Feature Channels: Chemistry

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Injuries, birth defects or surgery to remove a tumor can create large gaps in bone. And when they occur in the head, face or jaw, these defects can dramatically alter a person’s appearance. Researchers will report at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society that they have developed a “self-fitting” material that expands with warm salt water to precisely fill bone defects, and also acts as a scaffold for bone growth.

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In the future, working up a sweat by exercising may not only be good for your health, but it could also power your small electronic devices. Researchers will report today at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society that they have designed a sensor in the form of a temporary tattoo that can both monitor a person’s progress during exercise and produce power from their perspiration.

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A new technique transforming stinky, air-polluting landfill gas could produce the sweet smell of success as it leads to development of a fuel cell generating clean electricity for homes, offices and hospitals, researchers say. The advance would convert methane gas into hydrogen, an efficient, clean form of energy. Their report was part of the 248th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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A new ultra-sensitive, low-cost and portable system for detecting mercury in environmental water has been developed by University of Adelaide researchers.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and their collaborators have found that ancient enzymes, known for their fundamental role in translating genetic information into proteins, evolved myriad other functions in humans.

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University entomologist finds insecticide company can use smaller amount of chemical to treat bedbug infestations, which have been increasing in the United States.

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Anyone who has squashed a stink bug knows why they got their name. Although just a nuisance to homeowners, the insects feed on and damage fruits and vegetables, causing significant economic losses for farmers. Now scientists report in ACS’ Journal of Natural Products that they’ve discovered certain stink bug pheromone components and made them artificially in the lab for the first time, and these substances can be used to monitor and manage their populations.

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Using spider toxins to study the proteins that let nerve cells send out electrical signals, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have stumbled upon a biological tactic that may offer a new way to protect crops from insect plagues in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

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In a new study led by UC San Francisco (UCSF) scientists, a chemical compound designed to precisely target part of a crucial cellular quality-control network provided significant protection, in rats and mice, against degenerative forms of blindness and diabetes.

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A special hands-on outreach program for children and their families exploring everyday chemistry and two symposia on energy (one on hydraulic fracturing and one on solar fuels) are among the presidential events at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS’) 248th National Meeting & Exposition next month. The gathering of the world’s largest scientific society will be held in San Francisco August 10-14.

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An international team, led by Arizona State University scientists, has published today in Nature a groundbreaking study that shows the first snapshots of photosynthesis in action as it splits water into protons, electrons and oxygen, the process that maintains Earth’s oxygen atmosphere.

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In an era of increasing concern antibiotic-resistant illness, Case Western Reserve researchers have identified a new pathway to disabling disease: blocking bacteria’s access to iron. The scientists showed how bacterial siderophore captures iron from two supply sources to fan bacterial growth and how the body launches a chemical counterassault.

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Journalists registering for the American Chemical Society’s (ACS’) 248th National Meeting & Exposition this summer will have an abundance of material to mine for their news stories. Nearly 12,000 presentations are planned on a broad range of topics from health to the environment. The meeting, one of the largest scientific conferences of the year, will be held August 10-14 in San Francisco.

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Researchers have spotted a strong family trait in two distant relatives: The channels that permit entry of sodium and calcium ions into cells share similar means for regulating ion intake. The new evidence is likely to aid development of drugs for channel-linked diseases ranging from epilepsy to heart ailments to muscle weakness.

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Bacteria love to colonize surfaces inside your body, but they have a hard time getting past your skin. Surgeries to implant medical devices give such bacteria the opportunity needed to gain entry into the body cavity, allowing the implants themselves to act then as an ideal growing surface for biofilms. Researchers are looking to combat these dangerous sub-dermal infections by upgrading your new hip or kneecap in a fashion appreciated since ancient times – adding gold.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a widely distributed group of marine bacteria that produce compounds nearly identical to toxic man-made fire retardants.

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Scientists have found how the electric fish evolved its jolt. Writing June 27, 2014 in the journal Science, a team of researchers led by Michael Sussman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harold Zakon of the University of Texas at Austin and Manoj Samanta of the Systemix Institute in Redmond, Washington identifies the regulatory molecules involved in the genetic and developmental pathways that electric fish have used to convert a simple muscle into an organ capable of generating a potent electrical field.

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Green-chemistry researchers at McGill University have discovered a way to use water as a solvent in one of the reactions most widely used to synthesize chemical products and pharmaceuticals.

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Stanley Miller, the chemist whose landmark experiment published in 1953 showed how some of the molecules of life could have formed on a young Earth, left behind boxes of experimental samples that he never analyzed. The first-ever analysis of some of Miller’s old samples has revealed another way that important molecules could have formed on early Earth.

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Saint Louis University researchers describe two discoveries: a molecular pathway by which a painful chemotherapy side effect happens and a drug that may be able to stop it.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan have obtained the first three-dimensional snapshots of the "assembly line" within microorganisms that naturally produces antibiotics and other drugs.

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By swapping replacement parts into the backbone of a synthetic hormone, UW–Madison graduate student Ross Cheloha and his mentor, Sam Gellman, along with collaborators at Harvard Medical School, have built a version of a parathyroid hormone that resists degradation in laboratory mice. As a result, the altered hormone can stay around longer — and at much higher concentration, says Gellman, professor of chemistry at the UW.

