Chemistry posts
- June 17, 2011
- 10:57 AM
- 952 views
Smelly Hangups for Mosquitoes... and Bedbugs?
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
A study in Nature this month reveals a promising new line of defense against disease-carrying, bloodthirsty critters, namely the mosquito. The new line of defense is based on smelly chemicals, or inhibitory odorants, that disrupt the mosquito's ability to detect and travel towards human breath. Mosquitoes, as well as other blood-feeding insects, are attracted towards the carbon dioxide that we exhale with every breathe cycle (oxygen in, carbon dioxide out).... Read more »
Turner SL, Li N, Guda T, Githure J, Cardé RT, & Ray A. (2011) Ultra-prolonged activation of CO2-sensing neurons disorients mosquitoes. Nature, 474(7349), 87-91. PMID: 21637258
- June 15, 2011
- 10:10 PM
- 939 views
Chocolate Everywhere!
by teofilo in Gambler's House
I mentioned earlier that there was a new paper out on chocolate at Chaco that I needed to read. I read it today, and it’s quite interesting. One of the most interesting things about it is that it’s by a different group of researchers than the first one and uses somewhat different methods. As far [...]... Read more »
Washburn, D., Washburn, W., & Shipkova, P. (2011) The prehistoric drug trade: widespread consumption of cacao in Ancestral Pueblo and Hohokam communities in the American Southwest. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1634-1640. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.029
- June 15, 2011
- 01:35 PM
- 1,202 views
Sickle-Cell Disease, Oxygen Isotopes, and Malarial Romans
by Kristina Killgrove in Powered By Osteons
Two articles published last month in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology are starting to greatly complicate bioarchaeologists' use and interpretation of stable oxygen isotope ratios in an attempt to understand migration and mobility in the past. Science is constantly progressing, and it can be challenging to keep up with the latest research. The real challenge for me, though, is in interpreting the isotope analyses I have done on populations from Imperial Rome - first becau........ Read more »
Bianucci, R., Mattutino, G., Lallo, R., Charlier, P., Jouin-Spriet, H., Peluso, A., Higham, T., Torre, C., & Rabino Massa, E. (2008) Immunological evidence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in an Egyptian child mummy from the Early Dynastic Period. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(7), 1880-1885. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.019
Pollard AM, Pellegrini M, & Lee-Thorp JA. (2011) Technical note: Some observations on the conversion of dental enamel δ(18) o(p) values to δ(18) o(w) to determine human mobility. American journal of physical anthropology. PMID: 21541927
Prowse TL, Schwarcz HP, Garnsey P, Knyf M, Macchiarelli R, & Bondioli L. (2007) Isotopic evidence for age-related immigration to imperial Rome. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132(4), 510-9. PMID: 17205550
Reitsema LJ, & Crews DE. (2011) Brief communication: Oxygen isotopes as a biomarker for sickle-cell disease? Results from transgenic mice expressing human hemoglobin S genes. American journal of physical anthropology. PMID: 21541922
Soren, D. (2003) Can archaeologists excavate evidence of malaria?. World Archaeology, 35(2), 193-209. DOI: 10.1080/0043824032000111371
- June 12, 2011
- 12:36 AM
- 559 views
Radiation and Sex Odds
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
Disclaimer: Living near a nuclear power plant is not the answer to increasing the odds of you men out there fathering a baby boy, the boy you so eagerly want to teach how to spit and play baseball. While it may seem that way, the effects of ionizing radiation reach far beyond disturbing sex odds. In February of this year, a study revealed a cause-and-effect relationship between ionizing radiation and disturbed sex odds, in other words a higher number of male infants born compared to females.... Read more »
Scherb H, & Voigt K. (2011) The human sex odds at birth after the atmospheric atomic bomb tests, after Chernobyl, and in the vicinity of nuclear facilities. Environmental science and pollution research international, 18(5), 697-707. PMID: 21336635
- June 9, 2011
- 09:35 PM
- 755 views
FDA 'Steps up' for Nanotechnology
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
