Material scientist wins competition for best nanotechnology photo (Picture: Nicolas Souza/cc-NanoBioNet) (Nanowerk News) Considered by some to be the “magic bullet” of materials science, carbon nanotubes (CNT) are at the forefront of materials research around the world. Carbon nanotubes are not only extremely stable, they are also excellent conductors of electrical energy and are made from a cheap raw material. Researchers at Saarland University want to use these highly versatile materials to help replace expensive precious metals in electrical contacts by cheaper alternatives such as nickel. By coating these replacement metals with nanotubes they hope to be able to prevent oxidation of the metal surface and thus avoid any associated reduction in electrical conductivity. By using lasers to help grow nanotubes on a silicon plate, the researchers in Saarbrücken have created structures that, when viewed under a scanning electron microscope, resemble a jellyfish in the ocean. This image was recently awarded first prize in the national photo competition “Making Nano Visible”. (source)
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Material scientist wins competition for best nanotechnology photo

(Picture: Nicolas Souza/cc-NanoBioNet)

(Nanowerk News) Considered by some to be the “magic bullet” of materials science, carbon nanotubes (CNT) are at the forefront of materials research around the world. Carbon nanotubes are not only extremely stable, they are also excellent conductors of electrical energy and are made from a cheap raw material. Researchers at Saarland University want to use these highly versatile materials to help replace expensive precious metals in electrical contacts by cheaper alternatives such as nickel. By coating these replacement metals with nanotubes they hope to be able to prevent oxidation of the metal surface and thus avoid any associated reduction in electrical conductivity. By using lasers to help grow nanotubes on a silicon plate, the researchers in Saarbrücken have created structures that, when viewed under a scanning electron microscope, resemble a jellyfish in the ocean. This image was recently awarded first prize in the national photo competition “Making Nano Visible”. (source)

Source: nanowerk.com

JELLYFISH INSPIRES LATEST OCEAN-POWERED ROBOT

“American researchers have created a robotic jellyfish, named Robojelly, which not only exhibits characteristics ideal to use in underwater search and rescue operations, but could, theoretically at least, never run out of energy thanks to it being fuelled by hydrogen.”

Source: iop.org

GLOW REVEALS BEGINNINGS OF CANCER GREEN FLUORESCENT DYE reveals the presence of cells deep within the brain of a mutant mouse that represent the beginning of a brain cancer called medulloblastoma. This image comes from the laboratory of Robert Wechsler-Reya, an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University Medical Center, who studies cell growth and tumor formation in the nervous system. The dye was used to label cells containing an enzyme that is abundant in pre-cancerous cells. For more information visit the Wechsler-Reya lab’s photo gallery.
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GLOW REVEALS BEGINNINGS OF CANCER

GREEN FLUORESCENT DYE reveals the presence of cells deep within the brain of a mutant mouse that represent the beginning of a brain cancer called medulloblastoma. This image comes from the laboratory of Robert Wechsler-Reya, an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University Medical Center, who studies cell growth and tumor formation in the nervous system. The dye was used to label cells containing an enzyme that is abundant in pre-cancerous cells. For more information visit the Wechsler-Reya lab’s photo gallery.

Source: research.duke.edu

Biological Badassery of the Day: Some Bacteria Attack Using Spring-Loaded Poison Daggers

. (Credit: Nature/Everett Kane)

Bacteria have evolved different systems for secreting proteins into the fluid around them or into other cells. Some, for example, have syringe-like exterior structures that can pierce other cells and inject proteins. Another system, called a type VI secretion system, is found in about a quarter of all bacteria with two membranes. Despite being common, researchers have not understood how it works. Now a team, co-led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), has figured out the structure of the type VI secretion system apparatus and proposed how it might work — by shooting spring-loaded poison molecular daggers.

