A sugar-based molecule naturally produced by the body can help cells grow, differentiate into different types, self-destruct if need be and much more. It helps protect the cell's genome, repair DNA, and regulate how genes are passed...
Many of the most promising new pharmaceuticals coming along in the drug development pathway are hydrophobic by nature—that is, they repel water, and are thus hard to dissolve in order to make them available to the body. But now,...
Today, petrochemical compounds and rare metals such as platinum and iridium are used to produce semiconductors for optoelectronics, such as organic LEDs for super-thin TV and mobile phone screens. Physicists at Umeå University in...
Scientists at the University of Bath have used nature as inspiration in developing a new tool that will help researchers develop new pharmaceutical treatments in a cleaner, greener, and less expensive way.
Hospital MRI scanners, using 3 Tesla magnets, provide poor spatial resolution in brain imaging. More recent 7T MRIs are better but used mainly in the rare research lab. Scientists have now supercharged the standard 7T scanner to improve...
Protein-like aggregates known as amyloids can bind to molecules of genetic material. It is possible that these two types of molecules stabilized each other during the development of life—and that this might even have paved the way for...
A team of chemists at McGill University, working with a colleague from Charité-Universitätsmedizin, in Germany, has uncovered part of the process used by mussels to bind to rocks and to quickly release from them when conditions warrant.
Methamphetamine (meth) abuse is a major health concern. Understanding how meth interacts with its target proteins is crucial for the development of novel medications to address drug addiction. Previous research into the mechanism of...
As biocatalysts, enzymes can make many chemical processes "greener" and open up promising opportunities for various industries from pharmaceuticals to environmental technology. New analytical methods, the enormous increase in data...
While E. coli is one of the most studied organisms, the function of 30% of proteins that make up E. coli has not yet been clearly revealed. For this, an artificial intelligence was used to discover 464 types of enzymes from the proteins...
The human immune system is based on cells that communicate with each other via signaling molecules known as cytokines and chemokines. One of these signaling molecules is the protein MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor). It plays...
Researchers have devised a way to produce chemicals used in medicine and agriculture for a fraction of the usual cost. Using oxygen as a reagent and copper as a catalyst to break organic molecules' carbon-carbon bonds and convert them...
Researchers create transistors combining silicon with biological silk, using common microprocessor manufacturing methods. The silk protein can be easily modified with other chemical and biological molecules to change its properties,...
Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. In order to make this technology ready for the market, further improvements with regard to...
Researchers at McMaster University have discovered unique characteristics of a mechanism used by bacteria to resist an important class of antibiotics. The new research, published in Nature Chemical Biology, shows that resistance to...
Drugs to treat cancer are often very expensive to produce, resulting in high costs for the patients who need them. Thanks to pathbreaking research by UCLA chemists, led by organic chemistry professor Ohyun Kwon, the price of drug...
Some enzymes, such as the one derived from fungi and investigated in this study, are able to produce valuable substances such as the fragrance (R)-1-phenylethanol. To this end, they convert a less expensive substrate using a...
Researchers have developed a new method for the accurate determination of the water content of water-soluble compounds. This plays a significant role in various areas, including determining drug dosages.
The overexpression of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is closely associated with the onset and progression of diverse chronic diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic diabetic ulcers. Hydrogen therapy, as an...
Investigators at the University of Kansas have played a key role in deciphering a previously unidentified cluster of genes responsible for producing sartorypyrones, a chemical made by the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, whose...
Researchers at Maynooth University, working as part of an international team, have created a new molecule that could help in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.
Humic acid (HA) is a macromolecular organic substance that is widely used in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, chemical industry, building materials, medicine, environmental protection, and a number of other fields. However, the...
Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's, affect millions of people in the United States, and the cost of caring for people who live with these conditions adds up to hundreds of billions of dollars...
Quantum scientists have discovered a rare phenomenon that could hold the key to creating a 'perfect switch' in quantum devices which flips between being an insulator and superconductor.
Biological materials are made of individual components, including tiny motors that convert fuel into motion. This creates patterns of movement, and the material shapes itself with coherent flows by constant consumption of energy. Such...
A novel surgical implant was able to kill 87% of the bacteria that cause staph infections in laboratory tests, while remaining strong and compatible with surrounding tissue like current implants. The work could someday lead to better...
RNA has been in the limelight for its starring role in cutting-edge vaccine technology, but RNA molecules are also key players in the inner workings of cells.
Bio-based plastics often end up in recycling streams because they look and feel like conventional plastic, but the contamination of these compostable products makes it much harder to generate functional material out of recycled plastic....
In 1973, physicist Phil Anderson hypothesized that the quantum spin liquid, or QSL, state existed on some triangular lattices, but he lacked the tools to delve deeper. Fifty years later, a team has confirmed the presence of QSL behavior...
A team of pioneering researchers has made a significant leap forward in the complex world of molecular chemistry. Their focus? Azaarenes, unique molecular puzzle pieces crucial to many everyday products, from eco-friendly agrochemicals...
Energy researchers posit hydrogen fuel can potentially be a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel, and that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the greater Houston area can be profitable...
Sustainable and environmentally friendly production processes are playing an increasingly important role in almost all branches of industry. The production of active pharmaceutical ingredients in particular involves the use of various...
Researchers led by Prof. Wang Lei from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and their collaborators have identified the direct target of vinigrol as protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) on the cell membrane....
Prof. Jiang Bin's research team at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have developed a universal field-induced recursively embedded atom neural network (FIREANN) model, which can accurately simulate system-field...
Protocell networks assembled by artificial cell-like compartments have been developed for the expansion of cell-mimicking functionalities, such as signal processing, protein expression, morphological differentiation, and energy harvesting.
How did life begin? How did chemical reactions on the early Earth create complex, self-replicating structures that developed into living things as we know them?
Protein cages found in nature within microbes help weather its contents from the harsh intracellular environment -- an observation with many bioengineering applications. Researchers recently developed an innovative bioengineering...
Planetary rovers, which help humanity explore other planets, can deviate from their targeted paths or get stuck due to slipping on loose soil. To combat this problem, researchers have developed a novel system for rovers to detect their...
A research team has now directly measured the so-called Kondo effect, which governs the behavior of magnetic atoms surrounded by a sea of electrons: New observations with a scanning tunneling microscope reveal the effect in...
Recently, morning omelets and holiday dinners have gotten more expensive. One likely cause is bird flu, outbreaks of which led to the deaths of millions of chickens and turkeys from infection or culling in 2022, according to the U.S....
Scientists have 3D-printed hair follicles in human skin tissue cultured in the lab. This marks the first time researchers have used the technology to generate hair follicles, which play an important role in skin healing and function....
Researchers have developed a more efficient way to find out which new 'designer drugs' are circulating in the community. In a new study, they showed how high-resolution mass spectrometry can be used to analyze urine samples at scale and...
Engineers have developed a high-throughput, multimaterial 3D inkjet printer that uses computer vision to rapidly and automatically control the amount of material being deposited during the printing process in real time. This enables the...