A nontoxic glue for plywood—from glucose, citric acid
The go-to materials for building home furniture, décor and floors are composite wood products that come in large sheets. But the glues and resins holding together particleboard, fiberboard and plywood usually contain formaldehyde and could release t.....»»
New study suggests some forms of life could exist in Venus"s sulfuric acid clouds
A team of chemists and planetary scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Nanoplanet Consulting and MIT has found evidence that a form of life that uses sulfuric acid as a liquid medium could exist in some of the clouds covering Venus. The te.....»»
Creating novel amino acid nanoparticles with enhanced anticancer activity
Amino acids, such as tyrosine and tryptophan, are the fundamental building blocks that make up proteins. These biomolecules have different chemical groups on each end and side chain, and so, have the natural ability to form a chain through the format.....»»
Mysterious missing component in the clouds of Venus revealed
What are the clouds of Venus made of? Scientists know it's mainly made of sulfuric acid droplets, with some water, chlorine, and iron. Their concentrations vary with height in the thick and hostile Venusian atmosphere. But until now they have been un.....»»
Tissue-integrated sensitive glucose nanosenor uses inactive glucose oxidase enzyme for continuous monitoring
Monitoring glucose levels is one of the key elements in health monitoring. A research team from the University of California, Berkeley, has now developed a battery-independent fluorescent nanosensor based on single-wall carbon nanotubes and an inacti.....»»
Injection of “smart insulin” regulates blood glucose levels for one week
Tests in animals show the material works like the body's own system. Enlarge / Smart insulin has the potential to make injections far less frequent. (credit: A. Martin UW Photography) People with type I diabetes have to.....»»
As streaming shatters, here’s how Amazon wants to glue it back together with AI
Amazon already has previewed some of what's coming to Fire TV in 2024. But we know that's just a tease of what's likely to come......»»
Big impacts from small changes: Research reveals how filament interactions affect cellular networks
Tiny things matter—for instance, one amino acid can completely alter the architecture of the cell. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Warwick investigated the structure and mechanics of the main component of the cell's cytoskeleton:.....»»
Unimolecular self-assembled hemicyanine-oleic acid conjugate acts to eliminate cancer stem cells: Study
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a rare population of cells in tumor tissues that drive tumorigenesis, recurrence, and metastasis. Therefore, the development of anti-tumor therapies that can eliminate CSCs has significant implications for cancer treatmen.....»»
The evolutionary timeline of diminished boric acid and urea transportation in aquaporin 10
Aquaporin (Aqp) 10 water channels in humans allow the free passage of water, glycerol, urea, and boric acid across cells. However, Aqp10.2b in pufferfish allows only the passage of water and glycerol and not urea and boric acid......»»
GPCR structure: Research reveals molecular origins of function for a key drug target
Through an international collaboration, scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have leveraged data science, pharmacology and structural information to conduct an atomic-level investigation into how each amino acid in the receptor that bi.....»»
Thianthrenium chemistry allows reactivity switch of a nucleophilic amino acid into a versatile intermediate
Chemical diversification of proteins is an important concept in the study of biological processes and the complex structures of the proteins themselves. Researchers from the Max Planck Society have now published their fascinating findings concerning.....»»
Sustainable, more efficient synthesis route of hyaluronic acid polymers for biomedical applications
Hydrogels—polymer networks with high water content—can act as a tissue mimic, providing conditions for a viable culture of embedded cells, with various applications in biomedical engineering such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine......»»
New study explores amino acid that turns into gel in water
Hydrogels, ubiquitous materials in our daily lives, are the focus of scientific research published in Chemistry—A European Journal. Conducted by the SupraBioNanoLab at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering Giulio Natta at.....»»
A novel sandwich-structured composite from biopolymers for building envelope applications
A new sandwich-structured composite has been developed from the surface layers of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and the interlayer of polylactic acid and cellulose microfibers. The biodegradable cellulose microfibers can be modified chemically with a so.....»»
Saturday Citations: Dogs (woolly) and cats (athletic). Plus: Amino acid precursors on Enceladus, beer goggles on Earth
This week, scientists reported on drinking beer, Saturnian expulsions, an ancient North American dog breed, and cats playing dogs' favorite game, fetch......»»
Webb finds icy complex organic molecules around protostars
In the quest to understand how and where life might arise in the galaxy, astronomers search for its building blocks. Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) are some of those blocks, and they include things like formaldehyde and acetic acid, among many othe.....»»
A graphical user interface for analysis and design of protein–peptide interactions
Proteins function through interactions with other proteins or peptides, a complex process that is still not fully understood. Current research focuses on how amino acid residues interact in protein-protein or protein-peptide interactions to establish.....»»
Using machine learning to optimize volatile fatty acid production in riboflavin-mediated sludge fermentation
Waste activated sludge (WAS) is the most yielding byproduct in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs), and its disposal poses secondary pollution that severely threatens the environment. Producing volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from WAS is a prom.....»»
Building blocks for life could have formed near new stars and planets
While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. According to research published in ACS Central Science, the simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have f.....»»
A novel quantification method for ribonucleotides, which are needed in almost all cellular processes
RNA (ribonucleic acid), which is made up of ribonucleotides, is a molecule found in all living organisms. RNA is thought to have probably preceded DNA in primordial life billions of years ago. RNA was eventually replaced by DNA as a chemically more s.....»»