Phys.org April 12, 2023 Controllable microbial electrocatalytic activity in a miniaturized microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with unlimited biodegradable energy resources would enable simple power generation in various environmental settings. However, the short shelf-life of living biocatalysts, few ways to activate the stored biocatalysts, and extremely low electrocatalytic capabilities render the miniature MFCs unsuitable for practical use. Researchers at State University of New York at Binghamton used heat-activated Bacillus subtilis spores as a dormant biocatalyst that could survive storage and rapidly germinate when exposed to special nutrients that are preloaded in the device. A microporous, graphene hydrogel allowed the adsorption of […]
Tag Archives: Biotechnology
Photosynthesis ‘hack’ could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy
Science Daily March 22, 2023 Previous approaches to ‘re-wire’ photosynthesis for higher biomass-conversion efficiencies and new reaction pathways have focused on charge extraction at terminal electron acceptors of the photosystems. Electron extraction at earlier steps, perhaps immediately from photoexcited reaction centres, would enable greater thermodynamic gains. Using in vivo ultrafast transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy an international team of researchers (UK, Finland, Germany) demonstrated the extraction of electrons directly from photoexcited PSI and PSII at early points (several picoseconds post-photo-excitation) with live cyanobacterial cells or isolated photosystems, and exogenous electron mediators. They postulated that these mediators oxidize peripheral chlorophyll pigments participating […]
Ultra-lightweight multifunctional space skin created to withstand extreme conditions in space
Nanowerk March 22, 2023 Current tissue engineering approaches combine different scaffold materials with living cells to provide biological substitutes that can repair and eventually improve tissue functions. Both natural and synthetic materials have been fabricated for transplantation of stem cells and their specific differentiation into muscles, bones, and cartilages. One of the key objectives for bone regeneration therapy to be successful is to direct stem cells’ proliferation and to accelerate their differentiation in a controlled manner using growth factors and osteogenic inducers. An international team of researchers (Singapore, South Korea) has shown that graphene provides a promising biocompatible scaffold that […]
Software lets researchers create tiny rounded objects out of DNA. Here’s why that’s cool
Phys.org December 23, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (Duke University, UCSF, Arizona State University, Rutgers University, NCAR) has developed and automated the application of a set of previously unknown design principles that now includes a multilayer design for closed and curved DNA nanostructures to resolve past obstacles in shape selection, yield, mechanical rigidity, and accessibility. The objects were made from threadlike molecules of DNA, bent, and folded into complex three-dimensional objects with nanometer precision. They designed, analyzed, and experimentally demonstrated a set of diverse 3D curved nanoarchitectures, showing planar asymmetry and examining partial multilayer designs. The automated […]
Team creates protein-based material that can stop supersonic impacts
Phys.org December 13, 2022 Extreme energy dissipating materials are essential for a range of applications, in the military, law enforcement, aerospace industry to name a few. Researchers in the UK have created and patented a new shock-absorbing material that could revolutionize both the defense and planetary science sectors. They incorporated a recombinant form of the mechanosensitive protein talin into a monomeric unit and crosslinked, resulting in the production of a talin shock absorbing material (TSAM). When subjected to 1.5 km/s supersonic shots, TSAMs were shown not only to absorb the impact, but to capture/preserve the projectile. According to the researchers […]
Chemists create quantum dots at room temperature using lab-designed protein
Phys.org December 12, 2022 Researchers at Princeton University used a lab-designed protein (ConK) which facilitated the formation of cadmium sulfide quantum dots by catalyzing the production of a reactive sulfur species from the amino acid cysteine. ConK catalyzed the desulfurization of cysteine to H2S, which was used to synthesize CdS nanocrystals in solution. The quantum dots had optical properties like those seen in chemically synthesized quantum dots. CdS nanocrystals synthesized using ConK have slower growth rates and a different growth mechanism than those synthesized using natural biomineralization pathways and have two desirable properties not observed during biomineralization using natural proteins […]
Designing self-assembling ‘smart materials’
Science Daily December 12, 2022 The role of hydrodynamic interactions (HIs) play in the self-organization of colloidal suspensions and biological solutions has remained elusive particularly for charged soft matter systems. Researchers in Japan studied the role of HIs in the self-assembly of oppositely charged colloidal particles, which is a promising candidate for electrical tunable soft materials. In many-body HIs and the coupling between the colloid, ion, and fluid motions they found that, under a constant electric field, oppositely charged colloidal particles formed clusters and percolated into a gel network. They revealed that the cluster-forming tendency originates from the incompressibility-induced “inverse […]
Flexible strain sensor enabled by carbon nanofibers can ‘read lips’
Phys.org November 29, 2022 While high sensitivity and wide working range are desired key parameters for a strain sensor, they are usually contrary to each other to be achieved on the same sensor due to the tight structure dependence of both. Researchers in China used an integrated membrane containing both parallel aligned and randomly aligned carbon nanofibers (CNFs) to design a flexible strain sensor with high sensitivity and wide strain detection range. The parallel aligned CNF membrane (p-CNF) exhibited a low strain detection limit and high sensitivity, while the random aligned CNF membrane (r-CNF) exhibits a large strain detection range. […]
Seeing concentrations of toxins with the naked eye
Phys.org November 3, 2022 Current detection methods can only respond to changes in a droplet’s bulk wetting properties, leading to poor detection limits. A team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, Ohio State University) has developed a design principle that overcomes this fundamental limitation by locally concentrating analytes within a droplet’s contact line to modulate the local surface roughness, which further affects droplet mobility. They designed surfaces enabled the ultrasensitive, naked-eye detection of amphiphiles through changes in the droplets’ sliding angles, even when the concentration is four to five orders of magnitude below their critical micelle concentration. They developed […]
Team develops method to identify future SARS-CoV-2 mutations that could affect rapid antigen test performance
Science Daily September 15, 2022 To evaluate the impact of mutations on 17 antibodies used in 11 commercially available antigen tests with emergency use authorization a team of researchers in the US (Emory University, Baylor College, industry) measured antibody binding for all possible Nucleocapsid point mutations using a mammalian surface-display platform and deep mutational scanning. The results provided a complete map of the antibodies’ epitopes and their susceptibility to mutational escape. Their data predicted no vulnerabilities for detection of mutations found in variants of concern. They confirmed this using the commercial tests and sequence-confirmed COVID-19 patient samples. The antibody escapes […]