Spectroscopy – Page 4 – David Bradley

Spectral science and more

More science news snippets from Sciencebase:

CRISPR X-rays – New on my SpectroscopyNOW column – "It would be exciting if a CRISPR-like system could be transferred into mammalian cells," Doudna told us, "where it might be engineered to silence the expression of deleterious host cell genes, or genes encoded by viral or bacterial pathogens. If this were possible, it could avoid complications of using the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway intrinsic to mammalian cells, which is currently the focus of many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies."
Calculating chemists – New on my SpectroscopyNOW column – A new approach to the calculation of NMR spectra could help organic chemists identify stereoisomers of small, but complex molecules, much more quickly according to theoretical chemists at Cambridge University.
A comet’s tale – New on my SpectroscopyNOW column – Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and detailed analysis hint at how conditions on the early earth might have been ripe for a cometary impact to generate small organic molecules. The study suggests that the formation of molecules akin to the simple amino acid glycine may have been viable. Follow-up spectroscopic studies may demonstrate the validity of the hypothesis.
Just launched: Wellcome Digital Library – The Wellcome Library announced an ambitious plan to develop a world-class digital resource for the History of Medicine. The core of this resource will be digitised content from the Library's own holdings, although funding will also be made available to others to digitise complementary collections for inclusion in the digital library.
Scientia Pro Publica blog carnival – The 39th edition of Scientia Pro Publica! This blog carnival showcases the finest science, medical and environment writing published in the blogosphere
Last nail in the coffin for mercury-autism hypothesis? – There is no link.

Spectroscopy now!

These are the latest science news links and snippets from Sciencebase:

Diabetics drop the needle – A new device based on Raman spectroscopy has been developed by scientists at MIT to help patients with diabetes monitor their blood glucose levels without needing to prick their fingers to take a blood sample.
Pocket spotted – Researchers have identified a new class of chemicals that bind to a previously unknown allosteric pocket-a pocket outside the enzyme active site-and inhibit the enzyme FPPS. The work could have implications for new treatments of bone diseases, Paget's disease and tumour-induced bone degradation.
Infrared watermarks – Water molecules continuously form short-lived clusters that can be rapidly protonated in the liquid state. Now, computer simulations revealed how protonated water clusters interact with nearby messenger molecules, which are required to measure their geometrical structures and the chemical properties by IR spectroscopy.
Dollar signs and the brain – Functional magnetic resonance imaging has revealed a region of the brain about two inches above the left eyebrow that lights up whenever a person anticipating a reward for a task performed successfully is shown a dollar sign. The response is linked to dopamine release in response to pre-determined cues of which a symbol for money is one.
Top ten writing tips for scientists – If you’re more at home with numbers than words, writing can be a difficult prospect. Learning a few simple techniques can make all the difference, according to Sciencebase guest contributor Rob Ashton.
Dental care without toothpaste – Hmmm…they're apparently still testing this toothpaste-free toothbrush, but the blurb says: "The Soladey-J3DX toothbrush is powered by natural sunlight and brings teeth brushing to a new technological plateau. It does away with toothpaste because the embedded solar panel in the centre of the toothbrush can transmit electrons which react with the acid in the saliva to fight plague and bacteria." Like I said. Hmmm…

Spectroscopic science news

These are my links for July 30th from 18:21 to 18:27:

Space balls redux – I've reported on this briefly elsewhere, but here are more details of the research involving infrared spectroscopic data from the planetary nebula Tc 1 in the southern constellation Ara that revealed convincing evidence that the fullerenes, C60 and C70, are present in large quantities in cosmic dust.
Crystallography squared organically – Cyclobutadiene, the smallest cyclic hydrocarbon having alternating double bonds has finally succumbed to X-ray crystallography at least in terms of the determination of an immobilized derivative of the compound.
Aqueous asymmetric acid – Despite nature's abundance of reactions that work in water, chemists have generally had to work with noxious organic solvents. Until now. The first example of asymmetric catalysis with a Brønsted acid in aqueous solution has been reported by German chemists.
MRI monitors anticancer nanotubes – Magnetic resonance imaging can now be used to monitor carbon nanotubes aimed at destroying tumour cells by near-infra-red laser induced heating, according to US researchers.
Smooth support for SERS – The judicious use of SERS-active nanoparticles directly or indirectly can surmount the inherent obstacle in the way of the more widespread adoption of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies. Proof of principle in the current work involves activating an organic monolayer by attaching silver nanoparticles.
Nasal spray for diabetes – Could a novel drug delivery agent based on nanotechnology lead to an insulin nasal spray for diabetes sufferers?

