Single-cell level protein analysis utilizing mass spectrometry (MS) with picolitre sample volumes needs sensitivity in the range of zeptomole to attomole. An article published recently in the journal Analytical Chemistry discussed an analytical pretreatment method based on a nanofluidic device to downsize the chemical unit operations to the range of femtoliter to picolitre volume in mass [...]
Nanosized extracellular vesicle (EV) exosomes serve as reliable biomarker sources. However, cancer biomarker identification through exosome multi-omic molecular information mapping is challenging due to heterogeneous populations of exosomes derived from diverse cell types. In an article published in the journal Communications Biology, researchers introduced novel three-dimensional (3D) nanographene immunomagnetic particles for specific capture and release [...]
Many historical buildings were built of limestone, such as Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. Limestone is easy to work with, but does not withstand weathering well. It consists mainly of calcite minerals that are relatively weakly bound to each other, which is why parts of the stone keep crumbling away over the years, often requiring [...]
Since its inception, chemotherapy has proven to be a valuable tool in treating many kinds of cancers, but it has a significant drawback. In addition to killing cancer cells, it can also destroy healthy cells like the ones in hair follicles, causing baldness, and those that line the stomach, producing nausea. Now, scientists at [...]
Within a newborn's umbilical cord lie potentially life-saving stem cells that can be used to fight diseases like lymphoma and leukemia. That is why many new parents elect to store ("bank") their infant's stem cell-rich umbilical cord blood. But in the 6–15% of pregnancies affected by gestational diabetes, parents lack this option because the [...]
An article recently published in the journal Scientific Reports discussed the removal of azithromycin (Azr) antibiotic from contaminated wastewater using hematite nanoparticles (α-HNPs), which were biofabricated from a perennial medicinal herb, Echinacea purpurea. The adsorption studies revealed the Azr removal capacity of α-HNPs from contaminated pharmaceutical wastewater. Additionally, the parameters like adsorption kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics were [...]
The bacterial strain Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae (Xoo), which causes bacterial leaf blight (BLB) infection, significantly impacts rice yield. Nano-enabled techniques have lately gained popularity as a long-term framework for improving crop nutrition and inhibiting plant diseases. The production and characterization of bioengineered chitosan iron nanocomposites (BNCs) as an antibacterial agent for treating bacterial leaf blight infection [...]
Though they are discrete particles, water molecules flow collectively as liquids, producing streams, waves, whirlpools, and other classic fluid phenomena. Not so with electricity. While an electric current is also a construct of distinct particles — in this case, electrons — the particles are so small that any collective behavior among them is drowned [...]
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a malignant brain cancer in adults with a median survival period of 15 months from the point of diagnosis. Residual tumor cells that remain beyond the margins of every GBM resection are resistant to postsurgical therapy and are the driving force of mortality. These residual tumor cells reach extensive brain tissues, [...]
Therapeutics based on messenger RNA, or mRNA, can potentially treat a wide range of maladies, including cancer, genetic diseases, and as the world has learned in recent years, deadly viruses. To work, these drugs must be delivered directly to target cells in nanoscale bubbles of fat called lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs—mRNA isn't much good if doesn't [...]
