Recent advances in single-molecule detection and single-molecule spectroscopy at room temperature by laser-induced fluorescence offer new tools for the study of individual macromolecules under physiological conditions. These tools relay conformational states, conformational dynamics, and activity of single biological molecules to physical observables, unmasked by ensemble averaging. Distributio...

this study investigated the cytochemical responses in hediste diversicolor exposed to the environmental concentrations of cadmium (1µm cd), copper (1µm cu) and to their equimolar mixture for 48h. lysosomal membrane stability (lms), neutral lipids (nl) level, lipofuscin (lf) content and ca2+-atpase activity were determined as early subcellular biomarkers of toxicity. the biomarker battery pointe...

Scientifically valid exposure assessment is crucial to risk assessment, risk management, and prevention of environmental disease. Scientists have used three tools to assess exposure: exposure history/questionnaire, environmental monitoring (including personal monitoring), and biological monitoring. Combinations of these tools usually provide the exposure information needed to meet objectives of...

UNLABELLED While many tools exist for performing enrichment analysis of transcriptomic and proteomic data in order to interpret them in biological terms, almost no equivalent tools exist for metabolomic data. We present Metabolite Biological Role (MBRole), a web server for carrying out over-representation analysis of biological and chemical annotations in arbitrary sets of metabolites (small ch...

Yeast species provide excellent models for fundamental biological research. In this review, I will describe characteristics of the two most common laboratory systems: the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They have substantial similarities that make them powerful as research tools, and also striking biological differences that make them com...

Expanded fluorescent protein techniques employing photo-switchable and fluorescent timer proteins have become important tools in biological research. These tools allow researchers to address a major challenge in cell and developmental biology, namely obtaining kinetic information about the processes that determine the distribution and abundance of proteins in cells and tissues. This knowledge i...

Optogenetic tools enable light-mediated control of cellular excitability and signaling in vivo. By manipulating biological processes, scientists can determine the roles played by these processes in intact biological systems, such as the brain. Such cellular-level control has greatly affected basic science. Here, we discuss how optogenetic tools might be translated into clinical impact through i...

The engineering of biological systems can be greatly aided by better models, derived from high-quality characterization data, and by better means for designing and debugging new genetic circuits. Web-based tools and repositories have proven a successful approach to distributing such techniques, particularly because the centralization of infrastructure greatly decreases adoption cost for new use...

Observation of a clinical event can spur reflective thinking on its source. In pharmacology, adverse events are examples of observations for which deriving the cause is important. Moving from observation to mechanistic understanding requires the use of tools that explicitly delineate biological systems, mode of action, and disease pathophysiology. By expanding understanding of biological factor...

The increasing availability of data related to genes, proteins and their modulation by small molecules has provided a vast amount of biological information leading to the emergence of systems biology and the broad use of simulation tools for data analysis. However, there is a critical need to develop cheminformatics tools that can integrate chemical knowledge with these biological databases and...