Inspired by beetle cuticles, scientists have developed optical structures that can produce vibrant, iridescent and completely biodegradable colors using chitin—the world's second most abundant organic material.
Biochemistry
Mar 13, 2024
0
11
Mycelial fibers, the fibrous cells found in fruiting mushroom bodies, have gained momentum as a sustainable material for making leather and packaging owing to their excellent formability. Recently, a team of researchers from ...
Biochemistry
Jan 8, 2024
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23
Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later—with the help of that very same type of bug. That concept is closer to reality than you might expect. Researchers describe their ...
Biochemistry
Aug 14, 2023
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77
The wings of a butterfly are made of chitin, an organic polymer that is the main component of the shells of arthropods like crustaceans and other insects. As a butterfly emerges from its cocoon in the final stage of metamorphosis, ...
Polymers
Jul 25, 2023
0
816
Chitin hydrogel is recognized as a promising material for a variety of biomedical applications. Its biocompatibility and biodegradability make it useful in tissue repair, artificial organs, and wound healing. Yet scientists ...
Biochemistry
Jul 17, 2023
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138
Throughout the ocean, billions upon billions of plant-like microbes make up an invisible floating forest. As they drift, the tiny organisms use sunlight to suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Collectively, these photosynthesizing ...
Evolution
May 11, 2023
0
27
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen have produced the first sound evidence that the teeth of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus consist of chitin. In doing so, they not only answer the long-standing ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 7, 2022
0
265
A team of researchers led by Dr. Sebastian Hess from the University of Cologne's Institute of Zoology has studied the expression of carbohydrate-active enzymes in the unicellular organism Orciraptor agilis by RNA sequencing. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 15, 2022
0
41
A simple manufacturing technology based on chitin, one of the most ubiquitous organic polymers on Earth, could be used to build tools and shelters on Mars, according to a study published September 16 in the open-access journal ...
Materials Science
Sep 16, 2020
2
808
A project by Spanish researchers and other collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests the use of chitin from shrimp shells to produce electrodes for vanadium flow batteries. The results of the ...
Materials Science
Jul 1, 2020
0
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