Cells in the body are wired like computer chips to direct signals that instruct how they function, research suggests (Nature Communications, “The cell-wide web coordinates cellular processes by directing site-specific Ca2+ flux across cytoplasmic nanocourses”). Unlike a fixed circuit board, however, cells can rapidly rewire their communication networks to change their behaviour. The discovery [...]
We may be able to detect cancer soon by simply peeing on a stick. - Cancer is an aberrant function of a normal cell, where the regulators of that cell's dividing are broken and the cell starts to divide without regulation. Left to its own devices, that dividing without regulation will overcome the [...]
Microcontaminants place a considerable burden on our water courses, but removing them from wastewater requires considerable technical resources. Now, ETH researchers have developed an approach that allows the efficient removal of these problematic substances. In our everyday lives, we all use a multitude of chemical substances, including cosmetics, medications, contraceptive pills, plant fertilisers [...]
New methods of arranging silver nanowires make them more durable, shows a study by KAUST. These nanowires form flexible, transparent conductive layers that can be used for improved solar cells, strain sensors and next-generation mobile phones. Applying nanotechnology in electronic devices requires rigorous testing of individual tiny components to ensure they will stand up to [...]
A desire for a simpler, cheaper way to do common laboratory tests for medical diagnoses and to avoid "washing the dishes" led University of Connecticut researchers to develop a new technology that reduces cost and time. Their pipette-based technology could also help make certain medical testing available in rural or remote areas where [...]
“The most crucial result of this work is the correlation between form and function in supercapacitor materials,” states first author Dina Ibrahim Abouelamaiem. She elaborates that “our research is driven by the need for a greener future and improved energy systems”, which is why their Sustainable Energy Fuels paper focuses on understanding how the [...]
Prof. Dr. Matthias Karg’s group "Colloids and Nanooptics" at the Institute of Physical Chemistry has developed a simple yet precise method for producing extremely ordered particle layers. The group is using miniature, soft and deformable spherical polymer beads with a hydrogel-like structure. Hydrogels are basically water swollen, three-dimensional systems. For instance, hydrogels are commonly [...]
DNA Script has raised $38.5 million in new financing to commercialize a process that it claims is the first big leap forward in manufacturing genetic material. The revolution in synthetic biology that’s reshaping industries from medicine to agriculture rests on three, equally important pillars. They include: analytics — the ability to map the genome [...]
These startups have seen investment from NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, and DARPA, among many others. As the digital health sector matures from basic tracking apps into highly regulated medical devices, we are seeing bleeding edge technologies being developed that blur the lines between computers and biology. And a growing share of these startups are beginning [...]
Quantum technologies utilise the unique phenomena of quantum superposition and entanglement to encode and process information, with potentially profound benefits to a wide range of information technologies from communications to sensing and computing. However a major challenge in developing these technologies is that the quantum phenomena are very fragile, and only a handful of [...]
