Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have discovered a new synthetic pathway with which they can produce a specific organic compound from the simple molecule carbon monoxide (CO), namely anionic ketenes. These were previously only known as reactive intermediates, and therefore couldn’t be used as defined reagents. The Bochum-based researchers produced anionic ketenes that were so stable that they could be isolated. Unlike previous methods, which can produce higher-value compounds from simple molecules, this approach doesn’t require any expensive or…
Rechargeable batteries that use ammonium cations as charge carriers could provide ecofriendly and sustainable substitutes to metal-ion-based batteries, researchers at KAUST show. Metal-ion batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, are the go-to energy storage solution. They dominate the market for portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles because of their high energy density and versatility. However, metal ions used in the electrolytes come from limited and declining resources, which threatens long-term availability. Their toxicity and flammability can be unsafe and harmful to…
Despite being intracellular symbionts, some chlamydiae could gain important genes through gene transfer from other bacteria. All chlamydiae today live inside the cells of hosts ranging from amoeba to animals. A team of scientists from the University of Vienna and the Wageningen University & Research found that the ancestor of chlamydiae likely already lived inside host cells, but that chlamydiae infecting amoeba evolved later in ways unexpected for intracellular bacteria. The study published in Nature Microbiology is an important step…
Research discovery will enable the manufacturing of biorenewable materials from trees and corn. A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has invented a groundbreaking new catalyst technology that converts renewable materials like trees and corn to the key chemicals, acrylic acid, and acrylates used in paints, coatings, and superabsorbent polymers. The new catalyst technology is also highly efficient, which means lower costs for manufacturing renewable chemicals. The new catalyst formulation converts lactic acid-based chemicals derived from corn…
… eluding the immune system. Discovery advances possibility of designing drugs against SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus, continues to threaten populations around the world, after killing over 1 million Americans. In recent weeks, XBB.1.5, the most transmissible variant to date, has started to sweep across the country. One aspect of the novel coronavirus that makes it so infectious and challenging to control is its ability to outwit the body’s innate immune defenses. A new study…
… and its relation to photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the greatest natural process converting sunlight into chemical energy on a massive scale and maintaining the life on Earth. There are basically two successive stages of oxygenic photosynthesis, of which the light-dependent reactions in photosystem II (PSII), and in photosystem I (PSI), enable the oxidation of H2O into molecular oxygen, and production of reducing power (NADPH and ATP), while CO2 assimilation is generally known to take place long after oxygen evolution and…
Researchers report that a key transcription factor “Nrf3” regulates the process of melanin production in mouse and human cells. The skin is presumably the largest and one of the most versatile body organs. By providing a physical barrier, it protects our body from environmental assaults. Melanin—a natural pigment produced by specialized skin cells called “melanocytes”—shields our body from the detrimental effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV radiation is responsible for DNA damage, genetic mutations, and can also lead to the…
… for efficient biomass energy production. Scientists discover new regulatory mechanisms in molds, potentially enabling a comprehensive high production method for various enzymes that degrade plant biomass. Filamentous fungi have long been a good friend of sake brewers, but they might soon also be a sidekick for environmentalists. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have revealed the regulatory mechanisms of enzyme production in a filamentous fungus that allows for efficient degradation of plant biomass, an alternative energy resource to petroleum. Filamentous fungi…
Two Dresden Research Institutes want to Reduce the Number of Animal Experiments in Radiopharmaceutical Research with a New Idea. Radioactivity can save lives. When neither chemotherapy or surgery nor radiation from the outside help against a tumor, modern medicine uses so-called radiopharmaceuticals. These radioactive drugs not only detect cancer cells, they also enable targeted radiation from the inside to destroy the tumor. However, before such substances become available for use in humans, extensive animal testing is currently required during their…
Metabolism is inextricably linked to aging: While it helps maintain vital processes, makes us grow, and triggers cellular repairs, it also produces substances that damage our cells and cause us to age. “The metabolic processes that occur within cells are highly complex,” says Prof. Markus Ralser, Director of Charité’s Department of Biochemistry and Einstein Professor of Biochemistry on Charité’s medical faculty. “The exchange of substances between cells in a community is one important factor, because it has a substantial impact on…
Rice lab photochemistry method eases manufacture of drug, chemical precursors. Inexpensive iron salts are a key to simplifying the manufacture of essential precursors for drugs and other chemicals, according to scientists at Rice University. They’ve refined the process of producing diazides, building-block molecules in the production of drugs and agricultural chemicals. Iron salts along with processes called radical ligand transfer and ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) make it affordable and environmentally friendly. Rice synthetic chemist Julian West and co-lead authors Kang-Jie…
… reveals UV radiation played a part in mass extinction events. New research has uncovered that pollen preserved in 250 million year old rocks contain compounds that function like sunscreen, these are produced by plants to protect them from harmful ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation. The findings suggests that a pulse of UV-B played an important part in the end Permian mass extinction event. Scientists from the University of Nottingham, China, Germany and the UK led by Professor Liu Feng from Nanjing…
By identifying a key regulator of cell identity, a team from the UNIGE and the FMI has succeeded in modifying the structure and function of tentacle cells in hydra. Humans, animals, plants: all multicellular organisms are made up of specialized cells called differentiated cells. Thus, the cells that make up the epidermis do not have the same identity – nor the same function – as those that line the digestive system, for example. However, the mechanisms by which these cells…
Component of bacterial immune defense paralyzes infected cells and could advance molecular biology diagnostics. It is an unexpected discovery by scientists at the Helmholtz Institute Würzburg in cooperation with Benson Hill, Inc. (Missouri) and Utah State University in the U.S.: They have found a nuclease, which they dubbed Cas12a2, that represents an entirely new type of CRISPR immune defense. Unlike any other previously known nuclease of the CRISPR-Cas immune system, the source of “gene scissors”, Cas12a2 destroys DNA to shut…
Adding charge acceptors can slow electron transfer in some light-activated materials. Chemists from Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin discovered more isn’t always better when it comes to packing charge-acceptor molecules on the surface of semiconducting nanocrystals. The combination of organic and inorganic components in hybrid nanomaterials can be tailored to capture, detect, convert or control light in unique ways. Interest in these materials is high, and the pace of scientific publication about them has grown more…
Salk researchers find that neural networks responsible for spatial perception change in a nonlinear manner and may have implications for neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Young children sometimes believe that the moon is following them, or that they can reach out and touch it. It appears to be much closer than is proportional to its true distance. As we move about our daily lives, we tend to think that we navigate space in a linear way. But Salk scientists have…
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