Chemistry News Articles

The secret life of proteins: Researchers discover dual role of key player in immune system

2012-02-18T06:41:00.000+02:00

That protein, STIM1, was previously known to sense a change in calcium within immune cells, a process that occurs when the body confronts a pathogen. Upon sensing this change, STIM1 opens a type of pore in the cell membrane, called a CRAC channel, to allow the flow of calcium ions — a vital step in activating the immune system.The Feinberg team, led by Murali Prakriya, assistant professor of

Envelope for an artificial cell

2012-02-18T00:01:00.000+02:00

Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student at Harvard University, report their success in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.“One of our long term, very ambitious goals is to try to make an artificial cell, a synthetic living unit from the bottom up – to make a living organism from non-living molecules

Chemists to develop new materials for hydrogen storage in vehicles

2012-02-17T19:44:00.000+02:00

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded Berkeley Lab a three-year, $2.1 million grant for the project, which will also include contributions by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and General Motors (GM). The grant was part of more than $7 million awarded by DOE last month for hydrogen storage technologies in fuel cell electric vehicles.“We’re working on materials

Portable device will quickly detect pathogens

2012-02-17T14:19:00.000+02:00

Using synthetic DNA, Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, has devised a method of "amplifying" very small samples of pathogen DNA, RNA or proteins. Edwin Kan, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has designed a computer chip that quickly responds to the amplified samples targeted by Luo's method. They will combine these to make a handheld device, usable

Scorpions inspire scientists in making tougher surfaces for machinery

2012-02-17T09:40:00.000+02:00

Zhiwu Han, Junqiu Zhang, Wen Li and colleagues explain that "solid particle erosion" is one of the important reasons for material damage or equipment failure. It causes millions of dollars of damage each year to helicopter rotors, rocket motor nozzles, turbine blades, pipes and other mechanical parts. The damage occurs when particles of dirt, grit and other hard material in the air, water or

Could Alzheimer's disease be diagnosed with a simple blood test?

2012-02-17T03:03:00.000+02:00

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of adult onset dementia and is characterized by the degeneration of the nervous system. In particular, as the disease progresses, the amount of amyloid-ß peptide in the body rises. At present, the most reliable and sensitive diagnostic techniques are invasive, e.g. require analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal

New uses for diesel by-products

2012-02-16T21:12:00.000+02:00

More sustainable production of sulphur-free diesel from natural gas and biomass is increasing. However the by-products, hydrocarbons like decane and other low value alkanes have little practical use.Now a discovery by the Institute, part of the School of Chemistry, has found a potential route for upgrading these by-products into more useful chemicals.In the past, synthetic reactions starting

Researchers discover the processes leading to acute myeloid leukemia

2012-02-16T16:36:00.000+02:00

The UCSB research team described how a certain mutation in DNA disrupts cellular function in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The researchers were prompted to study this process by another research team's discovery that AML patients have a mutation in a certain enzyme, which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The enzyme is a protein called DNMT3A, which leads to

Researchers model potential of toxic algae photoreceptors

2012-02-16T10:10:00.000+02:00

Massimo Olivucci, Ph.D., a research professor of chemistry at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), is focusing on Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (ASR) bacteria, which has served as a model for studies of most cyanobacteria since its genome was fully mapped in 1999."An in-depth understanding of light sensing, harvesting and energy conversion in Anabaena may allow us to engineer this and related

Hot attraction in bimetals: A cyano-bridged vanadium-niobium bimetal assembly with a Curie temperature of 210 K

2012-02-16T03:32:00.000+02:00

On the basis of initial studies indicating that an increased stoichiometry of vanadium(II) led to a higher Curie temperature in vanadium hexacyanochromate systems, Ohkoshi et al. used a small amount of VIII as catalyst to convert a higher proportion of VII in a similar system. The magnetic properties of the resulting octacyano-bridged vanadium–niobium bimetal assembly were investigated. The

Capsules that clean: New-look laundry detergents head for supermarket shelves

2012-02-15T21:58:00.000+02:00

C&EN Assistant Managing Editor Michael McCoy explains that the technology behind films used to package the single doses of detergent have come a long way in the five decades since their debut. Previous versions of the encapsulating films interacted poorly with the detergent and had short shelf-lives. And another type of single-dose formulation — essentially a tablet of compressed laundry powders

Light but stable: novel cellulose-silica gel composite aerogels

2012-02-15T15:46:00.000+02:00

Gels are familiar to us in forms like Jell-O or hair gel. A gel is a loose molecular network that holds liquids within its cavities. Unlike a sponge, it is not possible to squeeze the liquid out of a gel. An aerogel is a gel that holds air instead of a liquid. For example, aerogels made from silicon dioxide may consist of 99.98 % air-filled pores. This type of material is nearly as light as air

