Feature Channels: Chemistry

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January 2018 issue of SOT journal honors the publication's 20-year history and features the newest, groundbreaking research in toxicology.

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Using Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source, researchers analyzed how organic solar cells’ crystal structures develop as they are produced under different conditions. With the APS, researchers learned how certain additives affect the microstructures obtained, providing new insights that can improve the cells’ efficiency.

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Methane in shale gas can be turned into hydrocarbon fuels using an innovative platinum and copper alloy catalyst, according to new research led by UCL (University College London) and Tufts University.

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Following the chemistry, scientists develop fascinating new theory for how life on Earth may have begun.

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Specific compounds are transformed by and strongly associated with specific bacteria in native biological soil crust (biocrust) using a suite of tools called “exometabolomics.” Understanding how microbial communities in biocrusts adapt to harsh environments could shed light on the roles of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle.

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have identified rare genetic variations in a protein called Thorase, which is responsible for breaking down receptors at the connections between neurons in the brain.

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Researchers at the University of Georgia have now shown that the enzyme that makes the El Tor family of V. cholerae resistant to those antibiotics has a different mechanism of action from any comparable proteins observed in bacteria so far. Understanding that mechanism better equips researchers to overcome the challenge it presents in a world with increasing antibiotic resistance. The results of this research are published in the Dec. 22, 2017 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

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For the more than 1 million Americans who live with type 1 diabetes, daily insulin injections are literally a matter of life and death. And while there is no cure, a Cornell University-led research team has developed a device that could revolutionize management of the disease.

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A first-of-its-kind study published in the Pain Management issue of AACC’s The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine shows that a new drug testing approach dramatically improves detection of illicit benzodiazepine use. This could help to curb abuse of these drugs, which are second only to opioids as a cause of prescription drug overdose deaths in the U.S.

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Innovative research published in the Obesity issue of AACC’s journal, Clinical Chemistry, demonstrates that people are at greater risk for obesity if they produce higher than normal levels of insulin after eating processed carbohydrates. These findings support the still controversial theory that refined carbs are driving the obesity epidemic.

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Laboratory medicine experts are using genomics, metabolomics, and other cutting-edge clinical testing methods to advance the understanding of obesity. A special issue of AACC’s journal Clinical Chemistry, “Obesity: Innovative Approaches to Overcome Obstacles,” highlights the latest innovations in the field that could lead to more effective public health policies to curb this epidemic.

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Millions of Asian families use cookstoves and often fuel them with cheap biofuels to prepare food. But the smoke emitted from these cookstoves has a definite, detrimental environmental impact, particularly in India. New research from Washington University in St. Louis offers a clearer picture of the topic’s true scope.

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As medicine and pharmacology investigate nanoscale processes, it has become increasingly important to identify and characterize different molecules. Raman spectroscopy, which leverages the scattering of laser light to identify molecules, has a limited capacity to detect molecules in diluted samples because of low signal yield, but researchers in India have improved molecular detection at low concentration levels by arranging silver nanoparticles on silicon nanowires. They describe their work in this week’s Journal of Applied Physics.

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So far, the search for catalysts even better than transition metals has been largely based on trial and error, and on the assumption that catalyzed reactions take place on step edges and other atomic defect sites of the metal crystals. An international research team has combined experiments using advanced infrared techniques with quantum theory to explore methane dissociation reactions in minute detail. They report their findings this week in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

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Mount Sinai researchers have discovered a new drug combination that could provide the first targeted therapy for some of the deadliest cancers, as well as molecular predictors of tumor response to the therapy, according to a study published in Cell Reports in January.

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Research shows that missense mutations in a cluster of just five codons in the NF1 gene are an important risk factor for severe symptoms of the genetic disease neurofibromatosis type 1. Such information is vital to help guide clinical management and genetic counseling in this complex disease.

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When viruses infect the body’s cells, those cells face a difficult problem. How can they destroy viruses without harming themselves? Scientists at University of Utah Health have found an answer by visualizing a tiny cellular machine that chops the viruses’ genetic material into bits.

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Every day, every inch of skin on your body comes into contact with thousands of molecules — from food, cosmetics, sweat, the microbes that call your skin home. Now researchers can create interactive 3D maps that show where each molecule lingers on your body, thanks to a new method developed by University of California San Diego and European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) researchers.

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The findings point the way to targeting diseases where this protein is mutated.