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Using a zebrafish model, investigators have identified a drug compound that appears to reverse arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, a hereditary disease and leading cause of sudden death in young people.

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Twenty-seven chemical elements are considered to be essential for human life. Now there is a 28th – bromine. In a paper published Thursday by the journal Cell, Vanderbilt University researchers establish for the first time that bromine, among the 92 naturally-occurring chemical elements in the universe, is the 28th element essential for tissue development in all animals, from primitive sea creatures to humans.

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A clearer understanding of how mussels stick to surfaces could lead to new classes of adhesives that will work underwater and even inside the body.

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Studying mice, researchers have found a way to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Blocking a path that delivers dietary fructose to the liver prevented mice from developing the condition, according to investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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Like exploring the inner workings of a clock, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers is digging into the inner workings of the tiny cellular machines called spliceosomes, which help make all of the proteins our bodies need to function. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, UW-Madison’s David Brow, Samuel Butcher and colleagues have captured images of this machine, revealing details never seen before.

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A team of international scientists led by Professor Jagadese J Vittal of the Department of Chemistry at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Science has successfully unraveled the chemical reaction responsible for propelling microscopic crystals to leap distances up to hundreds of times their own size when they are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light.

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A compound in saliva, along with common proteins in blood and muscle, may protect human cells from powerful toxins in tea, coffee and liquid smoke flavoring, according to results of a new study led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

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Bacteria that naturally live in the soil have a vast collection of genes to fight off antibiotics, but they are much less likely to share these genes, a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has revealed

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Researchers at the University of Montreal have developed an improved chemical analysis method that is more efficient and faster in detecting counterfeit medicines, which have skyrocketed in recent years.

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This story uses reader-friendly language to summarize a finding being presented May 19, 2014 at a scientific conference.

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Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have identified a heart-specific form of a protein, BIN1, responsible for sculpting tiny folds in pockets that are present on the surface of heart muscle cells. The study provides the first direct evidence of a previously theoretical “fuzzy space” or “slow diffusion zone” that protects against irregular heartbeats by maintaining an ideal concentration of electrochemical molecules.

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New preclinical research on the molecular mechanisms responsible for sickle cell disease could aid efforts to develop much needed treatments for this devastating blood disorder that affects millions worldwide.

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In November 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered the company 23andMe to stop offering its direct-to-consumer DNA testing service, which provided individuals with $99 assessments of their genetic risk for almost 200 disorders. A thought-stimulating opinion piece published in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, now examines whether this move by FDA is a violation of the First Amendment, or a necessary step to protect consumers.

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1) Reducing soot. 2) Hydropower. 3) Understanding driver behavior. 4) A performance record in high-temperature superconducting wires.

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A group of McMaster researchers has solved the problem of cumbersome, painfully slow water-testing by turning the process upside-down. They have created a way to take the lab to the water, putting potentially life-saving technology into a tiny pill.

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Researchers have developed a new and unconventional battery chemistry aimed at producing batteries that last longer than previously thought possible.

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A fuel cell catalyst that converts hydrogen into electricity must tear open a hydrogen molecule. Now researchers have captured a view of such a catalyst holding onto the two halves of its hydrogen feast, provides insight into how to make the catalyst work better.

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Virginia Tech chemical engineer Chang Lu and his colleagues have used a National Science Foundation grant to develop a technique to detect subcellular location of a protein.

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Understanding the chemistry of streams at a finer scale could help to identify factors impairing water quality and help protect aquatic ecosystems.

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Building antibiotic compounds at the molecular level requires precision and specialized tools. NC State research may turn an enzyme that acts as a specialized “wrench” in antibiotic assembly into a set of wrenches that will allow for greater customization.

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Though the 11 most popular hospital urine pregnancy tests perform well in the first month after conception, a new study published in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, reveals the alarming statistic that nine of these tests become significantly more likely to produce false-negative results after the 5th to 7th week of pregnancy.

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Tweaking a specific cell type’s ability to absorb potassium in the brain improved walking and prolonged survival in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, reports a UCLA study in Nature Neuroscience. The discovery could point to new drug targets for treating the devastating disease, which strikes one in every 20,000 Americans.

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Despite the popular conception of giant pandas as continually chomping on bamboo, new research from the Monell Center reveals that this highly endangered species also has a sweet tooth. Behavioral and molecular genetic studies demonstrate that the panda possesses functional sweet taste receptors and shows a strong preference for natural sweeteners.

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Carbs come in a dizzying variety of sizes and shapes, and due to this diversity, researchers can use them to create a broad range of drugs—including some that can address the complications of diabetes. Boston Therapeutics’ compound BTI20 is a new compound designed to keep blood sugar after eating from spiking and could prevent or at least delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

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Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel.

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By shifting evolution into reverse, it may be possible to use “green chemistry” to make a number of costly synthetic drugs as easily and cheaply as brewing beer.

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Press Conference Schedule for the 247th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, March 16-20, 2014.