– no desalination required. Researchers have developed a cheaper and more energy-efficient way to make hydrogen directly from seawater, in a critical step towards a truly viable green hydrogen industry. The new method from RMIT University researchers splits the seawater directly into hydrogen and oxygen – skipping the need for desalination and its associated cost, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Hydrogen has long been touted as a clean future fuel and a potential solution to critical energy challenges, especially for…

Control of specific gene-expression pathways could spur better treatment of many diseases. Rice University scientists have enlisted widely used cancer therapy systems to control gene expression in mammalian cells, a feat of synthetic biology that could change how diseases are treated. The lab of chemical and biomolecular engineer Xue Sherry Gao discovered a way to further tap the therapeutic potential of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), small molecules that are used as effective tools for treating cancer, immune disorders, viral infections and neurodegenerative diseases. Gao…

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have removed a major roadblock to better understanding of mpox (formerly, monkeypox). They developed a mouse model of the disease and used it to demonstrate clear differences in virulence among the major genetic groups (clades) of mpox virus (MPXV). The research, appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, was led by Bernard Moss, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Genetic Engineering…

The atomic structure of solid substances can often be analysed quickly, easily and very precisely using X-rays. However, this requires that crystals of the corresponding substances exist. Chemist Professor Oliver Oeckler from Leipzig University and his team are developing methods to make this possible even for very small crystals that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These include phosphorus oxide nitrides, which consist of phosphorus, nitrogen and oxygen and do not occur in nature. Unusual properties are attributed to…

N-Heterocyclic compounds are central active ingredients of many drugs and at the same time important building blocks of new organic materials for the energy transition. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth, led by Prof. Dr. Rhett Kempe, now present in “Nature Communications” a concept for the rational design of new classes of substances belonging to the group of N-heterocyclic compounds. At the same time, they present two new classes of substances synthesized on the basis of this concept. Today, innovations…

… made with 3D printer! Micro-pattern printing even on curved non-conductors without applying voltage. Dr. Seol Seung-Kwon’s Smart 3D Printing Research Team at KERI and Professor Lim-Doo Jeong’s team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) developed core technology for smart contact lenses that can implement augmented reality (AR)-based navigation, with a 3D printing process. A smart contact lens is a product attached to the human eye like a normal lens and provides various information. Research on the…

… for spinal cord injury repair. In a recent study published in Science Advances, a research team led by Profs. DAI Jianwu and ZHAO Yannan at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated a strategy for covalent conjugation between biomaterials and cells to construct spinal cord-like tissue with drug-guiding function for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. SCI repair is one of the world’s most challenging medical problems. Engineered spinal cord-like implants based on stem…

The sensor sends out its location as it moves through the GI tract, revealing where slowdowns in digestion may occur. Engineers at MIT and Caltech have demonstrated an ingestible sensor whose location can be monitored as it moves through the digestive tract, an advance that could help doctors more easily diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders such as constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and gastroparesis. The tiny sensor works by detecting a magnetic field produced by an electromagnetic coil located outside the body….

Researchers document the animal communities of a rare habitat. Santa Barbara Channel’s natural oil seeps are a beach-goer’s bane, flecking the shores with blobs of tar. But the leaking petroleum also creates fascinating geologic and biologic features. About 10 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, several jet-black mounds interrupt the featureless sea floor. These asphalt volcanoes, virtually unique in the world, provide a rare habitat in a region known for its underwater biodiversity. Marine scientists have compiled the first…

In epilepsy research, it has long been assumed that a leaky blood-brain barrier is a cause of inflammation in the brain. Using a novel method, researchers from Bonn University Hospital (UKB) and the University of Bonn have demonstrated that the barrier between the blood and the central nervous system remains largely intact. The approach of their study provides important insights into the development of epilepsy and could significantly optimize drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. The study results have recently…

Bound for the landfill, agricultural waste contains carbon sources that can be used to produce high-value compounds, such as p-coumaric acid, which is used in manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Electrodeionization, a separation method that uses ion-exchange membranes, is one way to capture the acids and other useful components. However, to capture large quantities at scale, improvements to the method must be made. A Penn State-led research team has invented a new class of ion-exchange membrane wafer assemblies that significantly improves electrodeionizaton’s ability…

Thanks to artificial intelligence: Engineering novel molecules and materials with specific properties can yield significant advances for industrial processes, drug discovery and optoelectronics. However, the search for novel molecules and materials is comparable to looking for a needle in a haystack, since the number of molecules in chemical space is of the unimaginable order of 10 to the power of 60. That is significantly more molecules than there are stars in the known universe. Scientists at Leipzig University and the…

Only one in 100,000 people suffer from a pheochromocytoma, a tumor of the adrenal gland. If the tumor has already metastasized, a radioactive compound can be used to detect malignant cells that have spread to other parts of the body, and to irradiate them from the inside. However, the preparation containing the beta emitter Lutetium-177 can only bind to the tumor if it has sufficient target molecules, which is not always the case. By administering two approved drugs prior to…

Heidelberg researchers investigate the earliest steps of ribosome development. Ribosomes are the nanomachines of the cell whose task is the correct synthesis of proteins. Researchers at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center are studying the emergence of these “protein factories”, also known as ribosomes. Led by Prof. Dr Ed Hurt, they have decoded the special role of a heretofore unexplored biogenesis factor in the maturation of precursor ribosomes. The research results, obtained in close cooperation with colleagues of Ludwig Maximilian University…

A research team from Saarbrücken develops a novel lung cell line for testing drugs. Before new drugs can be tested in animal experiments and later in clinical trials, they must undergo a large number of laboratory tests. This involves the use of so-called cell lines, i.e. human or animal cells of a specific tissue that can be cultivated in the laboratory. A team led by Prof Claus-Michael Lehr of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now developed…

The new method enables faster and easier reading of RNA modifications which can be applied to clinical samples, the study of plant RNA, or understanding their role in diseases. A team of researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a software method that accurately predicts chemical modifications of RNA[1] molecules from genomic data. Their method, called m6Anet, was published in Nature Methods on 10 November 2022. Within the…