Guest contributor, chemist Robert Slinn of the University of Liverpool, filters the latest happenings from the world of chemistry.
- Arctic sea ice controls the release of mercury - A Franco-American collaboration, which involves including researchers from CNRS, IRD, Université Paul Sabatier and the University of Pau (1), just highlight a new role of sea ice in the ring Mercury in the Arctic (online translation may be needed).
- A step towards highly efficient, minimally invasive and low systemic toxicity cancer therapy - Chemotherapeutics generally show a delicate balance between maintaining a high enough dose to kill cancer cells while avoiding a dose so high that it causes severe toxic effects. One of the many promises of nanomedicine is a class of nanoscale drug delivery vehicles that can pinpoint cancer cells and deliver their tumor-killing payload right into cancer cells with high efficiency and no side effects.
- Scripps Research team creates new synthetic compound with HIV-fighting promise - Using chemical compounds found in a Japanese plant as a lead and the clever application of ultraviolet light, a Scripps Research Institute team has created a unique library of dozens of synthetic compounds to test for biomedical potential. Already, one of the compounds has shown great promise in inhibiting replication of HIV particles and fighting inflammation.
- More scientific progress in Alzheimer’s studies - Two new studies add to scientific efforts to find more accurate ways to determine whether a person's brain is on a path toward Alzheimer's disease.
- Cellular traffic: Factors beyond crowding affect how molecules interact within cells, modeling shows - Using large-scale computer simulations, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified the most important factors affecting how molecules move through the crowded environment inside living cells.
