Researchers have developed a CRISPR-based assay that can sensitively and non-invasively detect a biomarker of acute kidney rejection in urine. This could someday help diagnose rejection earlier and without a biopsy. Kidney transplant recipients must take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives to help keep their immune systems from attacking the foreign organ.…

A new approach by chemists could help to significantly improve diagnostic tests based on PCR. The enzymes used are triggered by light pulses. For diagnostics tests based on PCR, such as the above mentioned test for COVID-19, the solution is the development of a hot-start enzyme, which shows no activity until a high activation temperature…

A new study helps to explain what defines how long a drug molecule stays bound to its target. When a drug molecule binds to its target protein, it stays bound for some time before eventually unbinding the target. The actual time how long a drug molecule resides bound to its target varies among compounds. The…

A study reports the discovery of a molecule with significant potential to disable the COVID-19 virus. The molecule was identified using high-throughput virtual screening — a search through a library of 6.5 million in-stock compounds that could quickly be scaled up for drug production using some of the nation’s most powerful supercomputers and other research…

Researchers demonstrated that phosphorus-alloying significantly increases the activity of precious metal nanoparticles for the deoxygenation of sulfoxides into sulfides. In particular, ruthenium phosphide nanoparticles exhibit excellent catalytic activity and high durability against sulfur-poisoning, outperforming conventional catalysts. Transformation of sulfur-containing molecules is a fundamental and significant reaction in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry. However, the sulfur atom…

The selective oxidation of C—H bonds using oxygen has become a much simpler and more sustainable endeavor, thanks to a novel manganese (Mn)-based catalyst. Consisting of reusable Mg6MnO8 nanoparticles with unprecedented surface area, their catalyst enables the desired oxidative reactions to occur at mild temperature and pressure conditions without the need for toxic additives, opening…

Lithium metal batteries have higher charge density than conventional lithium ion batteries but are prone to problems of tree-like metal dendrites, which can cause short circuits or explosions. A new article shows that flowing ions near the cathode can prevent this problem. Lithium metal batteries use lithium metal as the anode. These batteries have a…

PRMC-MS allows enhanced profiling of phosphoinositide acyl variants both in intracellular and extracellular environments. In the past, due to various reasons related to their complexity and their low intracellular concentrations, the profiling of these lipids and the linking of a specific acyl variant to biological change has been difficult. However, a new system called PRMC-MS…

Researchers have reported a new protein-design strategy to sidestep the Irving-Williams Series, allowing proteins to behind to other metals ahead of copper. For metalloproteins to work properly, they must be paired with the correct metal ion — hemoglobin can only function with iron Yet, protein-metal binding is normally governed by a strict order, called the…

Even when a device is turned off, its battery gradually loses its charge and eventually some of its capacity for storing energy. Scientists have now documented this aging process in next-gen lithium-metal electrodes. Now scientists at Stanford University and the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have taken the first atomic-scale look at how…