Chemistry posts
- January 26, 2012
- 02:18 PM
- 400 views
Spin Silk Like a Spider! No Legs Required (Just Microfluidics)
by Hector Munoz in Microfluidic Future
Biomimetics. I love that word. Well, probably not as much as microfluidics, but it’s a close second. If you’re unfamiliar with the word, it basically refers to design that mimics biology. Biological systems have evolved into finely tuned machines, why not mimic them in order to synthesize what we need? Biomimetics isn’t new, it’s been around in one form or another for a long time (my favorite instance is Velcro), but our capabilities are broadening as we are able to manuf........ Read more »
Kang, E., Jeong, G., Choi, Y., Lee, K., Khademhosseini, A., & Lee, S. (2011) Digitally tunable physicochemical coding of material composition and topography in continuous microfibres. Nature Materials, 10(11), 877-883. DOI: 10.1038/nmat3108
- January 17, 2012
- 10:00 AM
- 476 views
How a cup of coffee a day may help to keep type 2 diabetes at bay.
by Michelle Clement in Crude Matter
Many of us, especially the current or former graduate students among us, are addicted to our breakfast caffeinated beverage of choice. Mine is tea, but if I had to guess, I’d wager that the most popular option is coffee. We chug it down in the morning to get ready for our day, we sip it thoughtfully at work, and we seek it out in the wee hours when we should be sleeping but instead we’re at the lab or at our desks, telling ourselves that we’ll run just one more gel or write jus........ Read more »
Cheng, B., Liu, X., Gong, H., Huang, L., Chen, H., Zhang, X., Li, C., Yang, M., Ma, B., Jiao, L.... (2011) Coffee Components Inhibit Amyloid Formation of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide in Vitro: Possible Link between Coffee Consumption and Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59(24), 13147-13155. DOI: 10.1021/jf201702h
- January 16, 2012
- 09:51 AM
- 977 views
Is this journal for real?
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
This year 134 suspect new journals have appeared from the abyss, all published by the same clandestine company “Scientific & Academic Publishing, USA“. Scientists have been quick to raise the alarm and ruthless in their response.... Read more »
Morrison, Heather. (2012) Scholarly Communication in Crisis. Freedom for scholarship in the internet age. Simon Fraser University School of Communication. info:/
- January 9, 2012
- 09:13 AM
- 390 views
Giant optical gain in rare-earth-ion-doped amplifiers
by Dave Flanagan in materialsdave.com
Scientists at the University of Twente have developed high performance rare-earth-ion-doped optical fiber amplifiers.... Read more »
Geskus, D., Aravazhi, S., García-Blanco, S., & Pollnau, M. (2011) Giant Optical Gain in a Rare-Earth-Ion-Doped Microstructure. Advanced Materials. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201101781
- January 1, 2012
- 09:41 AM
- 682 views
Copyright vs Medicine: If this topic isn’t covered in your newspaper this weekend, get a new newspaper
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, after thirty years of silence, authors of a standard clinical psychiatric bedside test have issued take down orders of new medical research.... Read more »
Newman, J., & Feldman, R. (2011) Copyright and Open Access at the Bedside. New England Journal of Medicine, 365(26), 2447-2449. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1110652
- December 31, 2011
- 01:19 PM
- 352 views
New Year’s Special: How Soon is Too Soon for an Alcohol Breath Test?
