‘Unnatural’ chemical allows Salk researchers to watch protein action in brain cells - Researchers at the Salk Institute have been able to genetically incorporate "unnatural" amino acids, such as those emitting green fluorescence, into neural stem cells, which then differentiate into brain neurons with the incandescent "tag" intact. Loudspeakers in your window - Korean scientists […]
acids
Fluorine in organic chemistry is an important topic across the synthetic pharmaceutical, agrochemical and materials areas because switching out hydrogen atoms selectivity for this element allows chemists to tune the reactivity of specific groups within a given molecule. Now, chemists in Switzerland have turned to fluorine to help them make specific carbon-carbon bonds. The formation […]
The ‘molecular octopus’: A little brother of ‘Schroedinger’s cat’ - For the first time, the quantum behaviour of molecules consisting of more than 400 atoms was demonstrated by quantum physicists based at the University of Vienna in collaboration with chemists from Basel and Delaware. Neutral atoms made to act like electrically charged particles - Completing […]
Space ice goes against the grain - Space ice made from a mixture of methanol and water expands under pressure, and shrinks when heated - the opposite behaviour to most solids. Dominic Fortes at University College London, UK, is interested in the internal structures of icy moons like Saturn’s Enceladus, which is thought to have […]
Host or foreign — the body’s frontline defense mechanism understood - The US Academy of Sciences journal (PNAS) have published an article describing how the first line of defence of the human immune system distinguishes between microbes and the body's own structures. The basis of this recognition mechanism has been unclear since the key protein […]
A foaming six-pack of chemical news stories from Reactive Reports with Robert Slinn New microscopy method opens window on previously unseen cell features - Nongjian (N.J.) Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have pioneered a new technique capable of peering into single cells and even intracellular processes with unprecedented […]