Category Biology/Biotechnology

Various schemes for electrolytically generating H2 while consuming CO2 and transforming it to dissolved mineral bicarbonate.

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will require not only reducing emissions of CO2, but also active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This conclusion from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has prompted heightened interest in “negative emissions technologies.” A new study evaluates the potential for recently described methods that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through an “electrogeochemical” process that also generates hydrogen gas for use as fuel and creates by-products that can help counteract ocean acidification.

First author Greg Rau, a researcher in the Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz and visiting scie...

It’s been known for years that humans and other mammals possess an antiviral gene called RSAD2 that prevents a remarkable range of viruses from multiplying. Now, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of Montefiore, have discovered the secret to the gene’s success: The enzyme it codes for generates a compound that stops viruses from replicating. The newly discovered compound, described in today’s online edition of Nature, offers a novel approach for attacking many disease-causing viruses.

“Nature has given us a template for creating a powerful and safe antiviral compound,” says study leader Steven C. Almo, Ph.D...

The fruit fly intestine shares much of the same physiology of the human intestine, just simpler and on a smaller scale. Credit: Adam Wong, PhD. Modified from Disease Models & Mechanisms. doi: 10.1242/dmm.023408.

Study teases out how ‘good bacteria’ keep us metabolically fit. The innate immune system, our first line of defense against bacterial infection, has a side job that’s equally important: fine-tuning our metabolism. The study, led by Paula Watnick, MD, PhD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital, reveals that innate immune pathways, best known as our first line of defense against bacterial infection, have a side job that’s equally important.

In the intestine, digestive cells use an innate immune pathway to respond to harmful bacteria...

Chemical synthesis routes to P3HB. a Classical route via the ROP of rac-β-BL to iso-enriched P3HB. b The new route via the ROP of rac-DL to perfectly isotactic P3HB. (Pm is the probability of meso linkages between HB units, and mm is isotactic triad made up of two adjacent meso diads)

The team describes synthesis of a polymer called bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), or P3HB. Colorado State University polymer chemists have taken another step toward a future of high-performance, biorenewable, biodegradable plastics. The compound shows early promise as a substitute for petroleum plastics in major industrial uses.

P3HB is a biomaterial, typically produced by bacteria, algae and other microorganisms, and is used in some biomedical applications...