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Source: sciencedaily.com

myampgoesto11: These photos are from my first trip to Thailand at the Queen Saovabha Memorial institute in Bangkok. This institute specializes in antivenom research and development.   Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep or goat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom’s active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal’s blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards ofpharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization. (Wikipedia)
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myampgoesto11: These photos are from my first trip to Thailand at the Queen Saovabha Memorial institute in Bangkok. This institute specializes in antivenom research and development.   Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep or goat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom’s active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal’s blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards ofpharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization. (Wikipedia)
Zoom Info
myampgoesto11: These photos are from my first trip to Thailand at the Queen Saovabha Memorial institute in Bangkok. This institute specializes in antivenom research and development.   Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep or goat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom’s active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal’s blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards ofpharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization. (Wikipedia)
Zoom Info

myampgoesto11:

These photos are from my first trip to Thailand at the Queen Saovabha Memorial institute in Bangkok. This institute specializes in antivenom research and development.  

Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep or goat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom’s active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal’s blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards ofpharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization. (Wikipedia)

T. Rex Has Most Powerful Bite of Any Terrestrial Animal Ever (photo credit: Robability on Flickr) Research at the University of Liverpool, using computer models to reconstruct the jaw muscle of Tyrannosaurus rex, has suggested that the dinosaur had the most powerful bite of any living or extinct terrestrial animal. The team artificially scaled up the skulls of a human, alligator, a juvenile T. rex, and Allosaurus to the size of an adult T. rex. In each case the bite forces increased as expected, but they did not increase to the level of the adult T. rex, suggesting that it had the most powerful bite of any terrestrial animal. Previous studies have estimated thatT. rex’s bite had a force of 8,000 to 13,400 Newtons, but given the size of the animal, thought to weigh more than 6,000kg, researchers suspected that its bite may have been more powerful than this. Liverpool scientists developed a computer model to reverse engineer the animal’s bite, a method that has previously been used to predict dinosaur running speeds. An animal’s bite force is largely determined by the size of the jaw muscles. Using their computer models, researchers tested a range of alternative muscle values, as it is not precisely known what the muscles of dinosaurs were like. Even with error margins factored in, the computer model still showed that theT. rex had a more powerful bite than previously suggested. full story
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T. Rex Has Most Powerful Bite of Any Terrestrial Animal Ever

(photo credit: Robability on Flickr)

Research at the University of Liverpool, using computer models to reconstruct the jaw muscle of Tyrannosaurus rex, has suggested that the dinosaur had the most powerful bite of any living or extinct terrestrial animal.

The team artificially scaled up the skulls of a human, alligator, a juvenile T. rex, and Allosaurus to the size of an adult T. rex. In each case the bite forces increased as expected, but they did not increase to the level of the adult T. rex, suggesting that it had the most powerful bite of any terrestrial animal.

Previous studies have estimated thatT. rex’s bite had a force of 8,000 to 13,400 Newtons, but given the size of the animal, thought to weigh more than 6,000kg, researchers suspected that its bite may have been more powerful than this. Liverpool scientists developed a computer model to reverse engineer the animal’s bite, a method that has previously been used to predict dinosaur running speeds.

An animal’s bite force is largely determined by the size of the jaw muscles. Using their computer models, researchers tested a range of alternative muscle values, as it is not precisely known what the muscles of dinosaurs were like. Even with error margins factored in, the computer model still showed that theT. rex had a more powerful bite than previously suggested.

full story

Source: sciencedaily.com

Blood Mystery Solved: Two New Blood Types Identified

(Credit: © weim / Fotolia)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2012) — You probably know your blood type: A, B, AB or O. You may even know if you’re Rhesus positive or negative. But how about the Langereis blood type? Or the Junior blood type? Positive or negative? Most people have never even heard of these.

Yet this knowledge could be “a matter of life and death,” says University of Vermont biologist Bryan Ballif.

While blood transfusion problems due to Langereis and Junior blood types are rare worldwide, several ethnic populations are at risk, Ballif notes. “More than 50,000 Japanese are thought to be Junior negative and may encounter blood transfusion problems or mother-fetus incompatibility,” he writes.

But the molecular basis of these two blood types has remained a mystery — until now.

In the February issue of Nature Genetics, Ballif and his colleagues report on their discovery of two proteins on red blood cells responsible for these lesser-known blood types.

