https://www.pnas.org/content/116/41/20376 SUMMARY: The scaly-foot snail also known as Chrysomallon squamiferum is unique in that it makes iron sulfide nanoparticles. Chemically, most creatures who are only able to make minerals (biomineralization) using oxygen. The scaly-foot snail is able to do this in the absence of oxygen, a method that scientists are keen on understanding as it… Continue reading The making of natural iron sulfide nanoparticles in a hot vent snail
Tag: chemistry
Rotifers Paralyzing Schistosomes
A rotifer-derived paralytic compound prevents transmission of schistosomiasis to a mammalian host SUMMARY: Researchers discovered that a new molecule produced by the rotifer, Rotaria rotatoria, paralyzes cercariae. Cercariae are the free-living/infectious stage of the flatworm Schistosoma, the cause of schistosomiasis. R. rotatoria live on the shell of freshwater snails and secrete a compound scientists have… Continue reading Rotifers Paralyzing Schistosomes
Electronic Tongues
A Versatile Electronic Tongue Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging and Cross-Reactive Sensor Arrays-A Mini-Review SUMMARY: Scientists are trying to create electronic tongues (eT) and noses (eN) that act like human tongues and noses. These artificial sensors are different from traditional sensors in that they don’t recognize individual molecules, but heterogeneous liquids and gases. In… Continue reading Electronic Tongues
A Review of Microbial Biosorbents
A New Strategy for Heavy Metal Polluted Environments: A Review of Microbial Biosorbents SUMMARY: Heavy metal pollution is a serious environmental problem and the chemical/physical means of getting rid of them are either too expensive, not effective for low quantities of pollutants, or produce a lot of toxic waste. One solution is to use microbes… Continue reading A Review of Microbial Biosorbents
Silver Dressing and Bacteria
Wound management in an era of increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance: A role for topical silver treatment(NOT OPEN ACCESS) SUMMARY: One way of fighting antibiotic resistant bacteria is to prevent them from growing in the first place. This article looks at three different types of silver dressing, intended to do just that: silver nitrate, silver sulfadiazine,… Continue reading Silver Dressing and Bacteria
Beaming Naphthalene Part 2
Amino Acids produced from the ultraviolet/extreme-ultraviolet irradiation of naphthalene in a H2O+NH3 ice mixture SUMMARY: This experiment starts quite similarly to “Beaming Naphthalene 1”, but after exposure to UV light, researchers scraped off the residue (there was no scraping of the residue in “Beaming Naphthalene 1”), hydrolysis performed (reaction with water) and products identified with… Continue reading Beaming Naphthalene Part 2