Insight into enzyme's 3-D structure could cut biofuel costs

19-May-2017 - Using neutron crystallography, a Los Alamos research team has mapped the three-dimensional structure of a protein that breaks down polysaccharides, such as the fibrous cellulose of grasses and woody plants, a finding that could help bring down the cost of creating biofuels. The research focused ...

DNA markers distinguish between harmless, deadly bacteria

21-Dec-2016 - The virulent pathogen that causes the disease tularemia, or "rabbit fever," was weaponized during past world wars and is considered a potential bioweapon. Through a new study of the coccobacillus Francisella, Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers are working to use DNA markers to discern ...

New model predicts once-mysterious chemical reactions

30-Jun-2016 - A team of researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Curtin University in Australia developed a theoretical model to forecast the fundamental chemical reactions involving molecular hydrogen (H2), which after many decades and attempts by scientists had remained largely unpredicted and ...

Analyzing genetic tree sheds new light on disease outbreaks

29-Feb-2016 - Scientists have a new tool for unraveling the mysteries of how diseases such as HIV move through a population, thanks to insights into phylogenetics, the creation of an organism’s genetic tree and evolutionary relationships. “It turns out that three different types of transmission histories are ...

Significant progress toward creating 'benchtop human'

28-Mar-2014 - The advance - successful development and analysis of a liver human organ construct that responds to exposure to a toxic chemical much like a real liver- was described by John Wikswo, Vanderbilt University. The achievement is the first result from a five-year, $19 million multi­ institutional ...

Fast Pandemic Detection Tool Ready to Fight Flu

Agilent Technologies and Los Alamos Develop First High-Throughput System to Be Deployed at UCLA’s New Global Bio Lab

12-Jun-2009 - Agilent Technologies Inc. announced researchers are developing new tools for rapidly characterizing biological pathogens that could give rise to potentially deadly pandemics such as Influenza A (H1N1). This is part of a joint effort by national laboratory-, university- and private-sector ...

Scientists propose new method for studying ion channel kinetics

20-Apr-2005 - Scientists working at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new method for the study of ion channel gating kinetics. An ion channel is a protein pore that lets ions pass through a cell's membrane. The method fits data to a new class of models, called manifest interconductance rank (MIR) ...

Laboratory launches Hepatitis C database

21-Nov-2003 - University of California scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory recently launched an Internet-based Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) genomic sequence database similar to the Laboratory's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) database. The new database is expected to become an important tool in ...