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    High-Pressure experiments solve Meteorite Mystery

    June 9, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. Cristobalite crystals from Harvard Mineralogical Museum, found at Ellora caves in India. Credit: RRUFF Project / University of Arizona 2. A fresh impact crater on Mars, as imaged by the HiRISE camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    1. Cristobalite crystals from Harvard Mineralogical Museum, found at Ellora caves in India. Credit: RRUFF Project / University of Arizona
    2. A fresh impact crater on Mars, as imaged by the HiRISE camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

    X-ray analysis reveals unexpected behaviour of silica minerals. With high-pressure experiments at DESY’s X-ray light source PETRA III and other facilities, a research team around Leonid Dubrovinsky from the University of Bayreuth has solved a long standing riddle in the analysis of meteorites from Moon and Mars. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, can explain why different versions of silica can coexist in meteorites, although they normally require vastly different conditions to form...

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    Tackling Infectious Disease, one Protein at a time

    June 9, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    1.The structure of a protein named thioredoxin. Garry Buchko and colleagues used NMR to solve the structure of the protein, which is found in an infection often conveyed by ticks. Credit: SSGCID 2. A protein in the pathogen that causes cryptosporidiosis. The microbe can cause mild to severe diarrhea in people who accidentally swallow a mouthful of contaminated water. Credit: SSGCID 3.Buchko and colleagues solved this structure of a protein found in the organism that causes malaria. Credit: SSGCID 4. A protein in the microbe that causes melioidosis, which occurs most often in people who live in tropical climates. Infection often starts in the lungs when contaminated dust or soil is inhaled. Credit: SSGCID 5. A protein in the micro-organism that causes giardiasis, which translates to nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue and other symptoms in hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year. Credit: SSGCID

    1.The structure of a protein thioredoxin. Garry Buchko and colleagues used NMR to solve the structure of the protein, which is found in an infection often conveyed by ticks. Credit: SSGCID
    2. A protein in the pathogen that causes cryptosporidiosis. The microbe can cause mild to severe diarrhea in people who accidentally swallow a mouthful of contaminated water. Credit: SSGCID
    3.Buchko and colleagues solved this structure of a protein found in the organism that causes malaria. Credit: SSGCID
    4. A protein in the microbe that causes melioidosis, which occurs most often in people who live in tropical climates. Infection often starts in the lungs when contaminated dust or soil is inhaled. Credit: SSGCID
    5...

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    Red Onions pack a Cancer-fighting punch, study reveals

    June 8, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Abdulmonem I. Murayyan, Cynthya M. Manohar, Gordon Hayward, Suresh Neethirajan. Antiproliferative activity of Ontario grown onions against colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Food Research International, 2017; 96: 12 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.03.017

    Abdulmonem I. Murayyan, Cynthya M. Manohar, Gordon Hayward, Suresh Neethirajan. Antiproliferative activity of Ontario grown onions against colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Food Research International, 2017; 96: 12 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.03.017

    Not all onions are created equal. Engineering professor Suresh Neethirajan and PhD student Abdulmonem Murayyan tested 5 onion types grown in Ontario and discovered the Ruby Ring onion variety came out on top. Onions as a superfood are still not well known. But they contain one of the highest concentrations of quercetin, a type of flavonoid, and Ontario onions boasts particularly high levels of the compound compared to some parts of the world.

    The Guelph study revealed that the red onion not only has high levels of quercetin, but also high amount...

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    Sea Urchin Protein provides insights into Self-Assembly of Skeletal Structures

    June 8, 2017, Categories  Physics, Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Scanning electron microscopy image of a calcite crystal generated in the presence of the sea urchin protein rSM50 on a silicon wafer showing organized nanotexturing on exposed surfaces

    Scanning electron microscopy image of a calcite crystal generated in the presence of the sea urchin protein rSM50 on a silicon wafer showing organized nanotexturing on exposed surfaces

    Researchers are investigating a protein found inside the spicules of a sea urchin embryo to understand what makes these proteins such efficient ‘brick organizers’. Calcium carbonate, or CaCO3, comprises more than 4% of Earth’s crust. Its most common natural forms are chalk, limestone, and marble, produced by the sedimentation of the shells of small fossilized snails, shellfish, and coral over millions of years. NYU Dentistry researchers are studying how nature creates 3D CaCO3 inorganic/organic based materials to form seashells, invertebrate exoskeletons, and vertebrate bone, dentine, and enamel.

    John Evans,...

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