Press monitoring
Nanopores light up for reading out DNA
17.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Nanopores are ideally suited for threading DNA molecules through them, enabling the genetic code to be read out. Researchers from TU Delft want to make this technology even more powerful by equipping the pores with 'plasmonics'. By utilising minuscule optical 'antennas', it is possible to focus light precisely and intensely on the nanopore....
Spider Silk Coated With Carbon Nanotubes Has Multiple Surprising Uses
16.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Eden Steven, a physicist at Florida State University's MagLab facility, discovered that simple methods can result in surprising and environmentally friendly high-tech outcomes during his experiments with spider silk and carbon nanotubes ...
Panda Poop Microbes Could Make Biofuels of the Future
13.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Unlikely as it may sound, giant pandas Ya Ya and Le Le in the Memphis Zoo are making contributions toward shifting production of biofuels away from corn and other food crops and toward corn cobs, stalks ...
Programmable Glue Made of DNA Directs Tiny Gel Bricks to Self-Assemble
12.9.2013 | Press monitoring
A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has found a way to self-assemble complex structures out of bricks smaller than a grain of salt. The self-assembly method could help solve one of the major challenges in tissue engineering: regrowing human tissue by injecting tiny components into...
Newly discovered microbes could be crucial to understanding origins of life on earth
11.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), along with collaborators from the University of Southern California (USC) and Delft University of Technology, have published results from a three year study outlining the microbial diversity in The Cedars, a high pH, ultra reducing, low salinity systems of springs located in Northern...
Brown algae reveal antioxidant production secrets
10.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Brown algae contain phlorotannins, aromatic (phenolic) compounds that are unique in the plant kingdom. As natural antioxidants, phlorotannins are of great interest for the treament and prevention of cancer and inflammatory, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers at the Végétaux marins et biomolécules (CNRS/UPMC) laboratory at...
Pico-World of Molecular Bioscavengers, Mops and Sponges Being Designed
9.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Computer-designed proteins that can recognize and interact with small biological molecules are now a reality. Scientists have succeeded in creating a protein molecule that can be programmed to unite with three different steroids. The achievement could have far wider ranging applications in medicine and other fields, according to the Protein Design...
Turning (micro)algae into fuel
6.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Blue-green in colour, slimy and present in seas and fresh water worldwide - the presence of microalgae is not generally met ...
The ‘weakest link’ in the aging proteome
5.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Proteins are the chief actors in cells, carrying out the duties specified by information encoded in our genes. Most proteins live only two days or less, ensuring that those damaged by inevitable chemical modifications are replaced with new functional copies. In a new study published August 29 in Cell, a team led by researchers at the Salk...
Nanostructures made of DNA strands can encapsulate, release small-molecule drugs
4.9.2013 | Press monitoring
Nanoscale "cages" made from strands of DNA can encapsulate small-molecule drugs and release them in response to a specific stimulus ...
