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Nuclear magnetic resonance spies the atomic details of proteins in action. Scientists have used NMR to look at proteins including TTHA1718 (above) inside living cells.Nature The atomic structures of proteins at work inside cells can now be probed, thanks to researchers who have modified a technique that is already widely used in labs and for medical imaging.When a protein is inside a cell — rather than in a test tube — it behaves subtly differently because it may be interacting with other biological molecules that float around in the cellular space. Because proteins are hard to work with unless they...

March 6, 2008 Drug Tied to China Had Contaminant, F.D.A. Says By GARDINER HARRIS and WALT BOGDANICH WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators said Wednesday that a critical blood thinner that had been linked to at least 19 deaths and whose raw components were produced in China contained a possibly counterfeit ingredient that mimicked the real drug. Routine tests failed to distinguish the contaminant from the drug, heparin. Only sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging tests uncovered that as much as 20 percent of the product’s active ingredient was a heparin mimic blended in with the real thing. Federal officials said they did...

For the first time, investigators have identified a way to detect neural progenitor cells (NPCs), which can develop into neurons and other nervous system cells, in the living human brain using a type of imaging called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The finding may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for depression, Parkinson's disease, brain tumors, and a host of other disorders. Research has shown that, in select brain regions, NPCs persist into adulthood and may give rise to new neurons. Studies have suggested that the development of new neurons from NPCs, called neurogenesis, is disrupted in disorders ranging from depression...