by Arielle D. Ross in Salamander Hours
As I mentioned in the latest “Top 3 Science links” post, for most of North America, New Year’s Eve signifies two things: a fresh start and/or alcohol. Sadly, the latter means that some of us will make bad decisions tonight, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Sterling, K. (2011) The Rate of Dissipation of Mouth Alcohol in Alcohol Positive Subjects. Journal of Forensic Sciences. DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.02023.x
- December 26, 2011
- 11:33 PM
- 720 views
Science that’ll warm your hands
by Cath in Basal Science (BS) Clarified
After trying the hand-warmer my friend gave me for Christmas I thought, “cool, I wonder how this works?” Here’s the hand-warmer in action: So what’s going on? The hand-warmer heats up when you bend the metal disk that’s inside the pouch. Bending the disk causes the liquid inside the hand-warmer to solidify. This change [...]... Read more »
Sandnes, B. (2008) The physics and the chemistry of the heat pad. American Journal of Physics, 76(6), 546. DOI: 10.1119/1.2830533
- December 22, 2011
- 05:42 PM
- 743 views
Unruly beasts in the jungle of molecular modeling
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
The Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design is having a smorgasbord of accomplished modelers reflecting upon the state and future of modeling in drug discovery research and I would definitely recommend anyone - and especially experimentalists - interested in the role of modeling to take a look at the articles. Many of the articles are extremely thoughtful and balanced and take a hard look at the lack of rigorous studies and results in the field; if there was ever a need to make journal articl........ Read more »
Clark, R., & Waldman, M. (2011) Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Three barriers to progress in computer-aided molecular design. Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9504-3
- December 19, 2011
- 12:34 PM
- 459 views
What’s in a Crab Stick? – Identifying the Fish in Your Food
by Arielle D. Ross in Salamander Hours
I had a lot of great experiences during my first year of university, even in my introductory biology classes. For example, I can remember listening to Dr. Steven Newmaster, a taxonomist who was hooked on plants, recount a story about going to a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Le Fresne, S., Popova, M., Le Vacon, F., & Carton, T. (2011) Application of Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (DHPLC) for the Identification of Fish: A New Way To Determine the Composition of Processed Food Containing Multiple Species. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59(23), 12302-12308. DOI: 10.1021/jf2030242
- December 13, 2011
- 10:36 AM
- 561 views
On reproducibility in modeling
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
A recent issue of Science has an article discussing an issue that has been a constant headache for anyone involved with any kind of modeling in drug discovery - the lack of reproducibility in computational science. The author Roger Peng who is a biostatistician at Johns Hopkins talks about modeling standards in general but I think many of his caveats could apply to drug discovery modeling. The problem has been recognized for a few years now but there have been very few concerted efforts to addre........ Read more »
Peng, R. (2011) Reproducible Research in Computational Science. Science, 334(6060), 1226-1227. DOI: 10.1126/science.1213847
- December 12, 2011
- 10:09 AM
- 3,691 views
The Beethoven connection
by Joerg Heber in All That Matters
Symphonies are some of the most complex musical pieces. They involve different instruments, each with their own unique sound, and each instruments section playing their own tunes. Yet, what are symphonies in comparison to the complexity of life? Proteins for example, they are made of a limited number of building blocks, amino acids, but take [...]... Read more »
Spivak, D., Giesa, T., Wood, E., & Buehler, M. (2011) Category Theoretic Analysis of Hierarchical Protein Materials and Social Networks. PLoS ONE, 6(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023911
Giesa, T., Spivak, D., & Buehler, M. (2011) Reoccurring Patterns in Hierarchical Protein Materials and Music: The Power of Analogies. BioNanoScience, 1(4), 153-161. DOI: 10.1007/s12668-011-0022-5
- December 9, 2011
- 04:37 PM
- 359 views
A Gut-Full of Probiotics for Your Neurological Well-Being
by agoldstein in WiSci
Probiotics, often referred to as ‘good bacteria’, are known to promote a healthy gut, but can they promote a healthy mind? Exploring the new world of neurological probiotics, researchers in BioEssays present new ideas on how neurochemicals delivered directly to the gut, via probiotic intestinal microbiota, exert their beneficial effects in maintaining gastrointestinal health and even psychological well-being.... Read more »
Reid, G. (2011) Neuroactive probiotics. BioEssays, 33(8), 562-562. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100074
- December 7, 2011
- 08:50 PM
- 617 views
Why drug design is like airplane design. And why it isn't.
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
Air travel constitutes the safest mode of travel in the world today. What is even more impressive is the way airplanes are designed by modeling and simulation, sometimes before the actual prototype is built. In fact simulation has been a mainstay in the aeronautical industry for a long time and what seems like a tremendously complex interaction of metal, plastic and the unpredictable movements of air flow can now be reasonably captured in a computer model.In a recent paper, Walter Woltosz of Sim........ Read more »
Woltosz, W. (2011) If we designed airplanes like we design drugs…. Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9490-5
- December 6, 2011
- 10:25 AM
- 415 views
The Vasa Resurrected
by Dan Bailey in Smells Like Science
After the Vasa was salvaged from the bottom of Stockholm harbor nearly intact in 1961 and towed to a dry dock, archaeologists were some of the first people to board the resurrected ship. They squeezed through the Vasa’s cramped quarters and slogged through three-foot-deep mud on the lower decks, searching for artifacts. They quickly began to uncover thousands of objects: coins, bowls, cups, elegant furniture, a board game, a butter cask containing 333-year-old butter. Like a nautical Pompe........ Read more »
Hocker, Emma. (2010) Maintaining a Stable Environment: "Vasa's" New Climate-Control System. Association for Preservation Technology International Bulletin, 41(2/3), 3-9. info:/
- December 1, 2011
- 03:31 PM
- 410 views
Two ways of looking at the same proteins: Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins
by Daniel in Ego sum Daniel
Back in June I blogged about a research paper that we had just published with myself as the lead author. The subject of our paper was the evolution of the Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins (IGFBPs), and how this family of proteins has expanded in vertebrate evolution. Yesterday I noticed that this paper, "my" paper!, now has received its very first citation! This was a my first paper as lead author, so naturally I avidly checked it out.
