RSC Chemical Biology

Development of a transcription factor-based biosensor strain for reporting α-terpineol production via the alcohol-dependent hemiterpene pathway in Escherichia coli Terpenes constitute a vast and industrially important class of natural products. Yet, microbial production of many high-value terpenoids remains limited by the difficulty of rationally engineering their biosynthetic pathways and the lack of high-throughput screening systems that directly report product formation. T

💡 "Engineered from CymR, a structure-guided, evolved transcription factor now lights up α-terpineol production in E. coli. Coupled to an artificial hemiterpene pathway, this modular biosensor enables rapid screening and scalable monoterpene engineering."

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✨ From Brian Bachmann and his team at Vanderbilt University, don't miss this hashtag#RSCChemicalBiology Advance Article!

🦠 See how they explore the untapped potential of microbes for producing metabolites with translational potential in humans here! doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2026 with standout women researchers at the chemistry-biology interface.
Explore our new collection: pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...
Contact us if you have a recent #RSCChemBio publications to add to this collection!
#InternationalWomensDay #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM

New Advance Article introduces visible‑light cleavable crRNAs that enable precise control of Cas9 activity, offering rapid on/off switching and reduced off‑target effects, advancing experimental control and therapeutic safety in CRISPR applications.
✨Get the full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

📢 New Advanced Article from #RSCChemBio 👇
Warren, Taga, Kräutler et al. explore the gene repression activity of AdoRhbl in B₁₂-utilizing microorganisms, establishing its potential as a multifunctional antibiotic.
👉 Read the full story here: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Could covalent tracers mean faster measurement of target occupancy and clear compound priorities? This Advance Article from J Wong et al introduces a high-throughput assay that quantifies target occupancy of covalent compounds using MK2 inhibitors as a model.
➡️Full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous #YearOfTheHorse🐎 🎆 To celebrate we’d like to share some of our most popular 2025 articles by authors based in countries celebrating Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year 👇
Find the collection: pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/...

RSC Desktop Seminar on biodegradable polymers, taking place on Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 11 AM EST / 4 PM GMT.

Join us for our next Desktop Seminar on Biodegradable polymers, featuring Prof. Patrizio Raffa of @rug.nl! The webinar is on 10 March 2026 at 4pm GMT. Register for free here: rsc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

✨Research spotlight on targeted protein degraders: from macrocyclic peptides to nanoparticle-based delivery systems, there is a wealth and diversity of PROTACs research published in #RSCChemBio each year.
Find the highlights from 2025 on our blog now:
🔗blogs.rsc.org/cb/202...
#PROTAC #RSCChemBio

Could a simple design principle unlock more powerful #DNA-targeting technologies?🧬New #openaccess Review from P Hrdlicka and M Everly explores the discovery, molecular design, and applications of DNA-targeting Invader probes.
👉Get the full story here: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

On the back cover of RSCChemBio Issue 2: Lina Cui et al. explore "Tuning the efficiency of molecular probes via quinone methide-based in situ labeling" ✨
Read the full story now: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...
👉 Get the full issue here: pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...

On the front cover of RSCChemBio Issue 2: Oliver Seitz et al. introduce "DNA-programmed bispecific peptide assemblies for delivering cytotoxic payload to cells expressing EGFR and MET receptor"🧬 Read the full story now: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...
👉 Get the full issue here: pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...

📢Latest issue of #RSCChemBio is online and #openaccess

This month's issue features a profile of our 2025 #EmergingInvestigators, late-stage peptide modifications, genome mining of the actinomycetes landscape, and much more!

👉 Get the full issue here: pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/...

Graphical abstract of RSC ChemBio article "Recent developments in the delivery of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs)"

📢New review from Srijani Sarkar and Niren Murthy!
"Recent developments in the delivery of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs)" covers everything from the early approaches and their limitations to the potential of future advances in PNA-based therapeutics.
🧬Read the full article: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Catch up on our latest news in the January 2026 newsletter, including our new Editorial Board appointment, a review of 2025, and upcoming events: blogs.rsc.org/cb/797/ Get future updates directly to your inbox with our email alerts: www.rsc.org/publishing/j...

graphical abstract of RSC ChemBio article "Covalent targeting of PSMD14 by Eupalinolide B induces oncoprotein degradation and apoptosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells"

📢New Advance Article in #RSCChemBio

Chengchao Xu, Jigang Wang, Huan Tang et al. investigate the anti-leukemic potential of Eupalinolide B (EB) using integrated chemoproteomic profiling and functional validation studies.

👉Get the full story here: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Two weeks left to register and submit abstracts for our symposium in Cambridge "Integrating chemistry, engineering and biology to create the next generation of vaccines"
@rscchembio.rsc.org @rsc-ppsg.bsky.social @cambridgephysics.bsky.social @eng.cam.ac.uk @rscbiomaterchem.bsky.social #vaccines

🧬 Can simple chemical modifications lead to brighter FIT-PNA probes for RNA sensing? In this Advance Article MK Gupta, S Maree, and E Yavin investigate the impact of incorporating γ-PNA monomers next to the BisQ fluorophore in FIT-PNA probes.
🔗 Read the full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

We are sponsoring the RSC CBBG Forum with poster prizes from #OBC, #ChemicalScience, #RSCChemBio and #RSCMedChem!
Poster Abstract deadline 6th February, so register now!
📆6th March
📍Cardiff University
🔗https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/82568/2026-rsc-chemical-biology-and-bio-organic-group-cbbg-forum

This #WorldCancerDay @rsc.org is showcasing some exciting innovative cancer research published across our journals in 2025. One article on immunocytokine-constructs comes from Editorial Board member Sander van Kasteren
🔗The article: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...
🔗The collection: pubs.rsc.org/en/jour...