In a memorandum issued by the White House today (June 9th, 2011) the US government set in place more rigorous standards for the regulation and oversight of nanomaterials. According to the U.S. memorandum, federal agencies must increasingly seek out and develop information about the potential effects of nanomaterials on human health and the environment. ... Read more »
Bawa R. (2011) Regulating Nanomedicine - Can the FDA Handle it?. Current drug delivery, 8(3), 227-34. PMID: 21291376
- June 9, 2011
- 08:45 PM
- 360 views
When Chemists Go to War, Part II
by Mutant Dragon in Puff the Mutant Dragon
How British homeopaths tried to use mustard gas as a "homeopathic remedy"...why J.B.S. Haldane supported chemical warfare...how mustard gas led to the birth of cancer chemotherapy...and more.... Read more »
Fenn JE, & Udelsman R. (2011) First use of intravenous chemotherapy cancer treatment: rectifying the record. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 212(3), 413-7. PMID: 21247779
- June 9, 2011
- 03:21 PM
- 2,067 views
From the Archives: Reflections on the Gulf Oil Spill - Conversations With My Grandpa
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
If you didn't already know because, by chance, you missed my tweets, posts, and facebook updates, there is a science blogging contest going on RIGHT NOW. The 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize is currently narrowing down the top 20 posts from 87 nominees. To get through the gauntlet, a post has to get enough votes. Rather than remind you again to vote for Observations of a Nerd, I figured I'd show you why you should. Over the next 24 hours, I'll be reposting the three posts in the competition........ Read more »
Jonathan L. Ramseur. (2010) Oil Spills in U.S. Coastal Waters: Background, Governance, and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service , 7-5700 (RL33705). info:/
Paine, R., Ruesink, J., Sun, A., Soulanille, E., Wonham, M., Harley, C., Brumbaugh, D., & Secord, D. (1996) TROUBLE ON OILED WATERS: Lessons from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27(1), 197-235. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.197
SWEDMARK, M., GRANMO, A., & KOLLBERG, S. (1973) Effects of oil dispersants and oil emulsions on marine animals. Water Research, 7(11), 1649-1672. DOI: 10.1016/0043-1354(73)90134-6
- June 2, 2011
- 01:59 PM
- 1,029 views
Challenging “arsenic-life” in the comfort of your own lab:
by Brooke N in Smaller Questions
Felisa Wolfe-Simon (right at Lake Mono) and her laboratory have put an offer on the table that most people are refusing.... Read more »
Wolfe-Simon F, Blum JS, Kulp TR, Gordon GW, Hoeft SE, Pett-Ridge J, Stolz JF, Webb SM, Weber PK, Davies PC.... (2010) A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus. Science (New York, N.Y.). PMID: 21127214
- May 30, 2011
- 03:29 PM
- 1,115 views
Curcumin and the Big 'C'
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
Summer is almost here, and with it days of sunbathing and feasting on soul foods at that 4th of July throw-down. Unfortunately, we do need to be concerned with the amount of time we spend basking in sun rays. "Given the increasing incidence of skin cancer and even higher incidence of condemned skin in the aging population, the application of curcumin in prevention of skin carcinogenesis holds great potential," says Dr. Cherie Ann Nathan.... Read more »
Phillips JM, Clark C, Herman-Ferdinandez L, Moore-Medlin T, Rong X, Gill JR, Clifford JL, Abreo F, & Nathan CA. (2011) Curcumin Inhibits Skin Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tumor Growth In Vivo. Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. PMID: 21493306
Gravitz L. (2011) Chemoprevention: First line of defence. Nature, 471(7339). PMID: 21430719
- May 29, 2011
- 02:05 PM
- 888 views
Beneficial Biological Effects of Polyhydroxy Fullerenes
by Michael Long in Phased
A nanomaterial commonly presumed to be universally toxic appears to be beneficial to algae, plants, fungi, and invertebrates.... Read more »
Gao, J., Wang, Y., Folta, K. M., Krishna, V., Bai, W., Indeglia, P., Georgieva, A., Nakamura, H., Koopman, B., & Moudgil, B. (2011) Polyhydroxy Fullerenes (Fullerols or Fullerenols): Beneficial Effects on Growth and Lifespan in Diverse Biological Models. PLoS ONE, 6(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019976
- May 28, 2011
- 09:03 AM
- 1,463 views
Can we target antivirals to the host cell?
