A team led by the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab at Janelia used the technique, called high-resolution template matching, or HRTM, to uncover in unprecedented detail the movement of ribosomes—the ...

Ribosomes are the sites in a cell in which protein synthesis takes place. Cells have many ribosomes, and the exact number depends on how active a particular cell is in synthesizing proteins.

Within the ribosome, the mRNA and aminoacyl-tRNA complexes are held together closely, which facilitates base-pairing. The rRNA catalyzes the attachment of each new amino acid to the growing chain.

A previously unknown kind of ribosome is responsible for folding sperm proteins, which decay before fertilization if prepared by other ribosomes. Dan is a News Editor at The Scientist. He writes and ...