String of firsts in forensic proteomics for ricin detection

As the first author of her first publication, Isabelle O'Bryon developed the first forensic proteomics method to more quickly detect ricin, a lethal toxin that is often crudely made in home laboratories. With this method, ...

Glycosylation—mapping uncharted territory

Whereas major inroads have been made into genomics, metabolomics, or protein and lipid research, glycosylation remains largely unexplored at the proteome scale. There are limited technologies for profiling the complex glycoproteome. ...

Ricin only lethal in combination with sugar

The plant toxin ricin is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring proteins, making it an extremely dangerous bioweapon. Ricin attacks have made headlines a number of times over the years, including the spectacular "umbrella ...

Scientists solve ricin riddle using new technology

A protein that controls how the deadly plant poison and bioweapon ricin kills has finally been identified by a team of Austrian researchers in a new study. With a combination of stem cell biology and modern screening methods, ...

Targeting toxin trafficking

Toxins produced by plants and bacteria pose a significant threat to humans, as emphasized by the recent effects of cucumber-borne Shiga toxin in Germany. Now, new research published on July 21st by the Cell Press journal ...