https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A team of chemical biologists at the University of Washington, working with colleagues at Oxford Nanopore Technologies, has developed a protein sequencing process that involves pulling proteins through nanopores in a lipid membrane. Their paper is published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-biologists-sequence-proteins-nanopores.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Sep 2024 10:32:26 EDT news646565540 "As complex living systems, we likely have trillions upon trillions of tiny nanoscopic holes in our cells that facilitate and regulate the crucial processes that keep us alive and make up who are," says Marija Drndić, a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania who develops synthetic versions of the biological pores that "guide the exchange of ions and molecules throughout the body." https://phys.org/news/2024-09-coupled-nanopore-platform-greater-precision.html Nanomaterials Thu, 12 Sep 2024 10:29:08 EDT news645355742 Transmembrane β-barrel pores (TMBs) are extensively used for single-molecule DNA and RNA sequencing. They enable the miniaturization of a wide array of sensing and sequencing applications into portable USB-size devices and point-of-care technologies. A team of Belgian and American researchers has now described a general approach to designing TMB pores from scratch with custom shapes and properties, opening up new opportunities for single-molecule analytics. Their results were published in Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-power-nanopores-approach-scales-opportunities.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 18 Jul 2024 14:25:04 EDT news640531501 SMU and the University of Rhode Island have patented an inexpensive, easy-to-use method to create solid-state nanopores (SSNs), while also making it possible to self-clean blocked nanopores. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-patent-inexpensive-method-creation-solid.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 02 Jul 2024 16:35:03 EDT news639156901 Blue energy has the potential to provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. In simple terms, it involves harnessing the energy produced when the ions in a salt solution move from high to low concentrations. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-ion-blue-energy-future-highlights.html Nanomaterials Thu, 30 May 2024 16:51:03 EDT news636306661 The technology used to sequence SARS-CoV-2 at record speed early in the COVID-19 pandemic has been successfully tested as a technique to monitor arboviruses and diseases transmitted mainly by mosquitoes. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-arboviruses-mosquitoes-potential-hosts-tracked.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 17 Apr 2024 15:42:04 EDT news632587321 We depend on our cells being able to divide and multiply, whether it's to replace sunburnt skin or replenish our blood supply and recover from injury. Chromosomes, which carry all of our genetic instructions, must be copied in a complete way during cell division. Telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes, play a critical role in this cell-renewal process—with a direct bearing on health and disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-potential-chromosome-degenerative-disease.html Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 11 Apr 2024 16:40:43 EDT news632072439 Over the past four years, many of us have become accustomed to a swab up the nose to test for COVID-19, using at-home rapid antigen tests or the more accurate clinic-provided PCR tests with a longer processing time. Now a new diagnostic tool developed by UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Holger Schmidt and his collaborators can test for SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus with the same or better accuracy as high-precision PCR tests in a matter of hours. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-diagnostic-tool-accuracy-pcr-faster.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 08 Apr 2024 15:00:01 EDT news631784881 In addition to their main components, the properties of crystalline and nanoporous materials often depend crucially on guest atoms or ions that are embedded in the tiny pores of their lattice structure. This applies to high-tech materials used in sensor or separation technology as well as to natural materials. The bluish gemstone aquamarine, for example, would be colorless without such guest components. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-method-nanoporous-materials.html Nanomaterials Thu, 21 Mar 2024 10:02:03 EDT news630234122 EPFL scientists have unveiled a method using biological nanopores and deep learning to detect protein modifications, offering new avenues in disease diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-nanopores-deep-aid-disease-diagnostics.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 18 Jan 2024 12:29:04 EST news624803342 Researchers from Osaka University investigated the thermal energy changes across nanopores that allow the selective flow of ions. Switching off the flow of ions in one direction led to a cooling effect. The findings have applications in nanofluidic devices and provide insight into the factors governing ion channels in cells. The nanopore material could be tailored to tune the cooling and arrays could be produced to scale up the effect. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-permselectivity-reveals-cool-side-nanopores.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 11 Dec 2023 09:49:00 EST news621510538 A team of chemists, microbiologists and physicists at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. has developed a way to use solid-state nanopores and multiplexed DNA barcoding to identify misfolded proteins such as those involved in neurodegenerative disorders in blood samples. In their study, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the group used multiplexed DNA barcoding techniques to overcome problems with nanopore filtering techniques for isolating harmful oligomers. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-solid-state-nanopores-dna-barcoding-misfolded.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:09:09 EST news620993344 New protein sequencing technology with improved sensitivity and throughput will bring revolution to proteomics and clinical diagnostics. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-method-peptide-sequencing-based-nanopore.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Fri, 24 Nov 2023 10:39:03 EST news620044741 A rapid, accurate way of testing for COVID-19 infection would be a big step in overcoming the virus' hold over our society. Now, Japanese researchers have developed a promising solution: a novel platform that couples nanopore technology with artificial intelligence. The article, "High-precision rapid testing of omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants in clinical samples using AI-nanopore," was published in Lab on a Chip . https://phys.org/news/2023-10-japanese-ai-nanopore-platform-accurate-rapid.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:10:06 EDT news617533802 Researchers at The University of Queensland are harnessing the latest sequencing technology developed by UK-based biotech Oxford Nanopore Technologies to analyze mRNA vaccines and therapies. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-nanopore-tech-quicker-mrna-quality.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:06:42 EDT news614513200 There has been a real race among scientists to create a technology that enables easy protein sequencing. Professor of Chemical Biology Giovanni Maglia of the University of Groningen has now found the missing piece in the puzzle: a way to transport a protein through a nanopore, which allows sequencing of proteins in a simple, handheld device. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-link-easy-protein-sequencing.