Spectral science news

These are my links for July 15th from 12:27 to 12:32:

Herpes invasion – There are eight herpes viruses that cause human diseases. Depending on how they affect us, they result in oral and genital herpes, the latter of which is present in almost a third of the US population. Currently, there is no cure for herpes viruses. Upon infection, the viruses remain in the body for life and can stay inactive for long periods of time. Herpes is also a leading cause of viral blindness and viral encephalitis. An X-ray study has now revealed the unusual structure of a key protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells.
Sweet sense of GOD – A glucose sensor based on a room-temperature ionic liquid rather than conventional solvents has much better acid-resistance than other sensors and so could be developed into a much more robust sensor device for diabetes monitoring.
The banana blues – An intriguing compound found in ripening or senescent parts of the banana plant is a breakdown product of chlorophyll that makes the leaves glow blue under ultraviolet light. New insights into this and related compounds suggest that they are present to attract fruit-eating animals that then spread the plant's seeds.
Iodine analysis – Iodine is an essential part of a healthy diet as it is needed by the thyroid gland for the biosynthesis of thyroid hormones; an excessive intake iodine can lead to thyroid disorders, however. "Seafood, iodized table salt, milk and dairy products are common sources of iodine. Now, a new approach to spectroscopic analysis of foods could improve baby formula milk and other products by allowing total iodine content to be determined more precisely.

Enzymes, chemicals, and metal vapours

Latest science news from yours truly on SpectroscopyNOW.com

Don’t get your kinases in a twist – New drugs that block kinase enzymes irreversibly could be used in cancer therapy as well as in studying how this class of enzymes functions. An informatics analysied has allowed molecular editing to produce novel leads.
X-rays spot left and right handed chemicals – US scientists have made a catalyst that triggers the creation of chemical structures exhibiting a difficult-to-make form of chirality, or handedness, known as atropisomerism, they report in the journal Science. Single-crystal, heavy-atom X-ray analysis of the major product allowed the team to assign an absolute configuration and so demonstrate efficacy.
Palm-sized magnet – German researchers have developed a light, permanent magnet that is suitable for NMR and fits in the palm of your hand. They say it could be used for portable, high-resolution NMR instruments for field studies of important chemicals.
Nano cell for laser science – An international team of scientists have developed a new nano-cell for laser spectroscopy that opens up new ways to study absorption and fluorescence of metal vapours
Six new planets discovered – A veritable menagerie of new planets discovered from ‘shrunken-Saturns’ to ‘bloated hot Jupiters’, as well a rare brown dwarf with 60 times the mass of Jupiter.
First flaming June Alchemist – An old marine alkaloid may find new use in metastatic pancreatic cancer, bitter blockers could be just the thing for nasty-tasting Brussels sprouts, and lotus seed skins offer hope for a food waste product. Also in this week's Alchemist, screening crops for cyanide, gas reactions in crystal lattices, and an award for cellular insights.

My latest SpectroscopyNOW science news

These are my links for June 1st from 19:03 to 19:09:

Therapeutic science – X-ray crystallography has been used to determine the structure of a new, improved protein that could be employed in the purification of therapeutic antibodies and to reveal details of its complexes with antibodies. The work represents an improved molecular design based on greater stability and higher affinity of the protein for its antibody target and could cut costs in therapeutic antibody manufacture.
New species found – Like a previously unknown species emerging into the glare of camera flashlights from the tropical undergrowth or crawling out from under a deep ocean rock, a seemingly simple small molecule, an organosulfur compound called oxathiirane, has been synthesised at long last and reveals itself under infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopic inspection.
Vesuvian revelations – Italian researchers have used a salver of techniques, including microscopic Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray to study powdered pigments found in bowls from the Pompeii archaeological site as well as wall-painting fragments from the Vesuvian region.
Making lithium batteries safer and more powerful – A simple and precise method for “seeing” the chemistry taking place in a rechargeable lithium-ion battery using lithium-7 NMR spectroscopy has been developed by UK scientists. The work might help improve battery design to remedy flaws in this kind of power supply, such as rapid discharge, loss of charge capacity, and their rare tendency to combust spontaneously, potentially a very serious problem for laptop users especially.sc
A good night’s sleep – Even a single night where a person suffers partial sleep deprivation (PSD) is enough to have a negative impact on thinking. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study suggests that as cognition and affective processing are disrupted, sleep pressure must represent a basic physiological constraint of brain function.
Rice recipe – Heat rice flour to 600 Celsius under a nitrogen atmosphere and then dousing it in concentrated nitric acid is not the usual way to cook it, but researchers in India have done just that. The product, rather than a bowl of light and fluffy grains is a plethora of nanoscopic carbon cubes and bricks, the team says.

