Science Daily June 11, 2019 Researchers at the University of Colorado (Boulder) found that, by diffusing the specially tailored quantum dots into the cells of common microbial species found in soil, they were able to trigger photosynthesis enzymes within microbial cells to convert airborne CO2 and nitrogen. These “living factories” eat harmful CO2 and convert it into useful products such as biodegradable plastic, gasoline, ammonia and biodiesel. They have shown that the cells could exceed their natural yield by close to 200 percent. Different combinations of dots and light produce different products: Green wavelengths cause the bacteria to consume nitrogen […]
Tag Archives: Biotechnology
New way to protect against high-dose radiation damage discovered
Science Daily May 30, 2019 Exposure to high-dose irradiation (>10 gray) from the uncontrolled release of radioactive materials or intensive radiotherapy for cancer treatment can cause gastrointestinal syndrome (GIS), a lethal disorder affecting the intestinal structure. To assess medical countermeasures, it is essential to develop specific and robust animal models in which the relationship between radiation doses, GIS incidence, and severity can be correlated with the histopathology of the intestine. Researchers in Spain aim to understand cell biology and molecular events of GIS after radiation exposure by using a genetic GIS mouse model generated in their laboratory. This information will […]
Engineered bacteria could be missing link in energy storage
Science Daily May 23, 2019 At present, no existing technology provides large-scale storage and energy retrieval for sustainable energy at a low financial and environmental cost. According to a team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, industry) engineered electroactive microbes could address many of the limitations of current energy storage technologies by enabling rewired carbon fixation, a process that spatially separates reactions that are normally carried out together in a photosynthetic cell and replaces the least efficient with non-biological equivalents. If successful, this could allow storage of renewable electricity through electrochemical or enzymatic fixation of carbon dioxide and subsequent […]
Cornell Engineers Create a Robotic Material That Displays 3 of The Key Traits For Life
Science Alert April 21, 2019 Researchers at Cornell University have created a new biomaterial called DASH: DNA-based Assembly and Synthesis of Hierarchical materials, that isn’t alive, but exhibits three key traits for life: metabolism, self-assembly, and organisation. It can crawl forward like a slime mold, grow new strands from the front as the old ones at the back decay and fall away. At the core of DASH are nanoscale building blocks that can rearrange materials into polymers and eventually larger shapes, all from chains of repeating DNA. The material is grown from a 55-nucleotide base seed sequence, which when combined […]
One device, many frequencies: Researchers create a unique, tiny resonator
Science Daily March 5, 2019 A typical resonator in an electronic device responds to one signal with one corresponding frequency. An international team of researchers (USA – Argonne National Laboratory, Michigan State University, Florida Institute of Technology, Israel, Sweden) has developed and demonstrated a nonlinear micromechanical resonator which vibrates with a spectrum consisting of multiple frequencies evenly spaced due to the nonlinear mode coupling, in spite of the fact that it is driven by a single frequency. The novel behavior results from a saddle node on an invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. The resonator is an ideal test bed to study […]
New shapes of laser beam ‘sneak’ through opaque media
Phys.org March 4, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Yale University, Missouri University of Science & Technology) used a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a CCD camera to analyze an opaque material that is made of a layer of white paint, biological tissue, fog, paper, and milk. The SLM tailors the laser beam incident on the front surface of the material, and the CCD camera records the intensity profiles behind it. The resulting beam was more concentrated, with more light per volume inside and behind the opaque material. The method works for any opaque medium that does not […]
Material that shields beetle from being burned by its own weapons, holds promise
Science Daily February 25, 2019 The pygidial glands in Carabid beetles manufacture, store and propel toxic chemicals to ward off insect, amphibian and even small mammalian predators. A team of researchers in the US (Pennsylvania State University, University of New Hampshire) found that the tissues in the glandular system transporting the defensive chemicals to be rich in soft, rubbery resilin, a compound found in many insects and other arthropods. Resilin is a compound that is likely to be used in future bioengineering and biomedical applications due to its unusual properties. It has many similarities with elastin, a protein found in […]
VitalTag to give vital information in mass casualty incidents
Phys.org November 27, 2018 VitalTag, developed by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a low-cost suite of sensors that detects, monitors and wirelessly transmits vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and other metrics such as blood oxygen levels, shock index and data from a single-lead electrocardiogram. It adheres to a patient’s sternum and connects seamlessly via Wi-Fi to securely transmit patient data to a mobile device or laptop in real time. This comprehensive view could enable emergency medical technicians and paramedics to tend to more patients faster, armed with more detail than ever before. The VitalTag […]
Detecting dengue, Zika, and chikangunya within minutes
MIT News November 21, 2018 Researchers at MIT have developed a paper-based diagnostic test to detect Zika, dengue, chikungunya and other related viruses within minutes. The test can quickly and accurately identify Zika, dengue 1-4, and chikungunya at the point of care at an affordable cost. They have commercialized the technique to change the way mosquito-borne illnesses are diagnosed and enable governments to effectively prevent and respond to an outbreak from turning into a public health crisis, especially in high-risk, resource-poor areas across the world…read more.
RNA microchips
Phys.org November 6, 2018 An international team of researchers (Austria, Canada) has developed a new synthetic approach that allows RNA to be chemically synthesized about a million times more efficiently than previously possible. They adapted the photolithographic fabrication technology from the semiconductor chip industry for the chemical synthesis of RNA. Biological photolithography makes it possible to produce RNA chips with a density of up to one million sequences per square centimeter. Instead of using far ultraviolet light, which is used in the production of computer chips silicon etching and doping, the researchers use UV-A light. The combination of high-synthesis yield and […]