by Connor Bamford in The Rule of 6ix
Two papers published recently explore the idea of targeting antiviral compounds to the host cell using high-throughput organic synthesis and an in vitro screen. Both groups identify a single novel inhibitor of virus replication and both are host specific. One paper goes further and identifies the target and also the in vivo potential of this compound. These papers highlight the hopes and pitfalls of targeting the host cell against viruses while shedding light on the basic biology of these ........ Read more »
Bonavia, A., Franti, M., Pusateri Keaney, E., Kuhen, K., Seepersaud, M., Radetich, B., Shao, J., Honda, A., Dewhurst, J., Balabanis, K.... (2011) Organic Synthesis Toward Small-Molecule Probes and Drugs Special Feature: Identification of broad-spectrum antiviral compounds and assessment of the druggability of their target for efficacy against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(17), 6739-6744. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1017142108
Krumm, S., Ndungu, J., Yoon, J., Dochow, M., Sun, A., Natchus, M., Snyder, J., & Plemper, R. (2011) Potent Host-Directed Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Myxovirus RNA-Dependent RNA-Polymerases. PLoS ONE, 6(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020069
Yoon, J., Chawla, D., Paal, T., Ndungu, M., Du, Y., Kurtkaya, S., Sun, A., Snyder, J., & Plemper, R. (2008) High-Throughput Screening--Based Identification of Paramyxovirus Inhibitors. Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 13(7), 591-608. DOI: 10.1177/1087057108321089
- May 27, 2011
- 08:00 AM
- 823 views
Part I: When Chemists Go to War
by Puff the Mutant Dragon in Puff the Mutant Dragon
How one chemist served his country -- and lived to regret it.... Read more »
Erisman, J., Sutton, M., Galloway, J., Klimont, Z., & Winiwarter, W. (2008) How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world. Nature Geoscience, 1(10), 636-639. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo325
- May 25, 2011
- 03:03 PM
- 866 views
How To Set Someone On Fire
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
I've just come across a deeply disturbing paper: Attempted ignition of petrol vapour by lit cigarettes and lit cannabis resin jointsThe authors set out to discover whether you could set petrol on fire by dropping a lit cigarette or hash joint onto it. It turns out, surprisingly, that you can't.Thirty nine (39) ignition attempts that involved exposing lit commercial cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes and cannabis resin joints to petrol vapour were undertaken; ignition was not achieved in any of t........ Read more »
Jewell RS, Thomas JD, & Dodds RA. (2011) Attempted ignition of petrol vapour by lit cigarettes and lit cannabis resin joints. Science , 51(2), 72-6. PMID: 21605828
- May 25, 2011
- 10:50 AM
- 994 views
Why use a cofactor when you can create your own?
