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Archive for the ‘chemistry’ category: Page 171

Jun 22, 2022

Clean doping strategy produces more responsive phototransistors

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, engineering

The library of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials keeps growing, from basic 2D materials to metal chalcogenides. Unlike their bulk counterparts, 2D layered materials possess novel features that offer great potential in next-generation electronics and optoelectronics devices.

Doping engineering is an important and effective way to control the peculiar properties of 2D materials for the application in logical circuits, sensors, and optoelectronic devices. However, additional chemicals have to be used during the process, which may contaminate the materials. The techniques are only possible at specific steps during material synthesis or device fabrication.

In a new paper published in eLight, a team of scientists led by Professor Han Zhang of Shenzhen University and Professor Paras N Prasad of the University of Buffalo studied the implementation of neutron-transmutation doping to manipulate . Their paper, titled has demonstrated the change for the first time.

Jun 22, 2022

Building artificial nerve cells

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry, computing, space

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated an artificial organic neuron, a nerve cell, that can be integrated with a living plant and an artificial organic synapse. Both the neuron and the synapse are made from printed organic electrochemical transistors.

On connecting to the carnivorous Venus flytrap, the electrical pulses from the artificial nerve cell can cause the plant’s leaves to close, although no fly has entered the trap. Organic semiconductors can conduct both electrons and ions, thus helping mimic the ion-based mechanism of pulse (action potential) generation in plants. In this case, the small electric pulse of less than 0.6 V can induce action potentials in the plant, which in turn causes the leaves to close.

“We chose the Venus flytrap so we could clearly show how we can steer the biological system with the artificial organic system and get them to communicate in the same language,” says Simone Fabiano, associate professor and principal investigator in organic nanoelectronics at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University, Campus Norrköping.

Jun 21, 2022

Biochemists use new tool to control mRNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics

A team of researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry at Münster University discovered that by using so-called FlashCaps they were able to control the translation of mRNA by means of light. The results have been published in Nature Chemistry.

DNA () is a long chain of molecules composed of many individual components, and it forms the basis of life on Earth. The function of DNA is to store all genetic information. The translation of this into proteins—which an organism needs to function, develop and reproduce—takes place via mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid). The DNA is transcribed to mRNA, and the mRNA in turn is translated into proteins (protein biosynthesis). In other words, the mRNA functions as an information carrier. Biochemists at the University of Münster have now developed a new biochemical tool that is able to to control the translation of RNA with the aid of light. These so-called FlashCaps enable researchers to control a variety of processes in cells both spatially and temporally and, as a result, to determine basic functions of proteins.

Jun 21, 2022

Switching DNA functions on and off with light

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics

DNA is the basis of life on earth. The function of DNA is to store all the genetic information an organism needs to develop, function and reproduce. It is essentially a biological instruction manual found in every cell. Biochemists at the University of Münster have now developed a strategy for controlling the biological functions of DNA with the aid of light. This enables researchers to better understand and control the processes that take place in the cell—for example, epigenetics, the key chemical change and regulatory lever in DNA. The results have been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

The cell’s functions depend on enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that carry out in the cell. They help to synthesize metabolic products, make copies of the DNA molecules, convert energy for the cell’s activities, change DNA epigenetically and break down certain molecules. A team of researchers headed by Prof. Andrea Rentmeister from the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Münster used a so-called enzymatic cascade reaction to understand and track these functions better. This sequence of successive reaction steps involving different enzymes makes it possible to transfer so-called photocaging groups—chemical groups that can be removed by means of irradiation with light—to DNA. Previously, studies had shown that only small residues (small modifications such as methyl groups) could be transferred selectively to DNA, RNA (ribonucleic acid) or proteins.

“As a result of our work, it is now possible to transfer larger residues or modifications such as the photocaging groups just mentioned,” explains Nils Klöcker, one of the lead authors of the study and a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Biochemistry. Working together with structural biologist Prof. Daniel Kümmel, who also works at the Institute of Biochemistry, it was also possible to explain the basis for the changed activity at a .

Jun 21, 2022

Aerobic Respiration Part 3 (Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle/Kreb Cycle/Citric Acid Cycle)

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry

Tricarboxylic acid cycle/kreb cycle/citric acid cycle.

#citricacidcycle #krebs #biochemistry #biology #Cellular #respiration

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Jun 19, 2022

A celebrated AI has learned a new trick: How to do chemistry

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, information science, robotics/AI

Sign in Welcome! Log into your account your username your password Forgot your password? Get help Default Kit Password recovery Recover your password your email A password will be e-mailed to you. HometechA celebrated AI has learned a new…


Artificial intelligence has altered the practise of science by enabling researchers to examine the vast volumes of data generated by current scientific instruments. Using deep learning, it can learn from the data itself and can locate a needle in a million haystacks of information. AI is advancing the development of gene searching, medicine, medication design, and chemical compound synthesis.

Scientists Detect Fastest-Growing Black Hole in the Universe

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Jun 19, 2022

Albumin: What’s Optimal For Youth And Health? (2022 Update)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, life extension, sex

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Jun 17, 2022

Liquid metal boosts platinum catalyst’s activity 1000 times

Posted by in categories: chemistry, lifeboat, particle physics

Adam FordAdmin.

I disagree with Ross Dawson here… it’s not ultimately a matter of belief or faith, it’s a matter of understanding our existing knowledge about the physiology of sentience, and of furthering the relevant research agendas. Questions of sentience in h… See more.

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Jun 16, 2022

Quantum nature of hydrogen bonds observed in acid–base complex

Posted by in categories: chemistry, education, quantum physics

Researchers in the US have demonstrated the presence of quantum mechanical effects in acid–base interactions, challenging the Brønsted–Lowry theory. The resultant short hydrogen bond is stabilised by a delocalised proton, which rapidly shuttles between the acid and base molecules and is characterised by highly unusual spectral features.

The Brønsted–Lowry theory was proposed in 1923 and explains acid–base interactions in terms of proton transfer. This theory is one of the cornerstones of chemical understanding and is amongst the first principles taught to school students. But despite a growing appreciation for the limitations of traditional thinking, the surprising discovery of a quantum component to such fundamental reactivity was entirely serendipitous.

‘It was luck,’ admits Daniel Kuroda of Louisiana State University, one of the principal researchers involved in the study. ‘We were looking at the structure of liquids … and saw this paper [about an acid–base mixture] with close to the conductivity of sulfuric acid but no ionisation. We wanted to see what the structure was … so we started looking into the project and then realised that clearly we have something very different.’

Jun 16, 2022

DNA evolves at different rates, depending on chromosome structure

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, evolution, genetics

The structure of how DNA is stored in archaea makes a significant difference to how quickly it evolves, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers.

The study, led by molecular biologist Stephen Bell, Distinguished Professor and chair of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington, was recently published in Nature Microbiology. Its findings have the potential to impact research on the treatment of genetic diseases such as cancer.

“The most exciting thing we revealed is the idea that the shape of a DNA molecule can affect its ability to change,” Bell said. “In the early 20th century, modernist architecture had the idea that the form of a building should follow its function. But what we’re seeing in these organisms is that over time, form is actually affecting . How DNA is structured can change it, creating an evolutionary feedback loop.”