Proteins need to be tough: many respond to mechanical forces, which means that they bounce back from repeated cycles of forces which physically alter their structure, stretching or squishing them out of shape. Now a new paper led by Drs Justin Benesch and Katja Gehmlich has identified interactions which might stop a protein found in the heart from literally overextending itself. The resulting paper has now been published in Science Advances and can be accessed here.

As we have to say farewell to our PartIIs and as a celebration of Shane now being Dr. Chandler, we did what you have to do in summertime in Oxford: a punt and a pint. We are happy that all enjoyed their stay at the Benesch group and wish them all the best for future endeavours.