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Engineers Turn the Body’s Goo Into New Glue

Within the animal kingdom, mussels are masters of underwater adhesion. The marine mollusks cluster atop rocks and along the bottoms of ships, and hold fast against the ocean’s waves thanks to a gluey plaque they secrete through their foot.

19 Feb 2025

Triple Click Chemistry Revolutionizes Synthesis of Functionalized Triazoles

Middle molecules with a molecular weight of more than 1,000 are difficult to synthesize due to multiple steps and time-consuming nature, demanding the development of a new approach that can overcome these disadvantages.

12 Feb 2025

Bacterial Growth in Mucus Leads to Formation of Cable-Like Structures

Scientists at Caltech and Princeton University have discovered that bacterial cells growing in a solution of polymers, such as mucus, form long cables that buckle and twist on each other, building a kind of "living Jell-O."

20 Jan 2025

Smart Researchers Pioneer Method to Detect Dehydration in Plants

Have you ever wondered if your plants were dry and dehydrated, or if you’re not watering them enough? Farmers and green-fingered enthusiasts alike may soon have a way to find this out in real time.

From Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology 26 Nov 2024

Plastics in Wastewater Found to Harbor Foodborne Pathogens

The study identifies pathogens in plastispheres from WWTPs, underscoring the environmental risks of microplastics and the need for better management strategies.

18 Nov 2024

A New Method to Reprogram Plant Cells Offers Insights into Cell Wall Development

A new method developed by Penn State biologists allows them to turn stripped-down plant cells into other types of cells, similar to the way stem cells differentiate into different cell types. Using this method, the research team explored the banding patterns that increase the stability of plant cell walls -; much like the corrugated patterns in cardboard -; and how they are created.

1 Nov 2024

Bioengineered Bacteria with Mussel-Like Adhesion Could Clean Up Plastic

Researchers at Rice University have created bioengineered microbes with strong adhesion that have the potential to revolutionize environmental cleanup by drawing on nature's genius for adhesives, the sticky power of mussels.

8 Oct 2024

How Comamonas Bacteria Transform Plastic Waste into Food

Researchers have long observed that a common family of environmental bacteria, Comamonadacae, grow on plastics littered throughout urban rivers and wastewater systems.

7 Oct 2024

Microbial Enzyme From Sewage Sludge Offers Hope for Plastic Waste Reduction

Plastic pollution is everywhere, and a good amount of it is composed of polyethylene terephthalate. This polymer is used to make bottles, containers and even clothing.

4 Oct 2024

Engineering Purple Bacteria for Enhanced Bioplastic Synthesis

In a world overrun by petroleum-based plastics, scientists are searching for alternatives that are more sustainable, more biodegradable and far less toxic to the environment.

27 Aug 2024

Injectable Therapy Using 'Dancing Molecules' Promises New Hope for Cartilage Repair

In November 2021, Northwestern University researchers introduced an injectable new therapy, which harnessed fast-moving "dancing molecules," to repair tissues and reverse paralysis after severe spinal cord injuries.

29 Jul 2024

Effective Plasmid DNA Delivery Achieved with Zwitterionic Polymer Complex

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new drug delivering molecule, a zwitterionic polymer complex that can help get plasmid DNA inside cells when injected into skeletal muscle, a crucial step in the expression of therapeutic RNA and proteins. The new compound effectively bound to plasmid DNA without affecting its structure. Injected into mouse muscles, the team observed widespread gene expression, promising applications to treatments of serious muscle diseases.

29 Jul 2024

Ultrasound-Triggered Nanodroplets for Targeted Drug Delivery

Conventional drug delivery is often like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. Whether the drug is swallowed, injected, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, it ultimately diffuses to most parts of the body, including those where it isn’t needed – or where it even might cause harm.

22 Jun 2024

Stem cell-based kidney chip revolutionizes disease modeling and research

An organ-on-chip system containing a kidney glomerulus using human-induced pluripotent stem cells and an ultrathin membrane.

17 Jun 2024

MIT Researchers Develop Amber-Like Polymer for Room-Temperature DNA Storage

In the movie "Jurassic Park," scientists extracted DNA that had been preserved in amber for millions of years, and used it to create a population of long-extinct dinosaurs.

14 Jun 2024

Cyanobacteria as a Key Ingredient in Sustainable Protein-Rich Foods

We all know that we ought to eat less meat and cheese and dig into more plant-based foods. But whilst perusing the supermarket cold display and having to choose between animal-based foods and more climate-friendly alternative proteins, our voices of reason don't always win.

28 Feb 2024

Novel Antibiotic Discovery: Harnessing Energy Compounds to Combat Bacterial Infections

About a decade ago, researchers in UC Santa Barbara chemistry professor Guillermo Bazan's lab began to observe a recurring challenge in their research: Some of the compounds they were developing to harness energy from bacteria were instead killing the microbes.

22 Feb 2024