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 18 Sep 2023 12:30:43 EDT news614259041 In living organisms, cells have a very high capacity to process and communicate information by moving molecules or ions through tiny channels that span the cell membrane. UC Santa Cruz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Marco Rolandi's lab and collaborators at MIT have created a device that mimics this biological concept in order to detect disease. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-device-combines-nanopores-electronic-disease.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 06 Sep 2023 15:10:06 EDT news613231801 For more than 20 years, Li-Qun "Andrew" Gu at the University of Missouri has developed a passion for solving life science problems by creating sophisticated diagnostic tools—in nanoscale. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-tool-greater-accuracy-medical-biosensors.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Tue, 08 Aug 2023 12:36:51 EDT news610717006 Single-molecule DNA detection using nanopore technology offers real-time analysis of DNA and RNA strands. It is a low-cost and flexible technique that can be used in clinical and research settings when samples need to be analyzed quickly and efficiently. However, this is new technology that still has some drawbacks, such as sample contamination. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-contamination-single-molecule-dna-nanopore-technology.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:05:58 EDT news609609955 Chinese scientists have proposed a new method for direct fabrication of sub-10 nm nanopores in WO3 nanosheets using swift heavy ions. The results have been published in Nano Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-scientists-method-fabrication-sub-nm-nanopores.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 21 Jun 2023 09:35:03 EDT news606558901 Aleksandra Radenovic, head of the Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology in the School of Engineering, has worked for years to improve nanopore technology, which involves passing a molecule like DNA through a tiny pore in a membrane to measure an ionic current. Scientists can determine DNA's sequence of nucleotides—which encodes genetic information—by analyzing how each one perturbs this current as it passes through. The research has been published in Nature Nanotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-extreme-dna-resolution-spatially-multiplexed.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 19 Jun 2023 11:00:02 EDT news606382181 In a collaboration with Groningen University, Professor Jørgen Kjems and his research group at Aarhus University have achieved a remarkable breakthrough in developing tiny nano-sized pores that can contribute to better possibilities for, among other things, detecting diseases at an earlier stage. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-tiny-nanopores-contribute-faster-identification.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 15 Jun 2023 17:04:11 EDT news606067448 Glycans perform varied and crucial functions in numerous cellular activities. The diverse roles of glycans are matched by their highly complex structures, which derive from differences in composition, branching, regio- and stereochemistry, and modification. This incomparable structural diversity is challenging to the structural analysis of glycans. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-nanopore-single-molecule-glycans.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 08 May 2023 09:20:02 EDT news602756401 Just as a flashlight casts a broader beam than the brightest candle when walking along a darkened trail, so too does long-read genomic sequencing seem to clarify a broader genomic picture of DNA mutations than short-read sequencing. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-long-read-approach-dna-mutations-cancer.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:10:07 EDT news599127001 While it is a popular hobby for many, fishing is also a pastime full of uncertainty. Each time you have something on the line, you can never be completely sure what type of fish you've hooked until you pull it out of the water. In a similar way, scientists "fishing" for biomarkers—molecules whose health care applications include signaling for the presence of cancer—in biofluids such as blood can also encounter unpredictability. Finding a specific protein biomarker in a pool of thousands is like trying to catch a particular fish species in the vast ocean. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-team-nanosensor-capable-single-molecule-precision.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 20 Mar 2023 15:04:04 EDT news598543442 Tau and tubulin proteins are two of the leading causes of many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Most of neurodegenerative disease progression is related to the aggregation of these proteins in the brain. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-nanopore-based-device-explores-neurodegenerative-diseases.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:00:06 EST news592565804 A new method has been developed for the rapid detection of microbes from cancer patients. It was developed by a collaborated research team led by Prof. Gu Hongcang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). https://phys.org/news/2022-11-nanopore-based-technology-pathogens-cancer-patients.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 01 Nov 2022 13:44:03 EDT news586529041 Devising renewable sources of energy is a key concern for scientists, political leaders and communities as the world comes to terms with the realities of climate change and the limits of the Earth's natural resources. In an exciting new development, scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (SANKEN) at Osaka University have demonstrated that electricity may be obtainable from water with a high salt concentration, such as seawater. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-scientists-electricity-high-salt.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Oct 2022 16:14:26 EDT news584810063 Genomic sequencing has revolutionized our understanding of medicine and evolution, such as identifying hereditary anomalies. Arrays of nanometer-sized holes—nanopores—in silicon nitride can in principle dramatically speed up and lower the cost of such analyses. However, DNA molecules transit such nanopores far too quickly for detection, causing only weak signals that are often difficult to analyze. Now, a research study led by The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (SANKEN) at Osaka University has utilized a method to enhance DNA detection in nanopores by manipulating the electrical properties of the DNA within and slowing down its transit. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-silicon-nitride-common-chemistry-revolutionize.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 05 Oct 2022 08:43:03 EDT news584178181 Shale oil, a type of crude oil similar to petroleum, is found between layers of organic-rich shale. It can be refined into petrol, diesel, and other products, making it a sought-after resource. The Qingshankou Formation in the Gulong Sag of the Songliao Basin in China is a large geological body of shale deposits formed at the bottom of an ancient lake. These deposits contain about 15.3 billion tons of pure shale oil. Naturally, the Gulong-Qingshankou Formation is an important national reservoir for shale oil. Recent studies have revealed interesting attributes of this massive reservoir, especially the presence of nanopores in the shale layers containing solid bitumen that has remained unmoved for centuries. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-deeper-explores-nanoscale-properties-gulong.html Earth Sciences Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:04:41 EDT news581871876