Category Health/Medical

The tip of an atomic force microscope on a cantilevered arm is used to pull a graphene nanoribbon the same way it would be used to pull apart a protein or a strand of DNA in a Rice University lab. The microscope can be used to measure properties like rigidity in a material as it’s manipulated by the tip. Courtesy of the Kiang Research Group

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) bend and twist easily in solution, making them adaptable for biological uses like DNA analysis, drug delivery and biomimetic applications, according to scientists at Rice University. GNR’s can be thousands of times longer than they are wide. They can be produced in bulk by chemically “unzipping” carbon nanotubes, a process invented by Rice chemist and co-author James Tour and his lab.

Their size means they can operate on th...

A schematic diagram of the SWCNT electrical immunosensor with two pairs of concentration and detection electrodes.

An electrical immunosensor has been developed to detect acute myocardial infarction within a minute. The system works by measuring the level of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a protein that is excreted by the heart muscle into the blood following a heart attack. Prof. Jang states, “This new immunosensor is constructed in a different way than any other sensor.” He adds, “Owing to the new design of this immunosensor, this device is able to rapidly diagnose the level of heart attacks at the point of care.”

It is a a rapid, label-free, and highly sensitive single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) electrical immunosensor, featuring two pairs of electrodes...

High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

Commonly touted as “good cholesterol” for helping to reduce risk of stroke and heart attack, both high and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol may increase a person’s risk of premature death, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. Conversely, intermediate HDL cholesterol levels may increase longevity.

“The findings surprised us,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University and the study’s senior author. “Previously it was thought that raised levels of the good cholesterol were beneficial...

Postdoc Jinsen Chen, left, and chemistry professor Shiyue Fang in the lab where Fang’s group discovered a new way to synthesize DNA. Credit: Michigan Tech

Michigan Technological University scientists have developed a process that could lead to stickier and better gene therapy drugs. The drugs, called antisense DNA, are made from short, single strands of synthetic DNA. They work by blocking cells from making harmful proteins, which can cause maladies ranging from cancer to Ebola to HIV-AIDS. Only a couple of these synthetic DNA drugs are on the market, but a number are in clinical trials, including a potential treatment for ALS.

Disease organisms can inject harmful proteins into our bodies, and so can mutations in our own genetic material...