Researchers have developed a metallic gel that is highly electrically conductive and can be used to print three-dimensional (3D) solid objects at room temperature. “3D printing has revolutionized manufacturing, but we’re not aware of previous technologies that allowed you to print 3D metal objects at room temperature in a single step,” says Michael Dickey, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. “This…
How a molecular switch controls lipid metabolism. Our body’s fat metabolism plays a vital role in energy production in our body. A research team at the University of Basel, has discovered a molecular switch that regulates lipid metabolism in our cells. This switch controls the storage or conversion of lipids into energy. All organisms need energy to live. We get energy from various components of our food. Our body uses a part of this energy directly and stores the rest….
HITS researchers publish new findings on collagen, the most abundant protein in our body: So-called “sacrificial bonds” in collagen break faster than the basic structure and thus protect the tissue as a whole because they track down harmful radicals that are produced during mechanical stress. The work was published in “Nature Communications.” One of the more unusual ways objects can increase longevity is by sacrificing a part of themselves: From dummy burial chambers used to deceive tomb raiders, to a…
… by capturing cancer DNA using nanowires. A group led by researchers at Nagoya University in Japan has developed a technology to capture and release cell-free DNA (cfDNA) on nanowire surfaces from urine. By extracting this DNA, they were able to successfully detect IDH1 mutation, a characteristic genetic mutation of gliomas, a type of brain tumor. Their findings increase the effectiveness of cancer detection tests using urine. They published their results in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics. Brain tumors are…
Tubulin is a protein that plays a crucial role in the structure and function of cells. It is the main component of microtubules, which are long, hollow fibers that provide structural support, help the cell divide, give it its shape, and act as tracks for moving molecular cargo around inside the cell. There are two types of tubulin: alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin. Together, they form dimeric (two-part) building blocks, spontaneously assembling into microtubules that undergo further continuous cycles of assembly and…
Since the mid-1600s, chemists have been fascinated with brightly colored, coral-like structures that form by mixing metal salts in a small bottle. Until now, researchers have been unable to model how these deceptively simple tubular structures —called chemical gardens — work and the patterns and rules that govern their formation. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Florida State University researchers lay out a model that explains how these structures grow upward,…
How the motion of DNA controls gene activity. Despite being densely packed to fit into the nucleus, chromosomes storing our genetic information are always in motion. This allows specific regions to come into contact and thereby activate a gene. A group of scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Princeton University, and the Institut Pasteur in Paris now visualized this dynamic process and give novel insights into the physical characteristics of DNA. Performing cutting-edge science requires thinking…
UC Riverside-led study could have applications in sensing and anti-counterfeit technology. Some molecules exist in two forms such that their structures and their mirror images are not superimposable, like our left and right hands. Called chirality, it is a property these molecules have due to their asymmetry. Chiral molecules tend to be optically active because of how they interact with light. Oftentimes, only one form of a chiral molecule exists in nature, for example, DNA. Interestingly, if a chiral molecule…
The genetic plans within our DNA come to functional fruition through proteins, which underlie our bodies’ structure and activity. Yet, the proteome – all the proteins within a cell or given area – remains relatively mysterious because protein landscapes are incredibly complex. Humans, for example, make tens of thousands of different proteins. To help decipher this complexity, a team of Stanford University researchers has led the development of a new method, called TransitID, for tracking the complete activity of proteins…
…to accelerate development of new antivirals and drug discovery. This breakthrough has the potential to get drugs to people faster in the next crisis and bring treatments for urgent, life-threatening illnesses within reach. In a new study, researchers from IBM, Oxford University and Diamond Light Source show that IBM’s AI Model, MoLFormer, can generate antiviral molecules for multiple target virus proteins, including SARS-CoV-2, that can accelerate the drug discovery process.. The results, are laid out in a new paper in Science Advances, and…
With a flick of a switch, current technologies allow you to quickly change materials from being dark to light, or cold to hot, just by blocking or transmitting specific wavelengths. But now, inspired by squid skin, researchers in ACS Nano report a soft film that can regulate its transparency across a large range of wavelengths — visible, infrared and microwave — simultaneously. They demonstrated the material in smart windows and in health monitoring and temperature management applications. Unique to the…
Simple molecular liquids such as water or glycerol are of great importance for technical applications, in biology or even for understanding properties in the liquid state. Researchers at the MPSD have now succeeded in observing liquid glycerol in a completely unexpected rubbery state. Writing in PNAS, they report how they created rapidly expanding bubbles on the surface of the liquid in vacuum using a pulsed laser. However, the thin, micrometers-thick liquid envelope of the bubble did not behave like a…
To adapt to perceived changes in our environment, the brain constantly updates the activity of neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex, a region involved in attention, anticipation, and decision-making. But until now, researchers did not know what mechanisms were responsible for these modifications – which are essential to rodents, primates, and humans if they are to survive. “By studying this fascinating ability, we have found a specific type of neuronal connection in the prefrontal cortex, which helps to update our…
New mass spectrometry combo offers promise for tapping nature’s unknown chemical universe. The universe is awash in billions of possible chemicals. But even with a bevy of high-tech instruments, scientists have determined the chemical structures of just a small fraction of those compounds, maybe 1 percent. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are taking aim at the other 99 percent, creating new ways to learn more about a vast sea of unknown compounds. There may…
The demonstration has implications for drug delivery and bioprinting, according to scientists. Acoustic waves may be able to control how particles sort themselves. While researchers have been able to separate particles based on their shape — for example, bacteria from other cells — for years, the ability to control their movement has remained a largely unsolved problem, until now. Using ultrasound technology and a nozzle, Penn State researchers have separated, controlled and ejected different particles based on their shape and…
Diet found to affect learning in older nematodes. A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered that when the diet of nematodes, tiny worms measuring about a millimeter or less in length, includes the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri, the weakening of associative learning ability caused by aging does not occur. These results may suggest ways to use diet to reduce age-related cognitive decline in other animals, including humans. Their findings were published in the journal eLife. “This research is significant…
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