Author Archives: Jessica P. Johnson

Journal Club: Simple model reproduces patterns of toxic protein buildup across multiple neurodegenerative diseases

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

Fatal neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) begin as tiny pockets of misfolded proteins that evade the body’s normal detritus-removal systems. They spread throughout the brain and clog neural pathways. But exactly how these proteins propagate … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Proprioceptive neurons offer new insights into a “sixth sense”

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

Proprioception allows people to know the position of parts of the body without seeing them, enabling us to touch type, walk in the dark without falling over, or drive a car while looking at the road. Defects in this sensory … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Horizontal gene transfer can boost fitness quickly, but the conditions matter

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is rampant in the bacterial community, as well as in some other members of the tree of life. Researchers have long known that HGT events can improve an organism’s ability to adapt to changing environments. What’s … Continue reading →

Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Journal Club: New clues in the mystery of the mechanism of general anesthetics

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

Anesthetics have been used in surgery since the mid-1800s, but their exact mechanisms of action continue to be the subject of intense investigation. Past studies have suggested they block neurotransmitter receptors postsynaptically. Now a new study, published January 9 in … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Engineered enzyme could streamline synthesis of nitrogen containing compounds

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Researchers have re-engineered a bacterial enzyme to transform abundant alkanes into industrially important nitrogen-containing compounds that can be used to synthesize pharmaceuticals. In principle, the enzyme, now called P411CHA, could help streamline some methods for creating synthetic molecules, which often … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Analysis of bony fishes suggests convergent evolution is more prevalent than previously thought

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Habitats and environmental pressures shape a variety of animal morphologies and behaviors over vast evolutionary time scales. These environmental pressures can sometimes produce nearly identical traits, even in completely unrelated lineages. This phenomenon, called convergent evolution, results in modern species that appear very similar despite … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Shark blood compound offers up novel mechanism for stabilizing folded proteins

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

Sharks and other sea life often maintain high levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in their blood, a compound vital to their surviving in the saline environment. TMAO helps maintain an osmotic balance between body tissues and sea water to prevent … Continue reading →

Categories: Biochemistry | Chemistry | Journal Club | Tagged blood, elastin-like polypeptide, model, osmolyte, protein folding, sharks, simulation, trimethylamine N-oxide | Leave a comment

Journal Club: Phosphorylation has surprisingly big role in control of circadian clocks

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Jessica P. Johnson

The network of molecules that makes up the circadian clock, which governs the timing of cellular processes in most living things, has been well studied. But thus far, technological limitations have prevented researchers from elucidating exactly how the clocks orchestrate … Continue reading →