1. A crystal structure of the important PI3 kinase delta form which may provide insight into designing selective inhibitors of this key kinase implicated in cancer.
2. The discovery that a class of sandalwood odorants targets both the traditional GPCR odorant receptors but also the unexpected estrogen receptor (ER). The targeting of these two apparently functionally unrelated proteins may suggest roles for ORs different from olfaction.
3. And speaking of smell, the identification of odorant receptors in malaria-causing mosquitoes. The researchers identify receptors responding to specific body odors that could help the insects home in. Maybe they can also identify dietary components that cause/eliminate these?
4. And finally, the world's first 1GHz NMR in France. Pacemakers beware.
People have been using antennae from various insect species as GC detectors for years. It was only a matter of time till the receptors were "identified". The key now is to delineate the combinatorial codes that the insect uses to identify the human "scents". Much like humans, triggering a subset of receptors may have vastly different (and unexpected) outcomes.
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