New compounds fight drug-resistant flu viruses
PHARMACEUTICALS
A new class of compounds that can fight influenza by preventing the virus from spreading has been developed by an international team led by chemists...
Read More >>New class of conductive polymers synthesized
POLYMERS
Researchers at the University of Toronto have synthesized a new class of conducting polymers —polytellurophenes — that could bring about advances in organic solar cells and thin-film transistors.
Read More >>Metal-organic frameworks advance fuel cell technology
ENERGY
Chemists at the University of Calgary have created two new metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that demonstrate some of the best performance yet in proton transport. Such advances could serve to create better hydrogen fuel cells. ...
Read More >>Mussel ‘glue’ protects damaged blood vessels
BIOCHEMISTRY
An international team led by a researcher from the University of British Columbia has designed a new hydrogel-based treatment for damaged blood vessels. The material used was inspired by the amino acid ‘glue’ that holds marine mussels to rocks.
Read More >>Milk protein enables targeted drug delivery
PHARMACEUTICALS
Chemists at Université Laval have combined a common protein found in cow and sheep milk with mesoporous silica to create a new type of functionalized nanoparticle that can deliver drugs to specific regions of the body based on differences in pH. The technology could even be made capable of distinguishing cancer cells from healthy cells....
Read More >>Fireflies inspire LED coating
MATERIALS
The jagged pattern of scales on the abdomen of a firefly has inspired researchers to create a new coating for light emitting diodes (LEDs) that extracts 55 per cent more light than noncoated LEDs. Researchers in Belgium examined fireflies and noted scales with a periodically repeating...
Read More >>Two-headed‘ gemini’ surfactants commercialized
GREEN CHEMISTRY
A Novel class of two-headed surfactants developed by researchers at St. Francis Xavier University and Dalhousie...
Read More >>Omega-3 fatty acids affect gene expression
HEALTH
Researchers at Université Laval have used transcriptomics and metabolomics to analyse the health effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) dietary supplements. The results provide new insight into how these chemicals work their benefits — and why they don’t affect everyone the same way. ...
Read More >>Tiny wires could provide better CO2 detection
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Semiconductor nanowires grown molecule by molecule at the University of Toronto may represent the best hope for faster...
Read More >>Analyzing oligosaccharides to detect adulterated juice
FOOD CHEMISTRY
In the mid-1980s, a Florida citrus growers’ organization offered $50,000 to anyone who could develop an analytical technique for detecting orange juice adulterated with cheap beet juice. Graduate student Nicholas Low, who was working on enzymes responsible for carbohydrate hydrolysis, thought he had a solution.
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