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    Compounds found in green tea and red wine may block formation of toxic metabolites

    July 3, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Green tea. Credit: © Kittiphan / Fotolia

    Green tea. Credit: © Kittiphan / Fotolia

    Discovery may pave the way for therapies to treat inborn congenital metabolic disorders. A new Tel Aviv University study suggests there is hope of treating certain inborn congenital metabolic diseases – a hope found in green tea and in red wine. Most people with inherited metabolic disorders are born with a defective gene that results in a critical enzyme deficiency. In the absence of a cure, many patients with inborn congenital metabolic disorders must adhere to a strict and demanding diet their entire lives. This new research finds that certain compounds found naturally in green tea and red wine may block the formation of toxic metabolites.
     
    The researchers considered two compounds: epigallocatechin gallate, known as EGCG, found n...
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    Eat ’em up: Next-Generation Therapeutic helps Immune cells Detect, Destroy Cancer

    July 3, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Design of a TAM-targeting supramolecular therapeutic.

    Design of a TAM-targeting supramolecular therapeutic.

    Supramolecule provides a double whammy to knock out cancer’s ‘eat-me-not’ signaling, keep macrophages on the attack. Researchers have found that cancer cells evade destruction by macrophages in 2 ways – by converting cells to become docile, M2 macrophages, and by sending out an ‘eat me not’ signal that tricks M1 macrophages into letting them be. Investigators have developed a therapeutic that delivers a double whammy to knock out both mechanisms.

    Macrophages play a paradoxical role, with M1 macrophages rousing the immune system to action and M2 macrophages quelling inflammation...

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    Novel Hybrid Catalyst to Split Water discovered

    July 3, 2018, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Screenshot of video showing hybrid catalyst for water splitting (see video at: https://youtu.be/nkouqCFaqAk). Credit: Image courtesy of University of Houston

    Screenshot of video showing hybrid catalyst for water splitting (see video at: https://youtu.be/nkouqCFaqAk). Credit: Image courtesy of University of Houston

    Catalyst uses inexpensive elements and could be scaled up for commercial use. Researchers from the University of Houston and the California Institute of Technology have reported an inexpensive hybrid catalyst capable of splitting water to produce hydrogen, suitable for large-scale commercialization.

    Most systems to split water into its components – hydrogen and oxygen – require two catalysts, one to spur a reaction to separate the hydrogen and a second to produce oxygen. The new catalyst, made of iron and dinickel phosphides on commercially available nickel foam, performs both functions.

    Researchers said it has the potential to dramat...

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    First confirmed Image of Newborn Planet caught with ESO’s VLT

    July 3, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star.
    Credit: ESO/A. Müller et al.

    SPHERE, a planet-hunting instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, has captured the first confirmed image of a planet caught in the act of forming in the dusty disc surrounding a young star. The young planet is carving a path through the primordial disc of gas and dust around the very young star PDS 70. The data suggest that the planet’s atmosphere is cloudy.

    The SPHERE instrument enabled...

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