Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a chemical “chameleon” that could improve the process used to purify rare-earth metals used in clean energy, medical and national security applications. The study, performed in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, is the latest of many efforts by ORNL’s Chemical Sciences Division to lower the barriers to accessing metals called lanthanides, which are used widely in diverse products and applications, from biomedical imaging to industrial chemical production to electronics….
Study by the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation‘ shows possible infection paths of Yersinia pestis 5000 years ago. Since the catastrophic pandemics of the Middle Ages, one disease has almost proverbially symbolised contagion and death: the plague. It is now known that the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis has been present in Central and Northern Europe for more than 5000 years. However, it is still uncertain whether it also led to pandemics and mass deaths in its early forms….
Dangerous mixtures: pesticides in combination can have unexpected effects on the development of honeybees. This is shown by a new study from the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg, in which the last neonicotinoid still approved in the EU was combined with two fungicides. Honeybees are social insects. Their colony only survives as a community, and healthy new generations are very important. It is therefore not surprising that honeybees invest significant care and resources into their offspring: nurse bees feed…
NIST researchers use new method to measure biomolecules in live cells. To accelerate biotechnology innovations, such as the development of lifesaving drug therapies, scientists strive to develop faster, more quantitative and more widely available ways to observe biomolecules in living cells. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new method that allows the use of infrared (IR) light to capture clear images of biomolecules inside cells, something that was previously not possible due to…
HZDR team unveils new insights into uranium’s tricky chemistry. The heavy metal uranium is, besides its radioactive reputation, known for its intricate chemistry and diverse bonding behaviors. Now, an international team of scientists utilized synchrotron light at the Rossendorf Beamline (ROBL) to explore the unique properties of low-valent uranium compounds, as the researchers report in the journal Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50924-7). Here, at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) runs four experimental stations for…
Researchers with the participation of the PMI Cluster of Excellence have succeeded in isolating and analyzing disease-causing T cells from the blood in autoimmune diseases./ Publication in Immunity. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own structures. A research team from Kiel, Lübeck and Berlin has now succeeded in analyzing certain pathogenic immune cells more precisely using a method they developed. They discovered that these cells can sometimes switch to a dormant (so called “exhausted”) state for…
Misha Kudryshev’s lab at the Max Delbrück Center has identified a molecular intermediate of a serotonin receptor that is involved in diseases such as depression and schizophrenia. Published in The EMBO Journal, the study points to a potentially new target for therapeutics. A new study published in “The EMBO Journal” points to new potential strategies to treat psychiatric and gastrointestinal disorders that are not well addressed by current medications. Dr. Bianca Introini and her colleagues in the In Situ Structural Biology lab of Professor Misha…
The sensor could serve as a low-cost and efficient tool for early detection of neurological disorders and conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in our brains, not only regulates our emotions but also serves as a biomarker for the screening of certain cancers and other neurological conditions. University of Central Florida researchers, led by UCF NanoScience Technology Center Professor Debashis Chanda, have developed an integrated optical sensor capable of detecting dopamine directly from an unprocessed blood sample….
Nuclear parasites in deep-sea mussels. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology reveal how a bacterial parasite thrives inside the nuclei of deep-sea mussels. Most animals live in intimate relationships with bacteria. Some of these bacteria live inside the cells of their hosts, but only very few are able to live inside cell organelles (structures inside the cell, like organs in the body). One group of bacteria have figured out how to colonize the nuclei of their hosts,…
Bonn researchers find causative mutations in the keratin 31 gene for the dominantly-inherited form of monilethrix – From infancy and usually for life, some families suffer from broken hair due to a congenital form of hair loss called monilethrix. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn have now identified causative mutations in another keratin gene, KRT31. They hope that this will improve the diagnosis of this rare disease. Their results have now been published in the…
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed ultra-flexible brain probes that accurately record brain activity without causing tissue damage. This opens up new avenues for the treatment of a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders In brief A new type of ultra-flexible brain probe enables precise recording of individual brain-cell activity over extended periods of time. The electrodes resemble tentacles and consist of ultra-thin fibres made of gold and polymers that do not damage brain tissue. In future, this technology should…
Once again, the atmosphere amazes us with its diverse chemical processes. For the first time, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig have demonstrated the existence of sulfurous acid (H2SO3) under atmospheric conditions in the gas phase. The results were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Where Does Sulfur in the Air Come From? A combination of natural and anthropogenic sources impacts the chemistry of the atmosphere. However, the principal natural source of the atmospheric sulfur…
Researchers discover how microbial cooperation can emerge. Max Planck scientists in Marburg have used a synthetic microbial community to study the gradual evolution of mutualism. The study demonstrates for the first time in detail how an evolutionary loss of independence can occur in communities of different groups of organisms. Mutualism, an association between organisms of two different species that benefits both, is widely recognised in animals and plants, but also plays a crucial role in the microbial world, where…
Research team publishes new results of the MOSAiC project. Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels, a study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night shows. The measurements were carried out as part of the MOSAiC expedition and revealed that microalgae can build up biomass through photosynthesis in the Arctic Ocean as early as the end of March, when the sun is barely above the horizon. The results…
𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 uses a surface protein of its spores to slow down the human immune system. The mold 𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 produces an enzyme on the surface of its spores with which it can attenuate the human immune response. This makes it easier for for the fungus to colonize human tissue with severe courses of infection. An international research team has now published the results in 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺. 𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 is a mold that is found all over the world. Unlike…
Assorted, distinctive behavior of molten uranium salt revealed by neutrons. The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a world leader in molten salt reactor technology development — and its researchers additionally perform the fundamental science necessary to enable a future where nuclear energy becomes more efficient. In a recent paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers have documented for the first time the unique chemistry dynamics and structure of high-temperature liquid uranium trichloride (UCl3)…
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