The molecule is unusual and has ‘great potential’ in catalysis, conduction and other applications. Scientists at Kyoto University’s Institute for Cell-Material Sciences have discovered a novel cluster compound that could prove useful as a catalyst. Compounds, called polyoxometalates, contain a large metal-oxide cluster carry a negative charge. They are found everywhere, from anti-viral medicines to rechargeable batteries and flash memory devices. The new cluster compound is a hydroxy-iodide (HSbOI) and is unusual, as it has large, positively charged clusters. Only…
A researcher at the University of Tsukuba develops a method for creating optically active polymers using a helical liquid crystal template, which may allow for future computer and TV displays to operate based on circularly polarized light. A scientist from the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Tsukuba developed a method for producing electrically conductive polymers that assume a helical configuration. By using a liquid crystal as a template, he was able to produce optically active…
Heidelberg plant researchers identify key protein in a mechanism that controls the life of proteins. Proteins are existential building blocks of life that also have numerous functions in plants. An average plant cell contains more than 20 billion protein molecules that maintain cellular metabolism and stabilise their structure. Researchers at the Centre for Organismal Studies of Heidelberg University recently shed light on a cellular mechanism that extends the life of plant proteins. They have now identified a key protein that…
To develop new drugs and vaccines, detailed knowledge about nature’s smallest biological building blocks – the biomolecules – is required. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, are now presenting a groundbreaking microscopy technique that allows proteins, DNA and other tiny biological particles to be studied in their natural state in a completely new way. A great deal of time and money is required when developing medicines and vaccines. It is therefore crucial to be able to streamline the work…
Scientists have identified the biochemical signals that control the emergence of the body pattern in the primate embryo. This will guide work to understand birth defects and pregnancy loss in humans. The study also provides a crucial reference for foetal tissue generation in the lab – such tissue is in short supply but is needed for drug screening and studies into stem cell-based treatments to regenerate body tissues in diseases like Parkinson’s, for example. Embryos develop from a clump of…
Scientists in the UK are starting to understand the precise workings of a type of gene that, unlike other genes, does not code for proteins – the building blocks of life. Scientists are starting to understand the precise workings of a type of gene that, unlike other genes, does not code for proteins – the building blocks of life. New research led by the University of Bath shows the mechanism by which genes coding for a subset of long non-coding…
RNA regulates proteins and thereby can control cell growth, study shows. European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s research on the enzyme Enolase 1 (ENO1) points to a possible new way RNA exerts a leading role in how cells develop. The new heroics of RNA in cell differentiation. Scientists are increasingly learning of new reasons to appreciate RNA, and the glycolytic enzyme ENO1 seems to have provided yet another in new research from European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) this week, as published in…
In Nature Communications: The Politecnico di Milano study that synthesised a nanocluster of superfluorinated gold for the first time. The SupraBioNano Lab (SBNLab) at the Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, in partnership with the University of Bologna and the Aalto University of Helsinki (Finland) has, for the first time, synthesised a superfluorinated gold nanocluster, made up of a core of only 25 gold atoms, to which 18 branch-structured fluorinated molecules are linked. The…
Potential Achilles heel in the protective layers surrounding Gram-negative bacteria identified that could aid in the development of next-generation antibiotics. A new study published in Nature today has identified a potential Achilles heel in the protective layers surrounding Gram-negative bacteria that could aid in the development of next-generation antibiotics. The study, carried out jointly by Professor Waldemar Vollmer and Dr Federico Corona at Newcastle University, alongside Professor Colin Kleanthous and Dr Gideon Mamou in the Department of Biochemistry at the…
‘Barcoding’ studies find two independent sources for blood cells in mice; if confirmed in humans, the understanding of blood cancers, bone marrow transplant, and the aging immune system will change. The origins of our blood may not be quite what we thought. Using cellular “barcoding” in mice, a groundbreaking study finds that blood cells originate not from one type of mother cell, but two, with potential implications for blood cancers, bone marrow transplant, and immunology. Fernando Camargo, PhD, of the…
Scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares ( (CNIC) have discovered a complex network of connections between tissues that allows the liver to regulate body temperature. The research team found that the secretion of a molecule called interleukin 12 (IL-12) by immune cells present in the liver reduces heat generation by brown fat. The study is published in Hepatology. When a person begins to gain weight, fat accumulates in adipose tissue. But eventually fat also accumulates in the liver, a…
Researchers discover and characterize a novel membraneless organelle that could play a role in Alzheimer’s treatment. Researchers in UC Santa Barbara neuroscientist Kenneth S. Kosik’s lab have discovered a novel organelle — a previously unknown cell structure whose function it is to help clean up faulty proteins in times of stress and keep cells functioning in top condition. Optimizing this membraneless organelle, which they call a BAG2 condensate, could lead to treatments for conditions that are the result of misfolded proteins, including…
HIRI scientists show that target RNA levels influence defense against invaders. Friend or foe? Immune systems constantly face this question. They must recognize and clear foreign invaders without eliciting autoimmunity. Prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas systems recognize invaders based on genetic sequence. But what happens if the host genome shares the same sequences? A research team of the Helmholtz Institute in Würzburg in cooperation with the North Carolina State University (USA) has now discovered a control mechanism exhibited by CRISPR-Cas systems that use…
New strategy is less expensive, less energy intensive than current industrial processes. Northwestern University chemists have taken inspiration from plants to revolutionize the way an important industrial chemical is made. In a first for the field, the Northwestern team used light and water to convert acetylene into ethylene, a widely used, highly valuable chemical that is a key ingredient in plastics. While this conversion typically requires high temperatures and pressures, flammable hydrogen and expensive metals to drive the reaction, Northwestern’s…
Researchers used bacteria-eating viruses to treat 20 complex, antibiotic-resistant lung infections, resulting in no adverse reactions and more than half of treated patients experiencing favorable clinical outcomes. An international team of researchers, led by scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh, report promising results from the largest case series yet of patients treated with bacteriophage therapy for antibiotic-resistant infections. The findings published in the June 9, 2022 online issue of Clinical Infectious…
Paramagnetic encoding of molecules. Today we commonly encounter contactless RFID chips in a number of products, but can similar technology be implemented at the molecular level? The answer is yes. The principle of molecular encoding conceived by Miloslav Polášek and his team at IOCB Prague represents a novel method on the frontier of chemistry and modern technologies. Their paper on paramagnetic encoding of molecules was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The new principle of molecular encoding and prototype…
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