This is extremely random, but I always gave my dad a hard time for buying the cheapest shampoo and conditioner at the grocery store. One morning he came back and said he was in the shampoo aisle grabbing our usual Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo and a man approached him and said "I am a biochemistry professor at UC Berkeley and I think that is the best one to get." I may have completely botched what he said, because this was probably 15 years ago, but it definitely made my dad feel validated for buying it.

Are there any biochemists out there that could back up that statement? Perhaps he meant from a pragmatic stance that it is a decent, cost-effective shampoo?

I know that sodium laureth sulfate doesn't get the best rep out there but would like to hear biochemists' stances Thanks!

And that when they burn they release all this harmful stuff into the air. People were possibly also talking about paraffin wax candles being toxic. And that you can get non toxic candles as well.

For a short literature review on peptides reported to act on telomerase, Epitalon keeps coming up. Nearly everything I can find traces back to Khavinson's group in St. Petersburg, starting with the 2003 report of telomerase activation in cultured human somatic cells. Nothing independent has turned up so far, and the proposed mechanism stays at the level of broad claims about gene expressions. Is there work from other labs that I'm missing? And how would people here weigh a finding that has stayed inside one group for over twenty years?

Are these people who work for companies like Thermo Fisher and such? Curious about this apparently very lucrative category lol

Have you read a cool paper recently that you want to discuss?

Do you have a paper that's been in your in your "to read" pile that you think other people might be interested in?

Have you recently published something you want to brag on?

Share them here and get the discussion started!

Even though I graduated Biotechnology, I still struggle to fully understand the difference between a domain and a module in a protein. I've asked uni professors several times during my studies, but none were been able to give me an explanation that makes sense to me...

I understand that a domain is defined as a folding pattern in the three-dimensional structure that is very common across different proteins. I also understand that a module is a domain that is stably repeated in many proteins. Aren’t those definitions basically the same?

Please excuse my english, I’m Spanish and I used a translator.

Best regards.

Hey everyone. I'm looking for some honest advice about my academic situation and whether I'm approaching my career goals realistically.

I've had a few bad semesters in the past, partly because I struggled to apply myself consistently while dealing with depression and epilepsy. I had a seizure in class, which contributed to my anxiety about attending, and I ended up missing a lot of classes. I'm now trying to get back on track academically.

I'm currently retaking precalculus and taking trigonometry separately. I'm doing reasonably well in trig, but precalculus has been a struggle. I've scored 55% and 56% on the first two exams, and I know I went into both less prepared than I should have been. I'm disappointed in myself, especially because I know I could have studied more consistently and effectively.

My goal is to pursue biochemistry, but I'm worried about whether I'll be able to handle the math requirements, particularly calculus. Having to retake precalculus again would be discouraging, and I worry that struggling this much with a prerequisite is a bad sign for what's ahead.

I'm trying to distinguish between having a genuine weakness in math that I need to address and simply having poor study habits that I can improve. I don't want to give up on a career I'm interested in just because I'm struggling right now, but I also want to be realistic about what it will take.

For anyone who's struggled with math prerequisites or changed their study habits after failing exams, how did you approach it? Would you recommend giving precalculus another serious attempt, and what would you do differently before moving on to calculus?

I built Proteus—a lightweight, web-based tool for structural protein analysis and 3D visualization.

You can drop in any PDB file, spin the 3D model around, and inspect secondary structures calculated via DSSP directly in your browser.

You can try it out here:https://proteus.slingshot.quest/

It’s totally free to use. I’d love to hear what you think, what features are missing, or if it breaks on any specific PDB files!

Droplet microfluidics sounds promising for screening large numbers of cells or reactions, but it doesn't seem common in every biochemistry lab. Is the main barrier equipment cost, assay setup or trouble adapting existing methods? Would love to hear from anyone whos worked with it.

Scientists, science aficionados, biochemists of Reddit, what is the weirdest making process a hallucinogen can have?

Trying to decide what classes to take?

Want to know what the job outlook is with a biochemistry degree?

Trying to figure out where to go for graduate school, or where to get started?

Ask those questions here.

Hello all, I am a junior working on my undergraduate capstone (final project) for my degree in biochemistry and psychology. I’m researching skin care formulation chemistry but am struggling to find actual science based articles. Does anyone have any recommendations for specific websites or catalogs to use? The catalogs I typically use for chemistry related research are too specific as I am just starting my dive into the field.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for directions to go that would be wonderful. I need to be pretty specific in my research. I was hoping to do an actual experiment along with my literature review if that helps.

Please note that I am only a few days into this so be nice if I misused any terms or was confusing. Thanks :)

I am a straight A student all my math classes orgo, human anatomy, physics all my intensive classes I’ve never got below a 79 on a test!! But I am struggling so much with Biochemistry, it doesn’t help that I have a horrible professor with a 1.0 rating on rate my professor. But I’m desperate I’m trying but really struggling if there is a good YouTuber you guys know or any tips please!!

