Biochemistry news

New platinum compound shows promise in tumor cells

New platinum compound shows promise in tumor cells

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created 9 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells.


Green tea chemical combined with another may hold promise for treatment of brain disorders

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein ...


Researchers restore some function to cells from cystic fibrosis patients

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before ...


Carbonic anhydrase

Blood Enzyme Could Help Realize Clean Coal

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- An enzyme in our blood that enables our lungs to exhale carbon dioxide could be the key to isolating carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants in order to store them safely underground. A ...


Researchers Identify Key Molecules in Photosynthesis

Researchers Identify Key Molecules in Photosynthesis

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemistry professor Harry Frank led an international group of researchers that identified the molecules in algae which direct the organisms to convert sunlight into oxygen. The findings may ...


Stopping MRSA before it becomes dangerous is possible, researchers find

Stopping MRSA before it becomes dangerous is possible, researchers find

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Most scientists believe that staph infections are caused by many bacterial cells that signal each other to emit toxins. The signaling process is called quorum sensing because many bacteria must be present ...


The hidden lives of proteins

The hidden lives of proteins

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

An important Brandeis study appearing in the December 3 issue of Nature raises the curtain on the hidden lives of proteins at the atomic level. The study reports that for the first time, researchers used x ...


Nervy research: Researchers take initial look at ion channels in a model system

Nervy research: Researchers take initial look at ion channels in a model system

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Before one of your muscles can twitch, before the thought telling it to flex can race down your nerve, a tiny floodgate of sorts -- called an ion channel -- must open in the surface of each cell in these organs ...


Soy peptide lunasin has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory properties

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting leukemia and blocking the inflammation ...


All decked out: Networks of chitin filaments are integral components of diatom silica shells

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A whole microcosm of various bizarrely shaped life forms opens up when you look at diatoms, the primary component of ocean plankton, under a microscope. The regularly structured silica shells of these tiny ...


Sandia CR5

Machine Converts CO2 into Gasoline, Diesel, and Jet Fuel

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (42) | comments 24

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have built a machine that uses the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide waste from power plants into transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, ...


New therapy targets for amyloid disease

New therapy targets for amyloid disease

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A major discovery is challenging accepted thinking about amyloids - the fibrous protein deposits associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - and may open up a potential new area for therapeutics.


H1N1 Virus Can Be Killed by Acidic Ozone Water

H1N1 Virus Can Be Killed by Acidic Ozone Water

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (44) | comments 16

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that acidic ozone water can deactivate H1N1 viruses very effectively, offering a promising disinfectant for the millions of people trying to avoid the disease. Acidic ...


Researchers discover biological basis of 'bacterial immune system'

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria don’t have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days.


First live targeting of tumors with RNA-based technology

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Finding and treating a tumor without disturbing normal tissue presents challenges - sometimes the most effective therapies can be invasive and harsh.