http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org)—A team of chemists and biologists led by Indiana University chemistry professor David Giedroc has described a previously unknown function of a protein they now know is responsible for protecting a major bacterial pathogen from toxic levels of copper. The results were published Jan. 27 in Nature Chemical Biology. http://phys.org/news278664996.html Chemistry Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:20:01 EST news278664996 Amino acids in orange juice might reveal secrets to the successful attack strategy of the plant pathogen that causes citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB. Studies of these amino acids by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist Andrew P. Breksa III and University of California-Davis professor Carolyn M. Slupsky may pave the way to a safe, effective, environmentally friendly approach to undermine Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the microbial culprit behind HLB. http://phys.org/news277383261.html Biology Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:54:28 EST news277383261 (Phys.org)—A more than 50-year-old question has now been answered. Chemists and microbiologists at the Biological Chemistry Center at Umeå University in Sweden are now able to describe in detail the role of calcium in the ability of the plague bacterium Yersinias to cause disease. http://phys.org/news273746968.html Biology Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:49:43 EST news273746968 (Phys.org) -- Scientists at Kew have devised a method to distinguish similar flavonoids when chemically profiling plant extracts. http://phys.org/news260005680.html Chemistry Wed, 27 Jun 2012 08:48:47 EST news260005680 Genetic mutations to cellulose in plants could improve the conversion of cellulosic biomass into biofuels, according to a research team that included two Iowa State University chemists. http://phys.org/news249663304.html Chemistry Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:55:25 EST news249663304 Scientists at Kew interested in the classification of legumes have been studying the chemistry of the Kentucky yellow-wood (Cladrastis kentukea). Evidence from DNA sequencing suggested that this species is related to the pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum), which contains several new flavonoids described recently at Kew. Flavonoids are a well studied group of plant constituents because of their potential health promoting properties. The fruits of S. japonicum contain high levels of flavonoids and are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The Kew scientists wanted to know if the flavonoids found in S. japonicum also occurred in C. kentukea, which would support the relationship between these species. http://phys.org/news245405883.html Chemistry Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:18:24 EST news245405883 The "electronic nose," which detects odors, has a companion among emerging futuristic "e-sensing" devices intended to replace abilities that once were strictly human-and-animal-only. It is a "magnetic tongue" -- a method used to "taste" food and identify ingredients that people describe as sweet, bitter, sour, etc. A report on use of the method to taste canned tomatoes appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://phys.org/news238859153.html Chemistry Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:20:01 EST news238859153 Using a handheld molecular imaging device in combination with magnetic nanoparticles and a smartphone, a team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has developed a fast, portable and potentially inexpensive method of detecting cancer from human biopsy samples. Initial results obtained using fine need biopsies taken from human cancer patients show this device trumps traditional pathological methods, both in terms of speed and diagnostic accuracy. http://phys.org/news220529184.html Nanotechnology Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:30:01 EST news220529184 You pick up a bottle of pomegranate juice at the store because you've learned that, although it costs more than most juices, it is replete with antioxidants that bring health benefits. But wait: Is the juice you've purchased really pomegranate juice? Or is the product label you have carefully read promising more than it delivers? http://phys.org/news210269648.html Chemistry Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:15:04 EST news210269648 (PhysOrg.com) -- Most proteins are shapely, but about one-third of them lack a definitive form, at least that scientists can readily observe. These intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) perform a host of important biological functions, from muscle contraction to other neuronal actions. Yet despite their importance, "We don't know much about them," said Wolfgang Peti, associate professor of medical science and chemistry. "No one really worried about them." http://phys.org/news204287624.html Biology Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:10:01 EST news204287624 Most proteins are shapely. But about one-third of them lack a definitive form, at least that scientists can readily observe. These intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) perform a host of important biological functions, from muscle contraction to other neuronal actions. Yet despite their importance, "We don't know much about them," said Wolfgang Peti, associate professor of medical science and chemistry. "No one really worried about them." http://phys.org/news203168918.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:48:56 EST news203168918 Iowa State University researchers have found a way to produce high-value chemicals such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol from biomass rather than petroleum sources. http://phys.org/news202666722.html Chemistry Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:19:34 EST news202666722 Doctors may soon be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the cause of pneumonia-like symptoms by examining the chemicals found in a patient's urine, suggests a new study led by UC Davis biochemist Carolyn Slupsky. http://phys.org/news179573450.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:40:03 EST news179573450 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study using solid-state NMR spectroscopy to analyze intact bone paves the way for atomic-level explorations of how disease and aging affect bone. The research by scientists at the University of Michigan is reported in the Dec. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news178994090.html Chemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:20:01 EST news178994090 Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), researchers led by Daniel Chasman at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, and the PROCARDIS consortium in Stockholm, Sweden and Oxford, England performed genetic association analysis across the whole genome among 17,296 women of European ancestry from the Women's Genome Health Study. http://phys.org/news177945626.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:40:10 EST news177945626 (PhysOrg.com) -- Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity. http://phys.org/news177859237.html Chemistry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:21:15 EST news177859237 (PhysOrg.com) -- Which modules of the tau protein, in neurons of Alzheimer disease patients, may act in a destructive manner were investigated by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Göttingen) and the Max Planck Unit for Structural Molecular Biology (Hamburg) with the help of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. http://phys.org/news154107548.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:39:42 EST news154107548 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of scientists led by the University of Leeds has shed new light on the little-understood motor protein called dynein, thought to be involved in progressive neurological disorders such as motor neurone disease. http://phys.org/news153059833.html Biology Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:37:49 EST news153059833