Chemistry News

Researchers discover architecture for fundamental processes of life (5/15/2008)

A team of Canadian researchers has completed a massive survey of the network of protein complexes that orchestrate the fundamental processes of life ...> Full Article

Beyond Nutrition - Plants Deliver: Biofuels, Medicines, Bioplastics, Flavours, Pigments (5/14/2008)

The need for a renewable and affordable source of carbon that can sustain future economic development without negatively impacting the environment is now widely recognised. It is also apparent that the increasingly high demand for fossil carbon will eventually deplete existing stocks. ...> Full Article

Magnet Lab Researchers Make Observing Cell Functions Easier (5/13/2008)

Now that the genome (DNA) of humans and many other organisms have been sequenced, biologists are turning their attention to discovering how the many thousands of structural and control genes -- the "worker bees" of living cells that can turn genes on and off -- function. ...> Full Article

New Clues to How Proteins Dissolve and Crystallize (5/13/2008)

Fresh evidence for the "Law of Matching Water Affinities" ...> Full Article

Researchers Identify Photosynthetic Dimmer Switch (5/12/2008)

In a study of the molecular mechanisms by which plants protect themselves from oxidation damage should they absorb too much sunlight during photosynthesis, a team of researchers has discovered a molecular "dimmer switch" that helps control the flow of solar energy moving through the system of light harvesting proteins. This discovery holds important implications for the future design of artificial photosynthesis systems that could provide the world with a sustainable and secure source of energy. ...> Full Article

Made-to-order isotopes hold promise on science's frontier (5/11/2008)

Designer labels have a lot of cachet - a principle that's equally true in fashion and physics. ...> Full Article

OPX Biotechnologies Inc. Licenses CU-Boulder Biofuels Technology (5/11/2008)

A Boulder high-tech company spun off from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2007 has been granted an exclusive license by the university for a novel microbial technology to produce new biorefining fuels and related chemical products. ...> Full Article

New cell-based sensors sniff out danger like bloodhounds (5/10/2008)

Collaborating across engineering disciplines to make advanced 'cell-based sensors-on-a-chip' technology possible ...> Full Article

Researchers Tackling Unsolved Questions About Protein Structures (5/9/2008)

Researchers are exploring the evolutionary origins of protein structures. Their findings will help people better understand how proteins evolved to carry out the instructions encoded in the genes of every living thing. ...> Full Article

Researchers Launch Online Protein Folding Game (5/9/2008)

Researchers are bringing the arcane world of protein folding to the online gaming arena with the launch of "Foldit," a free game in which players around the world compete to design proteins. ...> Full Article

Turning fungus into fuel (5/8/2008)

Organism with a taste for olive drab shows promise for greener energy ...> Full Article

Japanese Mushroom Leads To Breakthrough In Protein Research (5/8/2008)

Using an enzyme of the Japanese mushroom, proteins can be identified without knowing the organism's genetic composition ...> Full Article

A study reveals how cells communicate to activate the cell division machinery (5/7/2008)

The finding made in the fruit fly may provide clues to address problems such as the proliferation of malignant cells and tumour growth in humans ...> Full Article

Technique Accelerates Biological Image Analysis (5/7/2008)

Will Improve Automated High-Throughput Screening Techniques ...> Full Article

Researcher devises fuel that are more efficient cells, thanks to a new catalyst (5/6/2008)

Researcher has developed new materials that enable the manufacture of cheaper and more efficient methanol fuel cells ...> Full Article

Fungi have a hand in depleted uranium's environmental fate (5/6/2008)

Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns ...> Full Article

Lean and mean biomass-degrading fungus reveals capabilities for improved biofuel production (5/5/2008)

The genome analysis of a champion biomass-degrading fungus has revealed a surprisingly minimal repertoire of genes that it employs to break down plant cell walls, highlighting opportunities for further improvements in enzymes customized for biofuels production. ...> Full Article

Glowing sugars light up zebrafish (5/5/2008)

Using artificial sugar and some clever chemistry, researchers have made glow-in-the-dark fish whose internal light comes from the sugar coating on their cells. ...> Full Article

New 3-D Test Method for Biomaterials 'Flat Out' Faster (5/4/2008)

A novel, three-dimensional (3-D) screening method for analyzing interactions between cells and new biomaterials could cut initial search times by more than half ...> Full Article

New oilsands extraction method could eliminate tailings ponds (5/4/2008)

New method of extracting bitumen from oilsands that uses almost no water and would solve the industry's toxic tailings ponds dilemma ...> Full Article

Microbes could boost world energy supply (5/1/2008)

Scientists expect to begin trials next month to find out whether microbes can unlock the vast amount of energy trapped in the world's unrecoverable heavy oil deposits ...> Full Article

Boost for 'green plastics' from plants (4/30/2008)

Researchers are a step closer to turning plants into 'biofactories' capable of producing oils which can be used to replace petrochemicals used to manufacture a range of products. ...> Full Article

Findings a step toward making new optical materials (4/28/2008)

>Chemical engineers have developed a "self-assembling" method that could lead to an inexpensive way of making diamondlike crystals to improve optical communications and other technologies. ...> Full Article

Gas from grass - surely not? (4/27/2008)

UK researchers hope to convert ryegrass into ethanol ...> Full Article

Researchers Find New Details Following the Path of Solar Energy During Photosynthesis (4/26/2008)

Researchers report on the energy-transferring functions within the Fenna-Matthews-Olson photosynthetic light-harvesting protein, a pigment-protein complex in green sulfur bacteria that serves as a model system because it consists of only seven well-characterized pigment molecules ...> Full Article

First-class protein crystals thanks to weightlessness on earth (4/25/2008)

Dutch chemist has developed two attractive alternatives for allowing protein crystals to grow under weightless conditions ...> Full Article

New Source for Biofuels Discovered by Researchers (4/24/2008)

A newly created microbe produces cellulose that can be turned into ethanol and other biofuels ...> Full Article

Chemical Engineer Discovers Way of Increasing Battery Life with Environmentally Friendly Fuel Cells (4/23/2008)

Chemical engineering professor is exploring a way to increase battery life with an environmentally friendly alternative ...> Full Article

Ceramic, heal thyself (4/21/2008)

Simulation shows how defect-engineered zirconia repairs radiation-induced damage ...> Full Article