The 2024 Chemistry Nobel went to David Baker for computational protein design and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for protein structure prediction. I'd like to know how much of that has reached daily lab work.

My understanding is that predicted structures are now a standard starting point. But I wonder how often they hold up on the hard cases, like flexible regions, protein complexes, and anything with ligands.

For people working in the field:

• Do you use predicted structures in your research, or do you still depend on experimental ones (crystallography, cryo-EM)?
• Where have the predictions let you down?
• Has computational protein design become a real part of your workflow, or is it still mostly for specialists?
• What do you think will be the next big shift in biochemistry?

Hi, I’m currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, and I was wondering what career opportunities are available in the cosmetics industry with this degree. Would I need to switch to a chemistry degree to work in this field, or would a biochemistry degree be sufficient?

I’m particularly interested in the formulation and development of cosmetic products, such as skincare, body care, makeup, and perfumes. Ideally, I’d love to be involved in formulating or even creating new products.

I’m also wondering whether a master’s degree is necessary to work in cosmetic formulation and product development, or if a bachelor’s degree would be enough. Additionally, how competitive is the cosmetics industry? Is it difficult to find a job in this field (Preferably in Canada), especially as a recent graduate with little professional experience?

I’d really appreciate any advice on which degree would be better suited for this career path, what qualifications employers typically look for, and what steps I could take to break into the cosmetics industry.

Thank you ~

Does anyone know where I can buy high-quality 3D models of DNA, RNA, proteins (with amino acid monomers), phospholipids (saturated vs unsaturated), polysaccharides? Much appreciated!

My worksheet tells me that Histidine has pKa of 6.6 in oxygenated form, and 8.2 in deoxygenated form. I'm now trying to understand how this is beneficial, and link this to my understanding of bicarbonate buffer system in RBC and Bohr Shifts Ideas.

Any help appreciated!

My thinking so far:

For deoxy, lets imagine there is lot of muscle cell respiration. so lots of carbonic acid formation and dissociation, pH decreases. With deoxy Hb with histidine (pka 8.2), this would cause the deoxy Hb to pick up the protons.

This causes more carbonic acid dissociation (as equilibrium shifts)- the lower pH causes Hb affinity for oxygen to decrease, so more oxygen provided to respiring muscle cells.

I think my logic makes sense. But how does this link for Oxy Hb (with histidine pka 6.6)?

Have you read a cool paper recently that you want to discuss?

Do you have a paper that's been in your in your "to read" pile that you think other people might be interested in?

Have you recently published something you want to brag on?

Share them here and get the discussion started!

The frustrating part is that I understand the process in theory, but I am not familiar with the software so it takes me forever. I am currently having difficulties with 2 things:

1. Molecular Replacement gives me a solution where the peptide is broken, so Coot reads it as 2 chains rather than one. Why does this happen since a sequence was given? Can it be fixed?
2. I have to modify a residue and I can import it using the 3 letter code but Coot places it in a conformation that doesn't make much sense, I want to flip it so that it goes on top of the electron density blob but I keep failing at this.

Are you aware of any resources, such as a mailing list or a forum, where one can ask questions and people can exchange information, about Coot or other protein crystallography programs? I have already read the Coot manual and checked their youtube channel but found no solution to my 2 problems.

EDIT: You are incredibly helpful, thank you so much. I will respond asap ( weekends are usually hectic for me). I am using Coot 0.9, ccp4i2, Molrep, and Refmac5. I would like to use Phenix but I don’t have a Mac and it keeps crashing on PC.

I made a 13-minute introduction to cancer evolution, and the imatinib section may be of interest here. It connects a molecular change in a drug target with selection among cancer-cell populations.

In Gorre et al. (2001), resistance was associated with a threonine-to-isoleucine substitution in the ABL kinase domain in six of nine patients; the other three showed BCR-ABL amplification. So the example involves both altered drug-target interaction and increased gene copy number, rather than one universal resistance mechanism.

Original paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11423618/

The imatinib section starts at 8:55. The broader video uses melanoma to introduce clonal diversity and then discusses TRACERx and experimental adaptive therapy. I'm a genetics PhD at UCL studying cancer evolution; the video description includes references and corrections to the simplified narration.

I’m a second-year biochemistry student in Chile, and my university focuses heavily on the academic side of the field. Many people in my country have told me that the environment in Chile is terrible—really bad—but I’m very passionate about biology, and especially chemistry—the sciences in general. I’d love to hear the perspective of people from outside—what it’s like to be a biochemist, what your own experiences have been, maybe some advice? Tell me a bit about it!.

(I used a translator for this—I speak Spanish, but I didn’t feel like writing it all out in English myself, and it’s a bit of a struggle for me!)