NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India proposed on Friday a small tax on production of coal to raise millions of dollars for a National Clean Energy Fund that could help the world's fourth biggest polluter to shift to a low-carbon economy.India's growing economy has huge potential to shift to a low-carbon future, given that about 500 million Indians, or about half the population, do not have access to electricity, relying on fossil fuels such as coal to expand the power grid.With global focus now on how developing countries tackle the use of fossil fuels -- an imperative in the fight against climate change -- measures such as taxing coal could underscore India's actions in the battle against global warming.Presenting the country's 2010/11 budget, India's finance minister proposed levying a "clean energy cess" of 50 rupees ($1) on every tonne of coal produced in the country or imported."While we must ensure that the principle of 'polluter pays' remains the basic guiding criteria for pollution management, we must also give a positive thrust to development of clean energy," Pranab Mukherjee told parliament.India's coal production is expected at more than 570 million tonnes for 2010/11, raising the possibility of hundreds of millions of dollars for the corpus of the national clean energy fund.India, the world's fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter though still low on per-capita emissions, is under pressure to cut pollution to battle climate change while demand for power increases as its middle class clamors for more cars, TVs and housing.India has set a goal for slowing the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions, saying it was willing to rein in its "carbon intensity" -- the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted per unit of economic output -- by between 20 and 25 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels.Mukherjee also sought to boost solar energy sector, proposing custom duty cut of five percent and exemption from federal factory gate taxes for solar power generating machinery.The news buoyed shares in Indian firms, including Moser Baer and XL Telecom & Energy which make solar panels or have plans to do so.Renewable energy accounts for barely 8 percent of India's total capacity of about 150,000 megawatts but the government aims to double green power generation to 25,000 megawatts in four years.

Dortmund (D) – The REACH Regulation and the Seventh Amendment of the Cosmetics Directive created an unprecedented need for alternatives to animal testing in Europe. On one side the REACH Regulation requires a huge testing effort to overcome the lack of safety assessment data for all new chemicals and approximately 30.000 already existing compounds. On the other side the Seventh Amendment of the Cosmetics Directive is stepwise banning animal testing for safety assessment of cosmetic products or ingredients to reach a total ban in 2013. Within this context, a group of researches from the Institute for Analytical Sciences, the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors - both in Dortmund - and from the University of Konstanz (Germany) were able to set-up an easy and reliable assay to test chemicals for their neurotoxicity. Standard protocols for neurotoxic risk assessment involve the use of in vivo rodent models. This approach is lengthy, resource intensive and requires many animals, making it impractical for the screening large numbers of chemicals.The novel test, called network formation assay (NFA), is based on the monitoring of human neurones placed in monolayer in a hexagonal array for the outgrowth of neurites resulting in the formation of an interconnected neuronal network. The essential feature of this assay consists in being able to pattern neurons in precise arrays on the growth substrate. This was possible using used a novel cell patterning technique involving thin film poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microcontact printing. Differentiated human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells colonized the array with high efficiency, reliably producing pattern occupancies above 70%. The neuronal array surface supported neurite outgrowth, resulting in the formation of an interconnected neuronal network. Exposure to acrylamide, a neurotoxic reference compound, inhibited network formation. A dose–response curve from the NFA was used to determine a 20% network inhibition (NI20) value of 260 µM. This concentration was approximately 10-fold lower than the value produced by a routine cell viability assay, and demonstrates that the NFA can distinguish network formation inhibitory effects from gross cytotoxic effects. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) ERK1/2 and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI-3K) signaling pathways also produced a dose-dependent reduction in network formation at non-cytotoxic concentrations.This novel technique could represent an advance in the field of high throughput screening in the field of neurotoxicology. http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayHTMLArticleforfree.cfm?JournalCode=LC&Year=2010&ManuscriptID=b922193j&Iss=Advance_Article

Tasmania (Australia) -Tasmanian Devil project represents one of many ongoing wildlife management research studies to use high-throughput Sequencing Systems to prevent devastation of earth’s diverse species and ecosystems. A study published in Science, reports that an international team of scientists has identified cells in the nervous system, called Schwann cells, to be the possible cause of the facial tumour disease which is decimating Australia’s Tasmanian devil population. Schwann cells make up a type of tissue that cushions and protects nerve fibres but, until now, had no known association with the cancer. The discovery stems from the team’s efforts to fully characterize the genes in Tasmanian devil tumour cells using transcriptome sequencing with the Genome Sequencer FLX System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company. The findings may indicate new avenues for research to develop future diagnostic tools and treatments for this devastating disease. In order to identify the tissue of origin of the tumours, the team used the Genome Sequencer FLX System to sequence both diseased and healthy transcriptomes, the complete set of genes that are “turned on” in a specific cell. The researchers then compared gene expression results between the two tissues and found that the tumours’ genetic signature best matched that of Schwann cells found in the peripheral nerve. The underlying mechanism for how these nervous system cells spawned cancer cells is still unknown. The initiative represents one of a number of international efforts to fully characterize the Tasmanian devil genome using the 454 Sequencing Systems. www.roche.com