Protein study gives fresh impetus in fight against superbugs

2012-02-15T09:33:00.000+02:00

Researchers have mapped the complex molecular structure of an enzyme found in many bacteria. These molecules – known as restriction enzymes – control the speed at which bacteria can acquire resistance to drugs and eventually become superbugs.The study, carried out by an international team including scientists from the University of Edinburgh, focused on E. coli, but the results would apply to

Researchers discover method to unravel malaria's genetic secrets

2012-02-15T04:49:00.000+02:00

"The malarial genome has been a black box. Our technique allows us to open that box, so that we can learn what genes in the most lethal human parasite actually do," said Dennis Voelker, PhD, Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health and senior author on the paper that appeared in the January 2, 2012 , issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. "This could prove tremendously valuable in

Researchers seek to beat 'molecular obesity'

2012-02-15T00:07:00.000+02:00

Professor Andrew Hopkins and his team from the University's College of Life Sciences have developed a mathematical formula that they believe has the potential to more effectively identify compounds that have the best chance of being successfully developed into drugs to treat and protect against disease.In order to succeed as a drug, a compound has to have the right balance of properties. Those

In lab, Pannexin1 restores tight binding of cells that is lost in cancer

2012-02-14T18:23:00.000+02:00

"In healthy tissues, the recently discovered protein Pannexin1 may be playing an important role in upholding the mechanical integrity of the tissue," said first author and Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Brian Bao. "When we develop cancer, we lose Pannexin1 and we lose this integrity."The results appeared in advance online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on Jan. 20.To conduct their

Pine transformed by modern alchemists

2012-02-14T12:43:00.000+02:00

Pinewood made denser than ebony, textured and hard likes the pure essence of wood itself? Thanks to a process that reminds one of alchemic essays to turn lead to gold, a team led by Parviz Navi has given simple pinewood similar qualities to wood from expensive and rare tropical species. Starting on the 26th of January, EPFL+ECAL Lab is displaying several objects from daily life made out the new

Scientists use silk from the tasar silkworm as a scaffold for heart tissue

2012-02-14T07:55:00.000+02:00

Of all the body’s organs, the human heart is probably the one most primed for performance and efficiency. Decade after decade, it continues to pump blood around our bodies. However, this performance optimisation comes at a high price: over the course of evolution, almost all of the body’s own regeneration mechanisms in the heart have become deactivated. As a result, a heart attack is a very

Researchers develop new drug release mechanism utilizing 3-D superhydrophobic materials

2012-02-14T02:40:00.000+02:00

The study was electronically published on January 16, 2012 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.Boston University (BU) graduate student Stefan Yohe, under the mentorship of Mark Grinstaff , PhD, BU professor of biomedical engineering and chemistry, and Yolonda Colson, MD, PhD, director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Cancer Center, prepared

Chemists reveal how algae delete unwanted 'competitors'

2012-02-13T21:05:00.000+02:00

Like a 'molecular toothbrush', which removes other micro-organisms thoroughly, every morning this chemical mace 'disinfects' the ground on which these diatoms grow. "Thus they can ideally grow and keep direct competitors for light and free space in check," Professor Dr. Georg Pohnert of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) states. The director of the Institute of Inorganic and

MSU technology spin-out company to market portable biohazard detection

2012-02-13T16:57:00.000+02:00

Food contamination and other biohazards present a growing public health concern, but laboratory analysis consumes precious time. The company, nanoRETE, will develop and commercialize an inexpensive test for handheld biosensors to detect a broad range of threats such as E.coli, Salmonella, anthrax and tuberculosis.A significant leap forward in detection and diagnostic technology, it utilizes novel

Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes

2012-02-13T10:54:00.000+02:00

The research team, led by Professors R. Michael van Dam and Pei Yuin Keng in UCLA’s Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging and Professor CJ Kim in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, faced a particularly challenging issue in developing their digital microfluidic device and applying it to microscale chemical synthesis. “When working with organic solvents at small volume scales –

Grafted watermelon plants take in more pesticides

2012-02-13T05:30:00.000+02:00

Mehmet Isleyen and colleagues explain that farmers graft watermelon and other fruits onto the roots of gourd plants because it makes the fruit more resistant to diseases. In Turkey, where the group did the study, more than 95 percent of watermelons grow from grafted seedlings. Although the gourds are hardier, previous research has shown they accumulate pesticides called organochlorines.

How seawater could corrode nuclear fuel

2012-02-13T00:32:00.000+02:00

But Navrotsky and others have since discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles. The research team published its work Jan. 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."This is a phenomenon that has not been considered before," said

New standard for vitamin D testing to ensure accurate test results

2012-02-12T18:00:00.000+02:00

Karen Phinney and colleagues explain that medical research suggests vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency may be even more common than previously thought and a risk factor for more than just bone diseases. An estimated 50-75 percent of people in the U.S. may not have enough vitamin D in their bodies. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to the development of several conditions, including