⏱️"Does sod1 encode a #molecularclock?" Researchers at Baylor University investigate in this #openaccess Advance Article from #RSCChemBio

🔗Read the full story here: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

📢#RSCChemBio are pleased to sponsor poster prizes at the GDCh Biochemistry 2026 conference!

📆 16-18th March, 2026
📍 Hotel Melchior Park, Würzburg, Germany
🔗 www.gdch.de/biochemistry...

Abstract submission deadline and early registration fee end today 28th January, so get registered now!

Double-hit approach for novel glycoconjugates combining cytoplasmic glycoengineering and selective chemistry Chemical conjugation to carrier proteins has been traditionally used to improve polysaccharides immunogenicity and to overcome the limitations of T-independent antigens, including lack of immunological memory and efficacy in infants. A double-hit approach, meaning that both polysaccharide and carrier protein belong

🦠 In their new #RSCChemBio article, Gianmarco Gasperini and his team report on their development of a novel selective conjugation strategy based on cytoplasmic protein glycoengineering!

👉 Read more about how this approach is advancing the design of glycoconjugate vaccines.

Tuning the efficiency of molecular probes via quinone methide-based in situ labeling Imaging the activities of hydrolases using molecular imaging probes can reveal underlying molecular mechanisms in the context of cells to organisms and their correlation with different pathological conditions can be used in diagnosis. Due to the nature of hydrolases, substrate-based probes can take advantage of the

✨ From our newest #RSCChemBio themed collection, Zachary Rabinowitz and Seyedeh Alaleh Anvar introduce their hydrolase-targeting probes!

📢 Read more about their use of quinone-methide chemistry towards developing and tuning these probes here: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

#FlourescentProbes

New from King and Wakarchuk University of Alberta: examine the role of glycans in actinobacterial growth and physiology. This thought provoking review hopes to spark interest in developing new ways to probe these protein O-mannosylation in actinobacteria.
Read the full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

Heterologous biosynthetic crosstalk with the native mansouramycin cluster in Streptomyces albus Del14 reveals unexpected metabolites Streptomyces albus J1074 (now S. albidoflavus J1074) is a widely used heterologous host for natural product discovery due to its capacity to express biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) from diverse organisms. A derivative of this strain, S. albus Del14, enhances heterologous expression by reducing background metaboli

📢New Advance Article: Stierhof et al. demonstrate that biosynthetic crosstalk between native and introduced biosynthetic gene clusters results in rare #NaturalProducts with complex chemical scaffolds🦠
📰Read the full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...
Antibiotikaforschung @uni-saarland.de

Front cover of RSC Chemical Biology Issue 1: a large pill-shaped orange structure on a purple background with smaller brown pill-like structures around the outside of the image, and three blue molecular structures in the foreground.

Front cover of RSC Chemical Biology issue 1: 8 objects made-up of many small coloured spheres (6 with mostly red spheres and 2 mostly green) are infront of a dark background with blue text representing code, the orange letters F I D appear in the lower right corner

Back cover of RSC Chemical Biology issue 1: three molecular structures are centred in front of a dark blue background with an image of a tall building to the righthand side and a line of building roofs along the bottom

Back cover of RSC Chemical Biology issue 1: three purple structures on a blue background, each is attached to a grey helix and a string of orange and red spheres

First issue of 2026 is now online and #openaccess!
In this issue: G-clamp based RNA-binding molecular probes, bacteriophage small molecule inhibitors, translation-enhancing peptide screening platforms, bioluminescent D-luciferin analogues and much more!
📰Read the full issue here: lnkd.in/eYSvHxtp

📢New Advance Article: Interested in a #CellFree protocol for subunit-specific protein labelling? Researchers at CNRS Biologie present a new protocol for producing deuterated or methyl-labelled complexes using cell-free technology.
➡️Read the full story: doi.org/10.1039/D5CB...

📢 #RSCChemBio is sponsoring two poster prizes at the EMBO-EMBL Chemical Biology Workshop 2026!

📅 8 - 11th September 2026
📍 EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
🔗 www.embl.org/about/i...

Submit your abstract by 2nd June 2026 to a part of the event!

EMBO #ChemicalBiology

A nonavalent BODIPY with a multivalent arrangement of α-mannosides enables lectins recognition in fluorescence-based assays We report here the use of Tris-BODIPY-OH as a scaffold for the multivalent display of sugar heads. A chloroacetyl thioether ligation reaction easily yields mannosylated BODIPYs, named Man9-BODIPY and (Man-TEG)9-BODIPY, which display nine mannose residues. Regardless of the linker length, both glycoBODIPYs provide a

📢New research from B Richichi et al presents Tris-BODIPY-OH as a universal scaffold for glycosylated #FluorescentProbes showing improved affinity for target lectins useful for studying lectin trafficking in vitro, in vivo and for #bioimaging applications
👉Get the full story