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Category: chemistry – Page 51

New research from the Kind Group at the Hubrecht Institute sheds light on how cells repair damaged DNA. For the first time, the team has mapped the activity of repair proteins in individual human cells.

The study demonstrates how these proteins collaborate in so-called “hubs” to repair DNA damage. This knowledge offers opportunities to improve cancer therapies and other treatments where DNA repair is essential. The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications on November 21.

DNA is the molecule that carries our genetic information. It can be damaged by normal cellular processes as well as external factors such as UV radiation and chemicals. Such damage can lead to breaks in the DNA strand. If DNA damage is not properly repaired, mutations can occur, which may result in diseases like cancer. Cells use repair systems to fix this damage, with specialized proteins locating and binding to the damaged regions.

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Designed to one day search for evidence of life in the briny ocean beneath the icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa, these robots could play a key role in detecting chemical and temperature signals that might indicate alien life, according to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who designed and tested the robots.

“People might ask, why is NASA developing an underwater robot for space exploration?” said Ethan Schaler, the project’s principal investigator at JPL. “It’s because there are places we want to go in the solar system to look for life, and we think life needs water.”

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Researchers have developed a new quantum theory that for the first time defines the precise shape of a photon, showing its interaction with atoms and its environment.

This breakthrough allows for the visualization of photons and could revolutionize nanophotonic technologies, enhancing secure communication, pathogen detection, and molecular control in chemical reactions.

A groundbreaking quantum theory has allowed researchers to define the exact shape of a single photon for the first time.

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1,271 likes, — artificialintelligencenews.in on November 22, 2024: According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the tech industry anticipates that within the next five years, AI systems will be able to write and improve their code. This means AI will soon be capable of analyzing and enhancing its programming, setting off a recursive process that could dramatically accelerate development.

Schmidt suggests that by around 2030–2032, we might see a single AI system that can match 80–90% of the expertise of top specialists across various fields—whether that’s physics, chemistry, art, or more. Such a system would, in effect, be smarter than any human, as no one person can excel in all these disciplines at once. In short, Schmidt believes we are approaching a future where AI could possess intellectual versatility that surpasses any individual human’s abilities.

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A research team led by Professor Jaedong Lee from the Department of Chemical Physics of DGIST has introduced a novel quantum state and a pioneering mechanism for extracting and controlling quantum information using exciton and Floquet states.

Collaborating with Professor Noejung Park from UNIST’s Department of Physics, the team has, for the first time, demonstrated the formation and synthesis process of exciton and Floquet states, which arise from light-matter interactions in two-dimensional semiconductors.

The study, published in Nano Letters in October, captures quantum information in real-time as it unfolds through entanglement, offering valuable insights into the exciton formation process in these materials, thereby advancing quantum information technology.

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Researchers have used 3D cell culture models in the past decade to translate molecular targets during drug discovery processes to thereby transition from an existing predominantly 2D culture environment. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Charalampos Pitsalidis and a research team in physics and chemical engineering at the University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the University of Cambridge describe a multi-well plate bioelectronic platform named the e-transmembrane to support and monitor complex 3D cell architectures.

The team microengineered the scaffolds using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene polystyrene sulfonate to function as separating membranes to isolate cell cultures and achieve real-time in situ recordings of cell growth and function. The to volume ratio allowed them to generate deep stratified tissues in a porous architecture. The platform is applicable as a universal resource for biologists to conduct next-generation high-throughput drug screening assays.

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Insecticides have been used for centuries to counteract widespread pest damage to valuable food crops. Eventually, over time, beetles, moths, flies and other insects develop genetic mutations that render the insecticide chemicals ineffective.

Escalating resistance by these mutants forces farmers and vector control specialists to ramp up use of poisonous compounds at increasing frequencies and concentrations, posing risks to human health and damage to the environment since most insecticides kill both ecologically important insects as well as pests.

To help counter these problems, researchers recently developed powerful technologies that genetically remove insecticide-resistant variant genes and replace them with genes that are susceptible to pesticides. These gene-drive technologies, based on CRISPR gene editing, have the potential to protect valuable crops and vastly reduce the amount of chemical pesticides required to eliminate pests.

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New Curtin University-led research has uncovered what may be the oldest direct evidence of ancient hot water activity on Mars, revealing the planet may have been habitable at some point in its past.

The study analyzed a 4.45 billion-year-old grain from the famous Martian meteorite NWA7034, also known as Black Beauty, and found geochemical “fingerprints” of -rich fluids.

Study co-author Dr. Aaron Cavosie from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said the discovery opened up new avenues for understanding ancient Martian hydrothermal systems associated with magmatism, as well as the planet’s past habitability.

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Is the chemical toxic?

While the scientists are unsure about the toxicity of the chemical, it is concerning since chloronitramide anion bears resemblance to other chemicals that are toxic in nature. David Wahman, one of the study’s authors and a research environmental engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency, said, “It has similarity to other toxic molecules. We looked for it in 40 samples in 10 US chlorinated drinking water systems located in seven states. We did find it in all the samples.”

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DNA can be damaged by normal cellular processes as well as external factors such as UV radiation and chemicals. Such damage can lead to breaks in the DNA strand. If DNA damage is not properly repaired, mutations can occur, which may result in diseases like cancer. Cells use repair systems to fix this damage, with specialized proteins locating and binding to the damaged regions. Now, researchers from the Kind Group at the Hubrecht Institute have mapped the activity of repair proteins in individual human cells. The study demonstrates how these proteins collaborate in so-called “hubs” to repair DNA damage. These findings may lead to new cancer therapies and other treatments where DNA repair is essential.

The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications in an article titled, “Genome-wide profiling of DNA repair proteins in single cells.”

“Accurate repair of DNA damage is critical for maintenance of genomic integrity and cellular viability,” the researchers wrote. “Because damage occurs non-uniformly across the genome, single-cell resolution is required for proper interrogation, but sensitive detection has remained challenging. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of repair protein localization in single human cells using DamID and ChIC sequencing techniques.”

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