author of the work.

Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes in California (United States) have deciphered how a protein called Arc is involved in the formation of lasting memories. the finding is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Spanish scientists have created a "molecular velcro" that, on the one hand, adheres to gold and, on the other, traps molecules such as growth hormones or viruses almost instantly, compared to other methods that require hours. The device is applicable to clinical analysis, infection detection and quality control in the pharmaceutical industry.

Until now it was considered that red coloring of hair or feathers was too "expensive" for vertebrates from a biological point of view, since pheomelanin, the pigment responsible for reddish hair and freckles in humans, as well as of the orange colors other animals wear, increases the risk of skin cancer or melanoma when present in large quantities. What's more, part of the glutathione reserves, which is a beneficial oxidant, is used up to make the pigment. So why are there redheads?

NASA researchers have discovered a species of bacteria that, in the absence of phosphorus, is capable of metabolizing arsenic, normally a deadly poison for any organism. Details are published in the latest issue of the journal 'Science'.