New research uses the implantable sensors to show how data-enabled resistance training can enhance bone healing. Tiny implantable sensors are helping University of Oregon researchers optimize the process of recovery from severe bone injuries. Scientists at the UO’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact have developed miniature implantable sensors that transmit real-time data about what’s happening at an injury site. In a new study, they use the technology to show that a resistance-training rehabilitation program can significantly…

Parahydrogen-enhanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy visualizes the process of [Fe]-hydrogenase catalysis. Microorganisms have long used hydrogen as an energy source. To do this, they rely on hydrogenases that contain metals such as nickel or iron in their catalytic center. In order to use these biocatalysts for hydrogen conversion, researchers around the world are working to understand the details of the catalysis process. A team from three Max Planck Institutes (MPI), the Center for Biostructural Imaging of Neurodegeneration (BIN) at the University…

Oregon State University researchers have synthesized new molecules able to quickly capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, an important tactic in climate change mitigation. The study, which focused on titanium peroxides, builds on their earlier research into vanadium peroxides. The research is part of large-scale federal effort to innovate new methods and materials for direct air capture, or DAC, of carbon dioxide, produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Findings of the research, led by May Nyman and…

Scientists from the National Reference Center for Vibrios and Cholera at the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with the Centre hospitalier de Mayotte, have revealed the spread of a highly drug-resistant cholera strain. The study was published on December 12, 2024 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Cholera is an infectious diarrheal disease caused by certain bacteria of the species Vibrio cholerae. In its most severe forms, cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal infectious diseases: in the absence…

Arrayed tungsten disulfide nanotubes pave way for new tech applications. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have made tungsten disulfide nanotubes which point in the same direction when formed, for the first time. They used a sapphire surface under carefully controlled conditions to form arrayed tungsten disulfide nanotubes, each consisting of rolled nanosheets, using chemical vapor deposition. The team’s technique resolves the long-standing issue of jumbled orientations in collected amounts of nanotubes, promising real world device applications for the exotic anisotropy…

… reversible sliding motion in ammonium-linked ferrocene. Researchers stabilized ferrocene molecules on a flat substrate for the first time, creating an electronically controllable sliding molecular machine. Artificial molecular machines, nanoscale machines consisting of a few molecules, offer the potential to transform fields involving catalysts, molecular electronics, medicines, and quantum materials. These machines operate by converting external stimuli, like electrical signals, into mechanical motion at the molecular level. Ferrocene, a special drum-shaped molecule composed of an iron (Fe) atom sandwiched between…

Supramolecular chemistry: Publication in Angewandte Chemie. How can aromatic compounds be separated from so-called aliphatic compounds efficiently without having to rely on energy-intensive processes? In the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie (Applied Chemistry), chemists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) present an innovative molecular sieve made of partially fluorinated macrocycles that can separate these compounds selectively. Aromatic compounds – substances with flat, ring-shaped structures made up of carbon atoms – play an important role in organic chemistry. Among other things, they…

Foundation for new cancer treatment strategies. A team led by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has, for the first time, grown tumor organoids – three-dimensional miniature tumors in the laboratory – that mimic the different structures and characteristics of pancreatic cancer. The scientists investigated how the various tumor organoids react to established and novel treatments. This opens the door to the development of effective new therapies. Pancreatic cancer ranks among the most lethal cancers, with an exceptionally…

The development of molecules to study and treat disease is becoming increasingly burdened by the time and specificity required to analyze the vast amounts of data generated by synthesizing large collections of new molecules. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital present a novel solution to this problem, using the fundamental fragmentation patterns of chemical building blocks to barcode reactions from starting materials to products. In doing so, they have removed a key bottleneck in the process of synthesizing and screening small…

In the future, delivering therapeutic drugs exactly where they are needed within the body could be the task of miniature robots. Not little metal humanoid or even bio-mimicking robots; think instead of tiny bubble-like spheres. Such robots would have a long and challenging list of requirements. For example, they would need to survive in bodily fluids, such as stomach acids, and be controllable, so they could be directed precisely to targeted sites. They also must release their medical cargo only…

Using high-powered lasers, this new method could help biologists study the body’s immune responses and develop new medicines. Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses. But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deep it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images. Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles…

Carl Zeiss Foundation sponsors InteReg project at Mainz University. Collaborative project involving Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, and the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research will receive EUR 6 million. The Carl Zeiss Foundation is contributing EUR 6 million to a research project on the regeneration of the nervous system at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The new Interactive Biomaterials for Neural Regeneration (InteReg) project will bring together researchers from the fields of neurobiology, neuroimmunology,…

Bio-based adhesives for industrial applications. Folding boxes are considered sustainable packaging solutions for numerous everyday products – whether breakfast cereals, electronics, medicines, or perfumes. Made from paper and cardboard, folding boxes are resource-efficient in production, biodegradable, and easily recyclable. However, environmentally friendly adhesives are still lacking for completely sustainable manufacturing. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP are developing and testing bio-based adhesives for the industrial production of folding boxes in the project Sustainable Gluing With Renewable Adhesives…

Replacing animal experiments: an MHH research team has succeeded in producing a haematopoietic heart organoid for the first time. How do human organs develop and what happens to them when they become diseased? To answer these questions, researchers are increasingly focussing on so-called organoids. These mini-organs, just a few millimetres in size, consist of groups of cells cultivated in the laboratory that can form organ-like structures. Similar to embryonic development, organoids make it possible to investigate the interaction of cells…

A recent breakthrough in pain research brings hope to chronic pain patients. A team led by Prof. Dr. Annette Beck-Sickinger at the Institute of Biochemistry, Leipzig University, has uncovered the potential of a natural compound, hederagenin, found in the medicinal plant ivy (Hedera helix), as a highly selective inhibitor of the neuropeptide FF receptor 1 (NPFFR1). This discovery, published in the prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, marks a significant stride toward innovative pain therapy solutions.  Understanding the Role of…

Age determines the genes that regulate our internal body clock. Intrigued by this biological function, the University Medical Center Halle published a study on the circadian rhythm linked to our aging process in the journalAging Cell. The analysis examined mice’s gene activity of different ages using artificial intelligence. This research could result in novel therapeutic concepts to counteract the aging process. The way you age is influenced by your environment, lifestyle, and inherited genes, along with how those genes work….