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Category: chemistry – Page 93

Quantum effects in proteins: How tiny particles coordinate energy transfer inside cells

Protons are the basis of bioenergetics. The ability to move them through biological systems is essential for life. A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows for the first time that proton transfer is directly influenced by the spin of electrons when measured in chiral biological environments such as proteins. In other words, proton movement in living systems is not purely chemical; it is also a quantum process involving electron spin and molecular chirality.

The quantum process directly affects the small movements of the biological environment that support . This discovery suggests that energy and information transfer in life is more controlled, selective, and potentially tunable than previously believed, bridging with biological chemistry and opening new doors for understanding life at its deepest level—and for designing technologies that can mimic or control biological processes.

The work, led by a team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem collaborating with Prof. Ron Naaman from Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Nurit Ashkenasy from Ben Gurion University, reveals a surprising connection between the movement of electrons and protons in biological systems.

One timed-release capsule could replace taking multiple pills

Managing complex medication schedules could soon become as simple as taking a single capsule each day. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a capsule that can be packed with multiple medications and release them at designated times throughout the day.

The advance, published in Matter, could help improve and by eliminating the need for patients to remember taking multiple drugs or doses at various times each day. It could potentially reduce the risk of missed doses or accidental overdoses.

“We want to simplify medication management with a single that is smart enough to deliver the right drug at the right dose at the right time,” said study first author Amal Abbas, who recently earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. She spearheaded this work with Joseph Wang, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego.

Scientists create a ‘brilliantly luminous’ nanoscale chemical tool

University of Missouri researchers developed the tiny clay-based materials that can be customized for a range of analytical, commercial and medical applications.

Imagine tiny LEGO pieces that automatically snap together to form a strong, flat sheet. Then, scientists add special chemical “hooks” to these sheets to attach glowing molecules called fluorophores.

Associate Professor Gary Baker, Piyuni Ishtaweera, Ph.D., and their team have created these tiny, clay-based materials—called fluorescent polyionic nanoclays. They can be customized for many uses, including advancing energy and sensor technology, improving medical treatments and protecting the environment.

Discovery shows that even neutral molecules take sides when it comes to biochemistry

A new study led by a pair of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst turns long-held conventional wisdom about a certain type of polymer on its head, greatly expanding understanding of how some of biochemistry’s fundamental forces work. The study, released recently in Nature Communications, opens the door for new biomedical research running the gamut from analyzing and identifying proteins and carbohydrates to drug delivery.

The work involves a kind of polymer made up of neutral polyzwitterions. Because they have a neutral electrical charge, polyzwitterions are not expected to respond to an electric field. However, the team found not only that certain neutral polyzwitterions behave as if they were charged, but also that the electric field surrounding polyzwitterions, once thought to be uniform, varies in strength.

“My interest is in the proteins and , which are the building blocks for protein, inside our body’s cells,” says Yeseul Lee, lead author and graduate student in polymer science and engineering at UMass Amherst.

Microbubble dynamics in boiling water enable precision fluid manipulation

A watched pot never boils, goes the old saying, but many of us have at least kept an eye on the pot, waiting for the bubbling to start. It’s satisfying to finally see the rolling boil, behind which complex physical mechanisms are at play.

When this happens, the that form continuously change in shape and size. These dynamic movements influence the surrounding fluid flow, thereby affecting the efficiency of heat transfer from the to the water.

Manipulating small amounts of liquid at high speeds and frequencies is essential for processing large numbers of samples in medical and chemical fields, such as in cell sorting. Microbubble vibrations can create flows and sound waves, aiding in liquid manipulation. However, the and interactions of multiple bubbles is poorly understood, so their applications have been limited.

Electrosynthesis of urea from flue gas achieves high efficiency with no ammonia byproducts

Urea, with the formula CO(NH2)2, is a chemical compound that is widely used in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture and various industries. Conventionally, this compound is produced via a two-step process that entails the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen (N₂) and its subsequent reaction with carbon dioxide (CO₂).

This reaction occurs at and under , leading to the formation of a compound called ammonium carbamate. This compound is then decomposed at lower pressures, which ultimately produces and water.

Traditional processes for producing urea are very energy intensive, meaning that to produce desired amounts of urea they consume a lot of electrical power. Over the past few years, some engineers have thus been trying to devise more energy-efficient strategies to synthesize urea.

Electricity-generating bacteria’s survival strategy could reshape biotech and energy systems

A team led by Rice University bioscientist Caroline Ajo-Franklin has discovered how certain bacteria breathe by generating electricity, using a natural process that pushes electrons into their surroundings instead of breathing on oxygen.

The findings, published in Cell, could enable in clean energy and industrial biotechnology.

By identifying how these bacteria expel electrons externally, the researchers offer a glimpse into a previously hidden strategy of bacterial life. This work, which merges biology with electrochemistry, lays the groundwork for future technologies that harness the unique capabilities of these microscopic organisms.

Breakthrough DNA editing in Lactobacillus offers safer probiotics

A Kobe University team was able to edit the DNA of Lactobacillus strains directly without a template from other organisms. This technique is indistinguishable from natural variation and enabled the researchers to create a strain that doesn’t produce diabetes-aggravating chemicals.

Humans have improved the microorganisms we rely on for millennia, selecting variants that are better able to produce wine, yogurt, natto and many other products. More recently, direct genetic modification has emerged as a tool to exert more precise and efficient control over the improvement, but also has drawn much public criticism for often using DNA from unrelated organisms in these modifications. Kobe University bioengineer NISHIDA Keiji says, “As a consequence, using such transgenic techniques is not favorable for food products due to legislations being restrictive and social acceptance being low.”

Nishida and his team have developed a technique that gives even more precise control over the genetic content of a microorganism that does not rely on template DNA from other organisms. He says: “We have invented a DNA base editing technology named ‘Target-AID,’ which is superior to conventional techniques such as ‘CRISPR-Cas9’ in several aspects. For example, CRISPR-Cas9 induces DNA breaks and often causes cell death, while our Target-AID inserts precise point mutations without such breaks.”

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