News by Subject Technology & Engineering

CRISPR allows scientists to precisely target and edit DNA within living cells, which could help them correct anomalies that cause inherited diseases. A UD Team has now developed a method to use CRISPR/Cas9 technology to set off a cascade of activities in cells, a phenomenon known as conditional gene regulation.

A team of researchers at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and NYU Center for Neural Science has solved a longstanding puzzle of how to build ultra-sensitive, ultra-small electrochemical sensors with homogenous and predictable properties by discovering how to engineer graphene structure on an atomic level. The researchers detail their study in a paper published today in the journal Advanced Materials.

Enantiomeric molecules resemble each other like right and left hands. Both variants normally arise in chemical reactions. But frequently only one of the two forms is effectual in biology and medicine. Hitherto, completely converting this mixture into the desired enantiomer was deemed impossible. Deploying a photochemical method, a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now achieved this feat.

Companies are keen to use miniature chemical reactors to make pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, but are discouraged by their tendency to clog up. Researchers at KU Leuven, Belgium, have now devised an elegant way of using sound waves to keep the chemicals flowing.

Scientists say more should be done to tackle the growing environmental impact of takeaway food containers. A new study estimates there are 2025 million takeaway containers per year being used in the European Union (EU) alone. It also says finding a way to recycle disposable takeaway containers could help reduce equivalent greenhouse gas emissions generated annually by 55,000 cars.

Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine have recently developed a process that may change the way cancer of the appendix is treated in the future.

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is often referred to as the 'invisible injury' -- while on the surface everything seems normal with brain structure, symptoms may present themselves in the behavior of the injured and cannot be explained.