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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    2 Metallic elements found in Natural Clays that enable them to Kill even Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes

    January 11, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Working in tandem, chemically reduced iron (Fe2+) and aluminum (Al3+) in blue clays can kill pathogenic bacteria, such as these E. coli cells. Credit: ASU

    Working in tandem, chemically reduced iron (Fe2+) and aluminum (Al3+) in blue clays can kill pathogenic bacteria, such as these E. coli cells. Credit: ASU

    “We think of this mechanism like the Trojan horse attack in ancient Greece,” said Lynda Williams, a clay-mineral scientist at ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). “Two elements in the clay work in tandem to kill bacteria.”

    She explained, “One metallic element – chemically reduced iron, which in small amounts is required by a bacterial cell for nutrition – tricks the cell into opening its wall. Then another element – aluminum – props the cell wall open, allowing a flood of iron to enter the cell. This overabundance of iron then poisons the cell, killing it as the reduced iron becomes oxidized.”

    A chance discovery of a medi...

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    Using Skin to Save the Heart

    January 10, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Heart cells are shown. Blue indicates nuclei. Credit: Yoshida Laboratory, CiRA, Kyoto University

    Heart cells are shown. Blue indicates nuclei. Credit: Yoshida Laboratory, CiRA, Kyoto University

    Cell therapies for heart ailments involve transplanting over a billion heart cells to the patient’s heart. Many of these cells fail to engraft, however, compromising the benefits. One reason for the poor engraftment is that normally the heart cell population is a mixture of cells with different maturation. Researchers have now identified an ideal maturation stage that enhances engraftment and may reduce the number of cells required for therapy.

    Under the direction of Sr Lecturer Yoshinori Yoshida, Dr Funakoshi took induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that were reprogrammed from skin cells and made them into heart cells...

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    ‘Legos’ for Fabrication of Atomically Precise Electronic Circuits

    January 10, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Bottom-up synthesis of 7–13 GNR heterojunctions.

    a, Synthesis of 7–13 GNR heterojunctions from molecular building blocks 1 and 2. Building blocks 1 and 2 are co-deposited onto a pristine Au(111) surface held at room temperature. Stepwise heating induces cleavage of the labile C–Br bonds, colligation (at 470 K) and then cyclization/dehydrogenation (at 670 K), resulting in 7–13 GNR heterojunctions. b, High-resolution STM topograph of a 7–13 GNR heterojunction (sample voltage Vs = 60 mV, tunnelling current It = 200 pA). Inset: Larger-scale STM image of multiple GNR heterojunctions, showing a variety of segment lengths (Vs = 0.50 V, It = 2 pA).

    For the 1st time, researchers tailored the electronic properties of nanoribbons using a new “bottom-up” method that precisely controls and modulates the atomic-scal...

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    New Potential Treatment for Colorectal Cancer discovered

    January 8, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A study led by Professor Chng Wee Joo from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore has demonstrated the efficiency of a small molecule drug, PRIMA-1met, in inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells. Credit: Image courtesy of National University of Singapore

    A study led by Professor Chng Wee Joo from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore has demonstrated the efficiency of a small molecule drug, PRIMA-1met, in inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells. Credit: Image courtesy of National University of Singapore

    A small molecule drug combined with chemotherapy may deliver a synergistic benefit for colorectal cancer patients has demonstrated the efficiency of a small molecule drug, PRIMA-1met, in inhibiting the growth of colorectal cancer cells.

    PRIMA-1met is a compound that has been shown in previous studies to activate mutant p53, a tumour suppressor gene, and promotes death of cancer cells...

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