For the first time, scientists at the M.M. Shemyakin and Yu. A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences have successfully used computer generated simulations to study the TRPV1-Receptor temperature activation phenomenon for higher organisms. Up to this point, it was impossible to achieve such results in silico experiments due to imperfections in the computer simulation models. The results of the experiment were published in the Scientific Reports journal.

A team of scientists from the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS have discovered new information on how the PIWIL2 human gene expresses itself. This breakthrough discovery shall help create a diagnostic marker for determining testicular germ cell tumors. The research findings suggest the interchangeability of the PIWIL2 “helpers”: the promoter of this gene is also able to act as an enhancer of the expression of another gene. The work, published in the PLoS ONE journal, helps expand the background knowledge in this field.

On a moonless night deep in a Brazilian rainforest the only thing you are likely to see are the tiny smears of light from flitting fireflies or the ghostly glow of mushrooms scattered around the forest floor. Both effects are the result of bioluminescence, the peculiar ability of some organisms to behave like living night-lights. (this text was pblished in The Guardian)