The research paper that cites us is in press ........ Read more »
Nili, M., Mukherjee, A., Shinde, U., David, L., & Rotwein, P. (2011) Defining the disulfide bonds of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 by tandem mass spectrometry with electron transfer dissociation and collision induced dissociation. Journal of Biological Chemistry. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M111.285528
Ocampo Daza D, Sundström G, Bergqvist CA, Duan C, & Larhammar D. (2011) Evolution of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein (IGFBP) Family. Endocrinology, 152(6), 2278-89. PMID: 21505050
- November 30, 2011
- 11:30 AM
- 475 views
Pills, thrills and polymorphs
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Almost any skilled organic chemist could create novel variations on the solid form, polymorphs, of small molecules currently used as pharmaceuticals. This represents a problem for manufacturers of generic drugs because big pharma attempts to extend the patent lifespan of its well-known products by adding such polymorphs to the patent. Prasad Vure of Indian generics [...]Pills, thrills and polymorphs is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
... Read more »
Prasad Vure. (2011) Polymorph patents; how strong they are really?. Int. J. Intellectual Property Management, 4(4), 297-306. info:/
- November 30, 2011
- 08:45 AM
- 657 views
Fifteen years of extensive scientific research reveals the best* curry house in Manchester!
by Duncan Hull in O'Really?
Curryology, the branch of science that deals with curry, is an established discipline with a long and distinguished history. The myriad ingredients of curry, such as curcumin (in turmeric), capsaicin (in chilli pepper), cumin, coriander and many others have been a topic of extensive scientific research [1,2,3,4,5].
Like many large British cities, Manchester is blessed with a large population of people from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. All this means there is a bewildering array ........ Read more »
Bettaieb, I., Bourgou, S., Wannes, W., Hamrouni, I., Limam, F., & Marzouk, B. (2010) Essential Oils, Phenolics, and Antioxidant Activities of Different Parts of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(19), 10410-10418. DOI: 10.1021/jf102248j
Silva, F., Ferreira, S., Queiroz, J., & Domingues, F. (2011) Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) essential oil: its antibacterial activity and mode of action evaluated by flow cytometry. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 60(10), 1479-1486. DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.034157-0
Ringman JM, Frautschy SA, Cole GM, Masterman DL, & Cummings JL. (2005) A potential role of the curry spice curcumin in Alzheimer's disease. Current Alzheimer research, 2(2), 131-6. PMID: 15974909
Bode, A., & Dong, Z. (2011) The Two Faces of Capsaicin. Cancer Research, 71(8), 2809-2814. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-3756
- November 28, 2011
- 08:56 PM
- 563 views
The future of computation in drug discovery
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
Computational chemistry as an independent discipline has its roots in theoretical chemistry, itself an outgrowth of the revolutions in quantum mechanics in the 1920s and 30s. Theoretical and quantum chemistry advanced rapidly in the postwar era and led to many protocols for calculating molecular and electronic properties which became amenable to algorithmic implementation once computers came on the scene. Rapid growth in software and hardware in the 80s and 90s led to the transformation of theor........ Read more »
Bajorath, J. (2011) Computational chemistry in pharmaceutical research: at the crossroads. Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9488-z
Martin, E., Ertl, P., Hunt, P., Duca, J., & Lewis, R. (2011) Gazing into the crystal ball; the future of computer-aided drug design. Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9487-0
Maggiora, G. (2011) Is there a future for computational chemistry in drug research?. Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9493-2
- November 22, 2011
- 04:35 PM
- 654 views
Pepper spray and cocaine, a little known lethal combination
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
Capsaicin, the active chemical in "pepper spray" appears to be lethal to individuals under the influence of certain stimulants with the majority of deaths reported occuring within one hour.... Read more »
Mendelson, J., Tolliver, B., Delucchi, K., Baggott, M., Flower, K., Harris, C., Galloway, G., & Berger, P. (2009) Capsaicin, an active ingredient in pepper sprays, increases the lethality of cocaine. Forensic Toxicology, 28(1), 33-37. DOI: 10.1007/s11419-009-0079-9
- November 14, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 350 views
K2 Synthetic Marijuana: Heart Attacks, Suicides, and Surveillance
by David J Kroll in Terra Sigillata
Sixteen-year-old boys having heart attacks. Blog reports of deaths and suicides. And a little known chemistry and public health resource mobilized to identify “legal highs.” The chemical and biological phenomenon that is “synthetic marijuana” continued to develop over the last week as we learn more about these products from the medical and public health communities. [...]... Read more »
Mir, A., Obafemi, A., Young, A., & Kane, C. (2011) Myocardial Infarction Associated With Use of the Synthetic Cannabinoid K2. Pediatrics. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2010-3823
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