Life & Chemistry

Life & Chemistry

Gene Variant Shields African-Americans From Heart Disease Risk

Researchers found that a single DNA variation – having at least one so-called guanine nucleotide in a base pair instead of a combination without any guanine -…

Life & Chemistry

Understanding Plasmons: Energy Packets in Solid Materials

Just as photons are bundles of light energy, plasmons are energy packets of plasma oscillations—oscillations of the electron density in a solid body, which are…

Life & Chemistry

MDC Researchers and Clinical Partners Identify Mediator of Blood Pressure Regulation in the Liver

Now, Dr. Stefan Lechner and Professor Gary R. Lewin of the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) Berlin, Professor Friedrich C. Luft of the Experimental and Clinical…

Life & Chemistry

Spring-Loaded Filaree Seeds: Nature’s Ingenious Launch Mechanism

Even by invading plants' standards, the filaree, or common stork's bill, has been remarkably successful. Introduced into North America in the eighteenth…

Life & Chemistry

Chemists turn gold to purple – on purpose

Professor Richard Watt and his chemistry students suspected that a common protein could potentially react with sunlight and harvest its energy – similar to…

Life & Chemistry

Food-Borne Bacteria Linked to Serious Heart Infection Risk

The study is available online in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.The bacteria Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soft cheeses and chilled…

Life & Chemistry

Phosphate-Free Detergents: New Laws Spark Consumer Debate

C&EN Assistant Managing Editor Michael McCoy described how new laws in 16 states require manufacturers to eliminate phosphates from automatic dishwasher…

Life & Chemistry

Small Particles, Big Impact: Nanoparticles in Odor Control

Their research found that a deodorant made from nanoparticles — hundreds of times smaller than peach fuzz — eliminates odors up to twice as effectively as…

Life & Chemistry

Boosting Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery: New Solubility Method

The process, described in ACS' journal, Langmuir, can make other poorly soluble materials more soluble, and has potential for improving the performance of…

Life & Chemistry

Underwater Dispersants in Deepwater Horizon: First Findings

However, it was not possible to determine if the first deep ocean use of oil dispersants worked as planned in breaking up and dissipating the oil. Their study,…

Life & Chemistry

Discovery of a biochemical basis for broccoli's cancer-fighting ability

They found for the first time that certain substances in the vegetables appear to target and block a defective gene associated with cancer. Their report, which…

Life & Chemistry

Membrane molecule keeps nerve impulses hopping

Our hard-wired nerve fibers or axons rely on an insulating membrane sheath, the myelin, made up of fatty white matter to accelerate the rate of transmission of…

Life & Chemistry

Dormant Microbes: Impact on Biodiversity and Greenhouse Gases

Dormant microbes are less like zombies and more like hibernating bears. What isn’t known, however, is how large numbers of dormant microorganisms affect the…

Life & Chemistry

Discovery of “probiotic transporters” unlocks secrets of infection-preventive bifidobacteria

Published in this week’s issue of Nature, the finding provides first-ever clues on the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of gut microbiota,…

Life & Chemistry

Researchers Draft "Genetic Road Map" of Biofuels Crop

The study already has produced the “transcriptome” of the species, said plant geneticist Jose Gonzalez of South Dakota State University. He said the…

Life & Chemistry

How Adaptation Drives Evolution in Changing Environments

Some individuals are better adapted to a given environment than others, making them more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations. But…

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