Scientists from the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University have created a new technology to assemble matter in 3D. Their concept uses multiple acoustic holograms to generate pressure fields with which solid particles, gel beads and even biological cells can be printed. These results pave the way for novel 3D cell culture techniques with applications in biomedical engineering. The…

Hydrogen spillover depicts the dynamic migration of surface adsorbed hydrogen species from hydrogen-rich sites to hydrogen-poor sites. It plays an important role in many H-involving reaction processes. In order to enhance the catalytic performance of H-involving reactions, it is important to understand the detailed mechanism of hydrogen spillover, and uncover how hydrogen transfers and what factors control hydrogen conductivity on solid surface. Recently, a research team led by Prof. MU Rentao and Prof. FU Qiang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP)…

Heidelberg chemists study manganese, lutetium, and actinium compounds for potential applications in medicine. Tailor-made chemical complexes of certain elements from the group of metals could be suitable for use in a special way in medical imaging as well as potential applications in personalised precision medicine. This has been demonstrated by a research team led by Prof. Dr Peter Comba at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of Heidelberg University. In their basic research, the Heidelberg scientists worked with manganese, lutetium, and…

Study could help the 4.8 million people in the UK with diabetes. A new way to reduce progression of diabetic kidney disease, affecting 40% of people with diabetes, has been discovered by scientists. The University of Bristol-led study published today [7 February] in JCI Insight, could help the 4.8 million people in the UK with diabetes who are four times more likely to need either dialysis or a kidney transplant. Recent clinical trials show a commonly used blood pressure medicine,…

Gases from phytoplankton in the ocean help form dense clouds that reflect sunlight. The teeming life in the Southern Ocean, which encircles Antarctica, contributes to brightening the clouds that form there, according to a study published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The clouds are bright because of their high density of water droplets, due in turn to a chain of atmospheric processes that eventually connects back to the Southern Ocean’s extraordinary phytoplankton productivity. The study helps us better understand the…

… understanding the mechanisms of underwater turning maneuvers in penguins. Penguins constitute a fascinating family of flightless birds that, although somewhat clumsy on land, are extremely talented swimmers. Their incredible maneuverability in water has captivated biologists for decades, with the first hydrodynamic studies on their swimming dating back to the 1970s. Although a rare few studies have clarified some of the physics behind penguins’ dexterity, most of them have focused on forward swimming rather than turning. While one may argue…

…with triple elementalization. In recent years, organic chemicals containing boron (B) and silicon (Si) have found applications in various fields, including optoelectronics and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, they can also serve as building blocks for complex organic chemicals. As a result, scientists are actively looking for new ways to leverage these versatile chemical tools as well as produce more kinds of organosilicon and organoboron compounds. One limitation of the synthesis methods currently available for these chemicals is that we cannot introduce multiple…

Approximately 300 million people are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), which can cause liver cirrhosis or cancer. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the development of HBV curative therapies. Due to the unique replication strategy of HBV, however, quantification of viral DNA in infected liver cells, which is essential in preclinical and clinical studies, is technically difficult and not standardised. An international research consortium led by DZIF scientists has now developed recommendations for the optimisation, control…

Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry sheds light on the biosynthesis of pungency. How do plants make those pungent substances, anyway? The Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) is working intensively on this topic. Recently, a group of scientists led by Dr. Thomas Vogt have pinpointed the crucial enzyme that gives the fruits of the pepper plant (lat. Piper nigrum) the distinctive, pungent taste. The enzyme in question, piperine synthase, catalyzes the final step towards biosynthesizing pungent piperine. Now the biochemists…

Two catalysts working in tandem enable inexpensive formate salts to perform difficult dearomative reactions, giving products potentially useful for drug development. Researchers at the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD) have developed a method that uses cooperating catalysts to carry out challenging dearomative carboxylation reactions. In this process, highly reactive carbon dioxide (CO2) radical anions are derived from inexpensive formate salts and used to produce a variety of products, including α-amino acids, which are potentially useful in drug…

The harmonious coexistence between the human society and the nature has prompted the rapid development of advanced manufacturing. Typically, green biomanufacturing, which uses renewable resources as raw materials and enzymes or microorganisms as catalysts to produce target chemicals, has been considered to be highly consistent with The Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry. Specifically, enzyme-based green biomanufacturing has been extensively applied for many industrial fields such as food, pharmaceutical, chemicals, etc. Reduction reactions are most commonly employed in enzyme-based biomanufacturing processes….

It’s been over 20 years since neuroimaging studies – using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a widely-used technology to capture live videos of brain activity – have been detecting brain-wide complex patterns of correlated brain activity that appear disrupted in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. These patterns form spontaneously, even at rest when no particular task is being performed, and have been detected not only in humans but also across mammals, including monkeys and rodents. Although such…

University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers show how Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and Epstein-Barr virus hijack a human protein to help the viruses evade innate immune detection to spread undeterred. The viruses Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have been linked to several cancers. For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists have discovered that these viruses use a human protein called barrier-to-autointegration factor 1, or BAF, to evade our innate immune response, allowing the viruses…

… enables rapid organic synthesis under sunlight. A research group led by Prof. WU Kaifeng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has reported the efficient near-infrared photon upconversion sensitized by lead-free semiconductor nanocrystals, and demonstrated its novel application in solar synthesis. The study was published in Nature Photonics on Feb. 6. Upconversion of near-infrared photons to visible photons can boost the performance of photovoltaics, photoredox-catalysis and phototheranostics. Sensitized triplet-fusion is a promising means…

Keanu Reeves – the molecule… Bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas produce a strong antimicrobial natural product, as researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) have discovered. They proved that the substance is effective against both plant fungal diseases and human-pathogenic fungi. The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The newly discovered natural product group of keanumycins in bacteria works effectively against the plant pest Botrytis cinerea, which triggers grey…

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have used a new device to identify a key membrane protein in urine that indicates whether the patient has a brain tumor. Their protein could be used to detect brain cancer, avoiding the need for invasive tests, and increasing the likelihood of tumors being detected early enough for surgery. This research could also have potential implications for detecting other types of cancer. The research was published in ACS Nano. Although early detection of many…