Feature Channels: Chemistry

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Most medicines can’t get through the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly selective membrane that separates the circulatory system from the fluid bathing the brain. Certain peptides in animal venoms, however, can navigate across it to inflict damage. Now, researchers are capitalizing on venomous sneak attacks by developing a strategy based on a bee-venom peptide, apamin, to deliver medications to the brain.

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Antibiotics save lives every day, but there is a downside to their ubiquity. High doses can kill healthy cells along with infection-causing bacteria, while also spurring the creation of “superbugs” that no longer respond to known antibiotics. Now, researchers may have found a natural way to cut down on antibiotic use without sacrificing health: a maple syrup extract that dramatically increases the potency of these medicines.

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Exposure during infancy to the common plasticizer bisphenol A (BPA) “hijacks” and reprograms genes in the liver of newborn rats, leading to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adulthood. A new study has found how this process occurs, and researchers will present the results Saturday at ENDO 2017, the Endocrine Society’s 99th annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

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Some flame retardants used in many home products appear to be associated with the most common type of thyroid cancer, papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), according to a new study being presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s 99th annual meeting, ENDO 2017, in Orlando, Fla.

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Environmental exposure to common pesticides may cause boys to reach sexual maturity earlier, researchers have found. They will present their study results Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s 99th annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

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Producing and distributing hydrogen peroxide is a challenge in many parts of the world. Now scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have created a small device for hydrogen peroxide production that could be powered by renewable energy sources, like conventional solar panels.

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Kristen W. Lynch, PhD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, following eight years as a tenured faculty member in the department.

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A new $1.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health will allow a University of Arkansas chemist to develop mathematical models to improve the reliability and efficiency of computer-aided drug design. The research could reduce the cost of drug discovery and lead to improvements in public health.

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Chemists have designed triple-threat cancer-fighting polymer capsules for guided drug delivery. They combine three traits: good imaging contrast with low-power ultrasound, stable packaging of the cancer drug doxorubicin, and ability to trigger drug release with low- or higher-power ultrasound.

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Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and North Carolina State University report in the journal Nature Communications that they are the first to grow graphene nanoribbons without a metal substrate.

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Scientists have developed a method to track perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in the body. PFAS are potentially toxic chemicals found in stain-resistant products, nonstick cookware, fire-fighting foams and, most recently, fast food wrappers.

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Just one month after major research findings showed dangerous PFAS present in more than one-third of fast food packaging tested, UAB and Notre Dame created a new technique to track PFASs in the body.

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The Electrochemical Society (ECS) is celebrating its 115th anniversary this year by giving the world a preview of what complete open access to peer-reviewed scientific research will look like. ECS will launch the first Free the Science Week, April 3-9, and take down the paywall to the entire ECS Digital Library, making over 132,000 scientific articles and abstracts free and accessible to everyone.

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Nemus Bioscience and the University of Mississippi report significant anti-MRSA synergy data utilizing proprietary cannabinoid-based anti-infective platforms

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With a more accurate understanding of the characteristics and function of the receptor MRGRPX2, University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers were also able to create chemical probe that will allow them study the receptor more precisely.

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In a publication in the journal Nature released today (March 27, 2017), scientists from the Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have solved the structure of an enzyme caught in the act of attacking toluene — a chemical derived from wood and oil.

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Proton therapy is a promising form of radiation treatment used to kill cancerous cells and effectively halt their rapid reproduction, and the fundamental understanding for it is contained in the radiation induced water chemistry that occurs immediately after the interaction. The ensuing processes are therefore a subject of considerable scientific interest. Researchers describe their work exploring this ionization with an experimental setup, with enhanced temporal resolution, in this week’s Applied Physics Letters.

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Results from experiments and computational modeling studies that definitively identify the "active site" of a catalyst commonly used for making methanol from CO2 will guide the design of improved catalysts for transforming this pollutant to useful chemicals.

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The body’s ability to repair DNA damage declines with age, which causes gradual cell demise, overall bodily degeneration and greater susceptibility to cancer.