Ballif identified the two molecules as specialized transport proteins named ABCB6 and ABCG2.

“Only 30 proteins have previously been identified as responsible for a basic blood type,” Ballif notes, “but the count now reaches 32.”

The last new blood group proteins to be discovered were nearly a decade ago, Ballif says, “so it’s pretty remarkable to have two identified this year.”

Both of the newly identified proteins are also associated with anticancer drug resistance, so the findings may also have implications for improved treatment of breast and other cancers.

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Heart Beats to the Rhythm of a Circadian Clock

Heart. (Credit: © adimas / Fotolia)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2012) — Sudden cardiac death -catastrophic and unexpected fatal heart stoppage — is more likely to occur shortly after waking in the morning and in the late night.

In a report in the journal Nature, an international consortium of researchers that includes Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland and Baylor College of Medicine explains the molecular linkage between the circadian clock and the deadly heart rhythms that lead to sudden death.

The answer begins with a controller of the circadian clock — krüppel-like factor 15 (Klf15), which has been a long-time target of the laboratory of Dr. Mukesh Jain of Case Western, said Dr. Xander Wehrens, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics and cardiology at BCM, also an author.

Klf15, in turn, controls the level of a potassium channel-interacting protein (KChIP2), which affects how potassium flows out of heart muscle cells called cardiac myocytes.

click title for full article

Injectable Gel Could Repair Tissue Damaged by Heart Attack

Tissue spins in a beaker at the end of the cleansing process that removes all of the cells. The process retains the tissue’s structural proteins, a key component of the hydrogel. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California, San Diego)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — University of California, San Diego researchers have developed a new injectable hydrogel that could be an effective and safe treatment for tissue damage caused by heart attacks.

The study by Karen Christman and colleagues appears in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Christman is a professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and has co-founded a company, Ventrix, Inc., to bring the gel to clinical trials within the next year.

Therapies like the hydrogel would be a welcome development, Christman explained, since there are an estimated 785,000 new heart attack cases in the United States each year, with no established treatment for repairing the resulting damage to cardiac tissue.

The hydrogel is made from cardiac connective tissue that is stripped of heart muscle cells through a cleansing process, freeze-dried and milled into powder form, and then liquefied into a fluid that can be easily injected into the heart. Once it hits body temperature, the liquid turns into a semi-solid, porous gel that encourages cells to repopulate areas of damaged cardiac tissue and to preserve heart function, according to Christman. The hydrogel forms a scaffold to repair the tissue and possibly provides biochemical signals that prevent further deterioration in the surrounding tissues.

SPME Portable Field Sampler

Portable SPME (about the size of a pen) we’re using for our research

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a simple and effective adsorption and desorption technique, which eliminates the need for solvents or complicated apparatus, for concentrating volatile or nonvolatile compounds in liquid samples or headspace. SPME is compatible with analyte separation and detection by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, and provides linear results for wide concentrations of analytes. By controlling the polarity and thickness of the coating on the fibre, maintaining consistent sampling time, and adjusting other extraction parameters, an analyst can ensure highly consistent, quantifiable results for low concentration analytes. To date, about 400 articles on SPME have been published in different fields, including environment (water, soil, air), food, natural products, pharmaceuticals, biology, toxicology, forensics and theory. As the scope of SPME grew, new improvements were made with the appearance of new coatings that allowed an increase in the specificity of this extraction technique. The key part of the SPME fibre is of course the fibre coating. At the moment, 27 variations of fibre coating and size are available. Among the newest are a fibre assembly with a dual coating of divinylbenzene and Carboxen suspended in poly(dimethylsiloxane), and a series of 23 gauge fibres intended for specific septumless injection system. The growth of SPME is also reflected in the expanding number of the accessories that make the technology even easier to use Also available is a portable field sampler which is a self-contained unit that stores the SPME fibre after sampling and during the shipment to the laboratory. Several scientific publications show the results obtained in inter-laboratory validation studies in which SPME was applied to determine the presence of different organic compounds at ppt levels, which demonstrates the reliability of this extraction technique for quantitative analysis. (text source from PubMed.gov)

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