Metal, quantum dots, and life on earth

Latest science news with a spectral twist from my column on SpectroscopyNOW.com and more…

X-ray fuel – X-ray absorption spectroscopy, XAS, has been used to probe the metal centre of an important enzyme that can oxidise methane, natural gas, to methanol. Turns out the metal is copper not iron as previously thought and the discovery could open up a route to novel catalysts for converting "waste" methane (either from landfill or oil well flare-off) into useful liquid methanol for processing into fuel or other more valuable products.
Quantum boost for anticancer drugs – Quantum dots (QDs) have received significant attention in biological and biomedical fields. Now, UV-Vis spectroscopy and other techniques have been used to investigate their utility in enhancing the activity of the anticancer agent daunorubicin (DNR) in treating leukaemia cells.
MRI reporter – Researchers have developed an extracellular enzymatic gene-reporter system for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The system yields strong, reversible contrast changes in response to the expression of secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP). The products of SEAP activity can then be detected using an iron oxide based sensor.
Chemistry with bite – US chemists have constructed a molecule that bites its own tail and in so doing can trip other small molecules within the cavity that results. Fed a diet of zinc ions the "ouroborand", reported in Angewandte Chemie, will release its bite to let other smaller molecules into the central cavity. Remove the zinc ions and it loses its grip on the guest. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to characterise the components and the process.
Microbial detection – Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) can be used in a new microarray approach to microbial detection that is label-free, according to researchers writing in the April issue of the journal Analytical Chemistry.
All about crystal Eve – Scientists have reported the discovery of what may be the "ancestral Eve" crystal that billions of years ago gave life on Earth its curious and exclusive preference for so-called left-handed amino acids. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction provide the evidence. Molecules of aspartic acid of a sinister, or left-handed, orientation, could be the ancestral Eve of all amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, terrestrial life.
Interview with Michael Mueller aka @eurogene aka @nutrigenomics – The pros and cons of being a scientist
WolframTones ringtones with a scientific twist – Create your own mobile phone ringtones using Wolfram's audio perspective on the computational universe

Spectroscopy Now

Latest science news from David Bradley with a spectroscopic bent…

Muscling in on the mussels’ grip – Spectroscopy has been used to probe the chemical composition of the cuticle of the common bivalve mollusc commonly known as the mussel. The research provides the first direct evidence that the cuticle has a protein-based polymeric scaffold stabilized by dopa-iron complexes, which helps explain how mussels keep their grip on rocks even on the fiercest of stormy shorelines.
Liquid light molecules – Modified porphyrins that are liquid at room temperature could act as non-linear opticall limiters for optoelectronics devices, spectrometers, and a future generation of optical computer.
Marvellous time for monitoring moonshine – A portable infra-red device that can quickly and easily determine the strength of alcoholic drinks proves more effective than laboratory-based FTIR spectroscopy. The device could be useful in law enforcement and in industry fraud.
A sound approach to fibroids – A new interventional radiology tool based on using magnetic resonance imaging to guide focused high-energy ultrasound could be used to thermally ablate uterine fibroid tissue and relieve symptoms of this condition without major invasive surgery.
Filling in the gaps in toxic dentistry – Canadian researchers have used electron yield Hg LIII X-ray absorption X-ray absorption spectroscopy to analyse old and fresh mercury amalgams used in dental treatment and found that older dental fillings contain a form of mercury unlikely to be toxic but express concerns regarding the fate of 95% of the mercury.
Evolutionary approach to studying brain chemistry – Researchers have used a technique known as "directed evolution" to devise a novel contrast agent that could enable non-invasive magnetic resonance studies of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the brain.