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
Blogging has been swamped lately by that miracle called life but I could not help but be drawn to a paper in this week's Science which describes a most unholy and unexpected stabilizing alliance in a protein's innards.Proteins are known to form cross-links such as disulfide bonds to stabilize interactions with ligands and substrates. Any reasonable chemist would expect these kinds of interactions to be mediated between polar residues. But nature usurps us low-lifes once again. In this week's Sci........ Read more »
Cooley, R., Rhoads, T., Arp, D., & Karplus, P. (2011) A Diiron Protein Autogenerates a Valine-Phenylalanine Cross-Link. Science, 332(6032), 929-929. DOI: 10.1126/science.1205687
- May 25, 2011
- 10:50 AM
- 674 views
Xtreme C-H functionalization: Natural Edition
by The Curious Wavefunction in The Curious Wavefunction
Blogging has been swamped lately by that miracle called life but I could not help but be drawn to a paper in this week's Science which describes a most unholy and unexpected stabilizing alliance in a protein's innards.Proteins are known to form cross-links such as disulfide bonds to stabilize interactions with ligands and substrates. Any reasonable chemist would expect these kinds of interactions to be mediated between polar residues. But nature usurps us low-lifes once again. In this week's Sci........ Read more »
Cooley, R., Rhoads, T., Arp, D., & Karplus, P. (2011) A Diiron Protein Autogenerates a Valine-Phenylalanine Cross-Link. Science, 332(6032), 929-929. DOI: 10.1126/science.1205687
- May 21, 2011
- 10:13 PM
- 1,025 views
Life, Death, and Silver Bullets
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
A Science Fiction story about the Age of the Superbug
There was something about her... a pale, reddish complexion, so rare these days... all the other desks in the dull classroom where occupied by students who faded together in their blue and gray hues... who snuck furtive glances at the ruddy newcomer, in her bright blue overalls and frizzy, untamed hair.
... Read more »
Patterson, J. (2010) Rising plague. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 120(3), 649-649. DOI: 10.1172/JCI42104
- May 21, 2011
- 06:10 PM
- 944 views
Limitations of Rosetta for Biomacromolecular Structural Modeling
by Michael Long in Phased
Rosetta needs to be optimized for atomic-scale resolution if it is to reach its maximum potential for predicting the three-dimensional shape of proteins and nucleic acids.... Read more »
Das, R. (2011) Four Small Puzzles That Rosetta Doesn't Solve. PLoS ONE, 6(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020044
- May 20, 2011
- 02:35 AM
- 1,211 views
Harvesting Light with Nanostructures: New Crops for Silicon Devices
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
It seems that cat-like reflexes pay off for solar cell technology... Nanowhiskers deposited on traditional silicon solar cells help in the harvesting of bountiful deep-red solar rays. Researchers are steadily making progress towards improved solar cell technologies, like Combine harvesters barreling down a field of tall golden crop. The benefits are huge; the problem is getting there without spending a fortune. A major limitation in the harvesting of solar energy is a common problem in almost ev........ Read more »
Chang CH, Yu P, Hsu MH, Tseng PC, Chang WL, Sun WC, Hsu WC, Hsu SH, & Chang YC. (2011) Combined micro- and nano-scale surface textures for enhanced near-infrared light harvesting in silicon photovoltaics. Nanotechnology, 22(9), 95201. PMID: 21258142
- May 16, 2011
- 05:10 PM
- 1,106 views
Cheap and Easy Isolation of Single-Chirality Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
by Michael Long in Phased
Gel chromatography is used to purify a valuable nanotechnology material.... Read more »
Liu, H., Nishide, D., Tanaka, T., & Kataura, H. (2011) Large-scale single-chirality separation of single-wall carbon nanotubes by simple gel chromatography. Nature Communications, 309. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1313
- May 15, 2011
- 01:24 PM
- 1,799 views
Sensors in the focus
by Joerg Heber in All That Matters
Sensing the presence of molecules in gases and liquids is a billion dollar business. Just think about all the carbon monoxide detectors in private homes, or blood glucose sensors. In particular for many technical and scientific applications, ultrasmall and precise sensors are desired. This includes sensors to measure gases in catalytic nanoreactors and fuel cells, [...]... Read more »
Liu, N., Tang, M., Hentschel, M., Giessen, H., & Alivisatos, A. (2011) Nanoantenna-enhanced gas sensing in a single tailored nanofocus. Nature Materials. DOI: 10.1038/nmat3029
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