/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Turbulence, the chaotic, irregular motion that causes the bumpiness we sometimes experience on an airplane, has intrigued scientists for centuries. At the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), researchers are exploring this phenomenon in a special class of materials known as complex fluids. /news/2025-08-hidden-turbulence-polymer-fluids.html Soft Matter Fri, 22 Aug 2025 11:45:08 EDT news675081898 Researchers have discovered that a virus living inside the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus significantly boosts the fungus's ability to survive stress and cause severe infections in mammals. Removing the virus made the fungus weaker and less virulent, while antiviral treatments improved survival outcomes. This finding reveals a hidden factor driving the deadliness of fungal infections and opens the door to potential new treatments that target the virus rather than the fungus itself. /news/2025-08-viruses-hidden-fungi-secret-drivers.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 21 Aug 2025 15:13:33 EDT news675008007 Most of the drugs, plastics, and industrial materials widely used today are produced through chemical reactions. In general, most high-performance and sophisticated substances have complex structures, and their assembly involves multiple chemical reaction steps carried out one after another. This creates significant overhead, as each step requires specific conditions, reagents, and catalysts, as well as considerable energy and labor. /news/2025-08-catalyst-reactions-multiple-reaction-vessel.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:44:03 EDT news674988241 Until now, the early phase of drug discovery for the development of new therapeutics has been both cost- and time-intensive. Researchers at KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) have now developed a platform on which extremely miniaturized nanodroplets with a volume of only 200 nanoliters per droplet—comparable to a grain of sand—and containing only 300 cells per test can be arranged. /news/2025-08-nanodroplets-medicine-1.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:31:11 EDT news674983864 Until now, the early phase of drug discovery for the development of new therapeutics has been both cost- and time-intensive. Researchers at KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) have now developed a platform on which extremely miniaturized nanodroplets with a volume of only 200 nanoliters per droplet—comparable to a grain of sand—and containing only 300 cells per test can be arranged. /news/2025-08-nanodroplets-medicine.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:31:07 EDT news674983861 Using machine learning, MIT chemical engineers have created a computational model that can predict how well any given molecule will dissolve in an organic solvent—a key step in the synthesis of nearly any pharmaceutical. This type of prediction could make it much easier to develop new ways to produce drugs and other useful molecules. /news/2025-08-freely-molecules-dissolve-solvents.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 19 Aug 2025 09:50:42 EDT news674815837 A new discovery from researchers at Northeastern University has uncovered previously unknown aspects of plant evolution, with major implications for creating new lifesaving drugs. /news/2025-08-decoding-impossible-chemistry-moonseed-rewrite.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 18 Aug 2025 14:34:04 EDT news674746441 The trouble with many drugs is that they go where they shouldn't, producing unwanted side effects. Psychiatric drugs might cause dissociation, painkillers can induce nausea and chemotherapy often damages healthy cells. Now a team of Stanford Medicine researchers are closing in on a novel solution: a noninvasive system that can deliver drugs anywhere in the body with precision down to a few millimeters. /news/2025-08-sugar-stabilized-nanoparticles-drugs-side.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 18 Aug 2025 09:55:51 EDT news674729746 Deep learning models have shown great potential in predicting and engineering functional enzymes and proteins. Does this prowess extend to other fields of biology as well? /news/2025-08-complex-deep-genetic-perturbation-simple.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:50:01 EDT news674387427 Using artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have come up with a new way to design nanoparticles that can more efficiently deliver RNA vaccines and other types of RNA therapies. /news/2025-08-ai-nanoparticles-efficient-rna-vaccine.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 15 Aug 2025 05:00:01 EDT news674411341 Cornell chemists have developed a way to use electrochemistry, a sustainable technique, to make chiral molecules, which occur in mirrored pairs, like human hands. Common in pharmaceuticals, chiral molecules are important to get right to be effective and safe. /news/2025-08-safe-medicinal-molecules-sustainable-electrochemistry.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:38:04 EDT news674401081 A research team has successfully identified a novel DNA damage repair pathway in human cells. This study is the first to discover that proteins present in the nuclear membrane of cells directly interact with damaged DNA, forming part of a signaling pathway that helps repair DNA. /news/2025-08-human-cells-reveal-dna-pathway.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:24:04 EDT news674389441 Researchers have spent years taking apart one of the world's simplest microbes, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, piece by piece, and created a detailed list of what molecular parts the living cell can and cannot do without, knowledge that could accelerate the development of "living medicines" built from this very microbe. /news/2025-08-essentiality-scan-reveals-mycoplasma-pneumoniae.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:47:04 EDT news674308021 A study published in Nature Biotechnology reveals a powerful new use for artificial intelligence: designing small, drug-like molecules that can stick to and break down harmful proteins in the body—even when scientists don't know what those proteins look like. /news/2025-08-ai-language-previously-undruggable-disease.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 13 Aug 2025 05:00:01 EDT news674215441 For months, Sabrina Staples stared at a silicone chip no bigger than a postage stamp, trying to coax cells into doing something remarkable. But every time she loaded her delicate microfluidic device with cells, a single rogue bubble would sneak in, destroying the cells and the experiment. /news/2025-08-microfluidic-device-captures-blood-vessel.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:29:04 EDT news674213342 Traditional drug development methods involve identifying a target protein (e.g., a cancer cell receptor) that causes disease, and then searching through countless molecular candidates (potential drugs) that could bind to that protein and block its function. This process is costly, time-consuming, and has a low success rate. /news/2025-08-ai-automatically-optimal-drug-candidates.