Tag: Chemistry

2021-22, Chemistry, Health and Medicine

From Sugars to Medicine: Advancements in Selective Carbohydrate Modification

Peter Gillespie ’25 What if simple sugars could be turned into vital medicines? Dr. Ming-Yu Ngai and his team at Stony Brook University are making this dream a reality.  Due to their relevance in cell-cell recognition, protein folding, inflammation, and infection, carbohydrate modification poses an intriguing avenue through which scientists can treat issues from viral infection to malfunctions in protein folding. Changing the character of … Continue reading From Sugars to Medicine: Advancements in Selective Carbohydrate Modification

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Brain, General Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Uncategorized

New Chemical Compound to Reduce the Adverse Side Effects of Neural Implants

Jorge Pincay ’20 Over the years research in neuroscience has led to the development of brain implants, called microelectrodes that can help restore essential motor and sensory functions. This technology has become beneficial for those that suffer from head injury and neurodegenerative disease. The limitations of this technology lie within the immunological response that comes about shortly after implantation. This immune response, which is governed … Continue reading New Chemical Compound to Reduce the Adverse Side Effects of Neural Implants

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2017-18

Observing Silver Nanoparticles in Real Time

Caleb Sooknanan ‘20 Silver nanoparticle systems are commonly used in medical treatments, food, and sports products for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties; however, more research is needed to understand how such nanoparticles react in biological systems. Doctor Kristina Tschulik and researchers from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany used a novel combination of electrochemical and spectroscopic methods to observe silver nanoparticle behavior in real time. With these … Continue reading Observing Silver Nanoparticles in Real Time

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2017-18

Experimental Drugs May Reverse Skin and Hair Conditions

Caleb Sooknanan ‘20 Glycosphingolipids or GSLs are specific biomolecules that function within cell membranes to regulate signal transmission and cell-to-cell recognition, but more research is needed to understand their properties. For example, scientists are trying to understand the relationship between GSL consumption and phenotypes associated with an organism’s skin and hair. In a study performed at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland, doctor … Continue reading Experimental Drugs May Reverse Skin and Hair Conditions

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2017-18

Fungi’s Role in the Development of Self-Healing Concrete

By Marcia-Ruth Ndege ‘21 While concrete is the world’s most frequently used construction material, it is known to deteriorate quickly under the stress of daily physical and chemical processes. Concrete shrinks in the summer and cracks during the winter, and these cracks allow water to seep into underground steel reinforcement bars, resulting in corrosion. Professor Congrui Jin, an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Binghamton … Continue reading Fungi’s Role in the Development of Self-Healing Concrete

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Figure 1. Researchers explore the impact of a highly concentrated salt solution, mimicking liquid found on Mars, on the structure of water
2017-18

Investigating Water on Mars

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Since the discovery of perchlorates in soil acquired from Mars using the Pheonix Lander, researchers have been wondering how a liquid such as this can exist in the extreme cold temperatures found on the planet. A solution of perchlorate at 44% by weight can cause the freezing temperature of water to drop well below that of pure water. Researchers led by … Continue reading Investigating Water on Mars

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Figure 1. Researchers assess the effects and pathways of tattoo pigments in human skin and lymph nodes.
2017-18

Safety of Tattoo Pigment

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ‘19 The safety of tattoo pigments and its pathways in the body has rarely been investigated. Researchers, led by Dr. Ines Schreiver from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to explore the biokinetics involved in tattoo pigments in the human skin at the micro and nano scale. Tattoo pigments can be comprised of organic compounds, heavy metals … Continue reading Safety of Tattoo Pigment

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2016-17, Biology, Chemistry

The Anti-CRISPR

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19   Since the explosion of CRISPR-Cas 9, a gene editing technology, researchers have been further exploring its mechanisms and ways of improving the system. AcrIIA4 is a known anti-CRISPR protein that inhibits the CRISPR-Cas 9 complex, but the mechanism and residues involved were not as explored. Researchers lead by Jiyung Shin, PhD from The University of California Berkley investigated AcrIIA4 to … Continue reading The Anti-CRISPR

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Figure 1 Lipid-coated gold nanorods used to study transfection efficacy of HSP promoters
2016-17, Biology, Chemistry

Cancer Therapy Employing Lipid-coated Gold Nanorod

By Rideeta Raquib ’19 Gene regulation induced by light has potential for noninvasive control over the function of target cells. One such method involves the delivery of photothermal heaters and heat shock protein (HSP) promoter-driven protein expression vectors into the cells and then illuminating them to activate the cells. HSP promoters are controlled by heat shock factor, which is a transcription factor in the cytosol … Continue reading Cancer Therapy Employing Lipid-coated Gold Nanorod

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2016-17, Chemistry

Magnetic Nanoparticles for Oil Removal

Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 One of the costliest processes in oil and gas production is safe disposal of produced water. This water contains tiny amounts of oil that are difficult to separate and make water unsafe for the environment. Traditional methods such as gravitational separation of oil are costly and are not reliable for removing the tiny droplets of oil that remain in the water, making … Continue reading Magnetic Nanoparticles for Oil Removal

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2016-17, Chemistry, Health, Pharmacology

Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

by Jenna Mallon (’18) In recent years, cyclic peptides have emerged as leaders in therapeutic drugs due to their in vivo stability and bioavailability. A class of specific cyclic peptides known as Cyclosporins has been effective in preventing rejection and infection in the body after organ transplants. The different analogs of Cyclosporin are very structurally similar, making separation extremely difficult. For this reason Yuefei Shao, … Continue reading Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs

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2015-16, Chemistry

Graphene Optimization with Common Glass

By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Graphene, a material made of a two-dimensional sheet of carbon, is effective in durability and the conductivity of electricity. However, it has had trouble being commercialized. In a process called grapheme doping, chemicals were introduced to improve the electron density of grapheme and it eventually made the material more vulnerable do degradation. In collaboration with researchers from Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven … Continue reading Graphene Optimization with Common Glass

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