Filming how our immune system kills bacteria
To kill bacteria in the blood, our immune system relies on nanomachines that can open deadly holes in their targets. LCN scientists have now filmed these nanomachines in action, discovering a key bottleneck in the process which helps to protect our own cells. The...
Mimicking viruses from inside out using DNA origami
The cover of the current issue of ACS Synthetic Biology highlights the work of a research team from UCL, the LCN and NPL to engineer a programmable inside-out “virus”. This everted “virus” is designed to deliver functional proteins into live cells. The synthetic virus...
Building a nano-scale filter using DNA
Inspired by biological filters, scientists at UCL, Imperial College London and Yale University have designed and built a nanometre-sized pore that helps us to better understand the complex way by which cells transport genetic material and viruses. Image:...