Tag: Chemistry

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technique to observe how radiation damages molecules over time-frames of just one quadrillionth of a second — or a femtosecond. The technique involves dissolving organic molecules in water to simulate the state molecules are found in biological tissue. This allows the research team to

Cells are incredibly adept at creating complex molecules, like therapeutics, and can do so much better than many of our best factories. Synthetic biologists look to re-engineer cells to make these molecules for specific needs, including pharmaceuticals and energy applications. But the trial-and-error process is difficult and time-consuming, and often competes with the cell’s other

Love can make us do crazy things. It often prompts us to behave in counterintuitive ways, like, for example, placing the wellbeing of our loved ones above our own. But why? Such altruism has perplexed and intrigued scientists for centuries. A new study out of UC Santa Barbara explores how an individual’s genetics and brain

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created the largest publicly available virtual library of macrolide scaffolds. The library — called V1M — contains chemical structures and computed properties for 1 million macrolide scaffolds with potential for use as antibiotics or cancer drugs. “As chemists, we’re only able to look at a tiny portion of

As e-cigarette use expands among teens in the U.S., so have vaping menus, with manufacturers marketing nicotine-infused liquids that taste like crème brûlée, cotton candy and mango smoothies. The sweet flavors’ appeal to teens is a major concern for Food and Drug Administration officials, who recently declared teen vaping an epidemic. New research from Duke

Scientists have used light patterns to control the swimming speed of bacteria and direct them to form different shapes, according to a new study in the journal eLife. Controlling bacteria in this way means it could be possible to use them as microbricks for building the next generation of microscopic devices. For example, they could

When it comes to certain molecules, shape makes all the difference. The shape of limonene, for instance, a compound produced by citrus fruits, determines whether it tastes like orange juice or turpentine. In the case of therapeutics, the 3D shape of a molecule can be critical to activity. Now, scientists at Scripps Research and Bristol-Myers

Many people view the Tibetan Plateau, or “Roof of the World,” as a pristine alpine environment, largely untouched by pollution. But researchers, reporting in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology, have now shown that traditional Tibetan medicine (TTM) exposes people and the environment to high levels of mercury and methylmercury. Used by Tibetans for more

When Navy SEALs carry out dives in Arctic waters, or when rescue teams are diving under ice-covered rivers or ponds, the survival time even in the best wetsuits is very limited — as little as tens of minutes, and the experience can be extremely painful at best. Finding ways of extending that survival time without

As many as one in three women treated for breast cancer undergo unnecessary procedures, but a new method for diagnosing it could do a better job distinguishing between benign and aggressive tumors. Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing a pill that makes tumors light up when exposed to infrared light, and they have

Kyoto University scientists are one step closer to designing porous materials that can change and retain their shapes — a function known as shape-memory effect. Shape-memory materials have applications in many fields. For example, they could be implanted in the body and then induced to change shape for a specific function, such as serving as

Probably the last place anyone would want to find airborne polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) is in the kitchen, yet that’s exactly where scientists detected their presence, according to a new report in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology. They say that the PCBs, which are widely considered carcinogenic, are unwanted byproducts of sealant breakdown in