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 11 Aug 2025 15:16:51 EDT news674144199 Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are tiny fat bubbles that are used to deliver medicines, genes, and RNA into cells. However, in some cases LNPs can cause harmful inflammation as a result of the process of RNA delivery. /news/2025-08-solutions-safer-rna-therapies-inflammatory.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:50:04 EDT news674142601 A research team at McMaster University has discovered a new drug class that could someday lead to breakthrough treatments for dangerous fungal infections. The new molecules, dubbed coniotins, were isolated from a plant-dwelling fungus called Coniochaeta hoffmannii—the samples of which were collected from the McMaster Biology Greenhouse, located on the university's campus. /news/2025-08-antifungal-drug-candidate-campus-greenhouse.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:00:04 EDT news674136001 New computer simulations that model every atom of a protein as it folds into its final three-dimensional form support the existence of a recently identified type of protein misfolding. /news/2025-08-atomic-simulations-reveal-class-protein.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 11 Aug 2025 09:47:04 EDT news674124422 Researchers at UBC Okanagan have made two major discoveries that are set to revolutionize how scientists observe and measure molecular forces within living cells. /news/2025-08-molecular-imaging-tech-cells-nanometer.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 07 Aug 2025 11:46:04 EDT news673785961 Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment, it continues to impose a significant health burden globally. Researchers have now started exploring various innovative methods, such as engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) that can enable targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. While promising, the in vivo behavior of pH-responsive ENMs, which continuously interact with body fluids once administered, remains poorly understood. /news/2025-08-ph-responsive-graphene-nanocarriers-precision.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 07 Aug 2025 10:20:04 EDT news673780802 In a discovery that could broaden access to next-generation biologic medicines and vaccines, researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have engineered polymer-based nanoparticles that form with a simple temperature shift—no harsh chemicals, no specialized equipment, and no processing needed. /news/2025-08-nanoparticles-room-temperature-vaccine-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 07 Aug 2025 08:25:04 EDT news673773901 Research shows that while connections between innovations speed discovery, they also sharply increase the risk of total system collapse—with the sweet spot for sustainable innovation proving surprisingly narrow. /news/2025-08-scientists-limit-networks-collapse.html Mathematics Economics & Business Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:41:05 EDT news673616462 "Herpotrichone" is a natural substance that has been evaluated highly for its excellent ability to suppress inflammation in the brain and protect nerve cells, displaying significant potential to be developed as a therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This substance could only be obtained in minute quantities from fungi that are symbiotic with isopods. However, KAIST researchers have succeeded in chemically synthesizing this rare natural product, thereby presenting the possibility for the development of next-generation drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. /news/2025-08-anti-neuroinflammatory-natural-products-isopod.html Biochemistry Materials Science Tue, 05 Aug 2025 12:32:03 EDT news673615921 A research team led by Professor Takuya Yamamoto and Assistant Professor Ryusaku Matsumoto (Department of Life Science Frontiers) has developed a machine learning model that enables early prediction of hypothalamus–pituitary organoid formation from human iPS cells to aid in organoid research and regenerative medicine. /news/2025-08-stem-cell-derived-organoid-quality.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 05 Aug 2025 10:01:03 EDT news673606861 Gram-negative bacteria pose a significant threat to global health due to their high resistance to antibiotics compared to that of Gram-positive bacteria. Their formidable defensive capabilities stem from their outer membrane (OM), which acts as a selective barrier against harmful compounds. /news/2025-08-small-protein-big-impact-insights.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 05 Aug 2025 10:00:02 EDT news673606227 A new strategy for strengthening polymer materials could lead to more durable plastics and cut down on plastic waste, according to researchers at MIT and Duke University. /news/2025-08-ai-uncovers-molecules-stronger-longer.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:16:53 EDT news673597005 Scientists at the Center for Cell Dynamics, School of Biological and Behavioral Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with Carl Zeiss, have developed an innovative live-cell imaging technique that combines an exceptional resolution of 60 nanometers with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, while significantly reducing light-induced cellular damage. This advancement allows researchers to observe intricate cellular processes with unprecedented clarity, opening new avenues for understanding fundamental biological mechanisms, including DNA repair and chromosome dynamics. The technology can also facilitate novel live-cell dynamics based drug target and drug screening methods that transcend the diffraction limit of systems. /news/2025-08-super-resolution-imaging-method-gentle.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Aug 2025 13:00:03 EDT news673530744 Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that affects up to 1 million people worldwide each year. It is caused by the protozoan Leishmania, transmitted through the bite of a sandfly. Once inside its host—human or animal—the parasite settles in immune cells called macrophages and multiplies within small bubble-like structures known as parasitophorous vacuoles. /news/2025-07-survival-strategies-parasite-responsible-leishmaniasis.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:57:35 EDT news673196250 An interdisciplinary team of McGill researchers has developed an ultra-strong, environmentally friendly medical glue, or bioadhesive, made from marine waste. The discovery has promising applications for wound care, surgeries, improved drug delivery, wearable devices and medical implants. /news/2025-07-naturally-sourced-nanowhisker-ultrasound-resilient.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 31 Jul 2025 10:16:03 EDT news673175761