Antimony, x-rays, childhood obesity

Science news links for March 12-15, including the latest on my SpectroscopyNOW.com column:

Feverish New World X-ray – X-ray crystallography has allowed US researchers to discover exactly how one type of New World hemorrhagic fever virus latches on to and infects human cells. The work offers a much-needed lead for new treatments.
Marking up childhood obesity – Metabolic fingerprinting has been shown to be a powerful tool for exploring Biomarkers in a range of disorders and the pathophysiological mechanisms of disease. A new study has now applied the technique to childhood obesity to intriguing effect.
Myrtle medicine – German researchers have successfully devised and implemented a total synthesis of myrtucommulone A, tracking progress and structures using NMR spectroscopy. The compound is physiologically active in anticancer and antibacterial screens, and the synthesis opens up the potential for making simpler, but active analogues.
Antimony analysed in food packaging – A simple, yet sensitive, method for detecting inorganic antimony in food packaging has been developed using cloud point extraction combined with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS).
Unlocking the opium poppy’s biggest secret – Researchers at the University of Calgary have discovered the unique genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine
What is the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest? –
Antibiotics against stomach cancer – Helicobacter pylori often causes stomach ulcers and, in extreme cases, gastric cancer. f1000 Medicine Reports, Seiji Shiota and Yoshio Yamaoka discuss the possible eradication of H. pylori infections using antibiotics.
How cars are killing us – Cars are lethal, but nowhere more so than in the developing world.

Forensic saliva test within spitting distance

The latest issue of SpectroscopyNOW is online. This week I cover everything from MRI for testicular cancer to egg-shaped carbon balls by way of energy molecules, copper proteins, secret writing, first up a forensic science test for distinguishing saliva deposits from other substances at a crime scene:

Non-destructive spit test – Raman spectroscopy can identify samples of an unknown substance at a crime scene as human saliva during forensic analysis, according to a US study, the technique would preserve DNA evidence. I asked research team leader, Igor Lednev to tell me about his aspirations for the technique.

“The major motivation of this research project, funded by the National Institute of Justice, is to bring our novel method to the forensic lab and a crime scene as soon as possible,” he told me. “The method is at the developmental stage at the moment and several further developments need to be done before moving to the “real” world crime scene.” These include (i) automation of the technique and making it a user-friendly “black-box type” apparatus, (ii) expansion to potential mixtures of body fluids, (iii) protection from possible interference from substrate materials and possible contaminants, and (iv) expansion to possible evidence degradation under various environmental conditions.

To achieve those goals the team is collaborating with “real world” practitioners, CSIs including Barry Duceman, Director of Biological Science, at the NY State Police Forensic Investigation Center and John Hicks, Director of the Northeast Research Forensic Institute. Lednev revealed to me that a first prototype of the device should be in forensic laboratories within two to three years.

Also, in my SpectroscopyNOW column this week:

MRI on the ball – MRI proves to be a good diagnostic tool for testicular cancer and could spare some men unnecessary surgery.

Focus on energy molecule – Organisms use ATP as a universal energy storage molecule, now carbon nanotubes, modified with luciferase, have been used as near-infrared detectors for cellular ATP. The work has potential for studies of ischaemia, Parkinson’s disease, hypoglycaemia and more.

Copper, on the beat with NMR – The first NMR spectroscopy study of the copper site in an important blue metalloprotein, azurin, has been undertaken. Copper mediates many biochemical redox reactions and azurin plays an important role in catalysing electron transfer in cellular reactions.

Sunscreen spies – Sunscreen and boron can work together to make a compound that changes colour when touched under ultraviolet light. The compound changes from blue-green to yellow with the gentlest of rubs and then reverts quickly to blue-green when gently warmed, although the process is reversible at room temperature.

Bucky eggs cracked – Unusual egg-shaped fullerene molecules are rulebreakers because they do what no other fullerenes seem to do – fuse three pentagons of carbon atoms, according to chemists in China. The discovery of these molecules could lead to new insights into fullerene chemistry as well as offering new opportunities for synthesising novel materials.

Forensic saliva test montage by Albany’s Aliaksandra Sikirzhytskaya.

Virkler, K., & Lednev, I. (2010). Forensic body fluid identification: The Raman spectroscopic signature of saliva The Analyst, 135 (3) DOI: 10.1039/b919393f