Wageningen (NL) - A shortage of flu vaccines may soon become a problem of the past. Researcher Manon Cox has developed an alternative process for producing large quantities of safe and effective vaccines at twice to four times the usual speed. The process is based on using cells in bioreactors instead of fertilised chicken’s eggs, which have a limited availability. Manon Cox will be conferred with a PhD at Wageningen University, Netherlands, on 9 December on the strength of a thesis on this subject.The prompt availability of sufficient suitable vaccine is always a problem when facing the outbreak of a flu epidemic. At the moment, it takes three to six months to produce a vaccine to counter a new strain of flu virus using chicken’s eggs. Moreover, there is no possibility of expanding production capacity in the event of a pandemic as the limited availability of fertilised chicken’s eggs needed for production inevitably becomes an insurmountable problem. Cox’s new process demonstrates that it is possible to make a vaccine available in commercial quantities within 45 days. The new production method makes use of a baculovirus that multiplies only inside insect cells, and which cannot spread in vertebrates. The insect cells produce huge quantities of so-called HA proteins, which mobilise the immune system into fighting the flu virus.The aspect that most slows down the production of vaccine according to the conventional method is the need for fertilised chicken eggs. Furthermore, this creates extra problems if the flu virus is also capable of infecting birds (as was the case in the Netherlands in 2003), as the egg production often grinds to a halt. In addition, the vaccines produced are not suitable for people with an egg allergy. The new production process using insect cells can be used on a large scale, at all times and simultaneously at various locations throughout the world. The process can easily be adapted to new influenza strains and enhance pandemic preparedness.Meanwhile, the new production process has already been put through clinical trials involving three different strains of flu virus in 460 healthy people. None of the test subjects injected with the vaccine developed symptoms of flu, while 4.6% of those taking part in the control group contracted the disease naturally. Three follow-on studies involving approximately 3,000 people showed no striking or frequent side-effects. The vaccine also appears to protect people from influenza viruses that have undergone genetic changes and in more than 50% of cases, it results in better antibody production than the flu vaccines currently available.Vaccines for the flu virus contain the HA protein (haemagglutinin) which, once in the bloodstream, puts the body in a state of high alert. The protein also stimulates the production of flu-specific antibodies. The same protein is found on the surface of a flu virus. When a vaccinated person encounters a flu virus , the antibodies produced attach to the proteins on the surface of the virus and inactivate the virus. http://www.wur.nl/

Norwich (UK) – The spreading of antibiotic resistance represents a major issue which can be overcome only by isolating and developing novel antibiotics and studying their mechanism of action. Moreover, targets within the bacterial metabolism must be identified for the efficient shutting down of bacteria. Simocyclinone is a bifunctional antibiotic derived from the soil actinomycete Streptomyces antibioticus that inhibit the bacterial enzyme DNA gyrase by preventing its binding to DNA. Scientists of the Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre in Norwich, were able to determine the crystal structure of the complex formed between the amino-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli gyrase A subunit and the antibiotic simocyclinone D8, revealing two binding pockets that separately accommodate the aminocoumarin and polyketide moieties of the antibiotic. These are close to, but distinct from, the quinolone-binding pocket where the class of synthetic quinolone antibacterial drugs binds. Several mutations falling in this region cause resistance to both quinolones and simocyclinone.Biochemical studies demonstrated that individually the aminocoumarin and polyketide moieties of the antibiotic are relatively weak inhibitors of DNA gyrase A if compared to the whole antibiotic: the combined moieties generate a more potent inhibitor. The researchers think that the binding pockets of DNA Gyrase A identified for the binding of simocyclinone could be exploited for the design and development of novel potent antibiotic molecules being less vulnerable to resistance against them. Having a dual binding mechanism has the advantage to reduce the effect of mutations leading to resistance in that it is highly improbable to have two coupled mutations affecting both binding sites. Marcus J. Edwards, Ruth H. Flatman, et al. A Crystal Structure of the Bifunctional Antibiotic Simocyclinone D8, Bound to DNA Gyrase. Science, Vol. 326. pp. 1415 - 1418 (2009).

København (Denmark) – Already a week before the start of the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference, the city Copenhagen was filled with posters renaming “Hopenhagen” the “city of hope” Copenhagen. Other posters placed by Greenpeace at the Kastrup Airport were showing the world leaders of today Mr. Obama, Mr. Sarkozy, Mr. Brown, Mr. Lula, Mr. Zapatero, Mrs. Merkel, etc. in 2020 saying “I am sorry. We could have stopped …”, while two ships of Greenpeace (the “Artic Sunrise” icebreaker and the “Beluga II” clipper) were already in the Port of the Nordic city on the Øresund. Besides these more visible and both dramatic and folkloristic aspects of the Conference, from December 7th to December 18th the delegations 192 countries and the Head of States of several of them will have the tremendously difficult task to find a compromise to pave the road towards a new agreement which should replace the Kyoto Protocols which will expire in 2012. It will not be easy to find a merger between the interests of the wealthiest countries, of the developing countries, of the highly developing BRIC countries and all other participants to get more sustainability and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Several preparatory meetings were held this year to prepare this important conference. Expectations should not be too high. Head of the European Commission Mr. Barroso declared to the French TV Canal Plus: "I think there will be no treaty in Copenhagen. Some of our partners are not preparing for it", adding, "What we are trying to get is an agreement. Only after it is put under the pertinent law, the agreement will become a treaty".We, as spectators, will see what will happen, hoping all the best for our future.http://en.cop15.dk/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm

Nanjing (P.R. China) – Scientists of the Nanjing University, Nanjing National Laboratory of Microstructure, were able to demonstrate that fullerene can activate molecular hydrogen and acts therefore as a novel nonmetal catalyst in hydrogenation reactions. The method was assessed employing the hydrogenation reaction of aromatic nitro compounds to amino aromatics. The reaction was driven with high conversion selectivity both at the pressure of 1 bar of H2 with UV-light irradiation at room temperature and at the pressure of 4-5 MPaH2 without UV-light irradiation at 120-160°C. The latter conditions are comparable to those employed in noble metal driven catalysis. Practically, hydrogen was bubbled at one bar of pressure through solution of nitrobenzene containing a small quantity of C60 at room-temperature, while irradiating with ultraviolet light. The yields of aniline were near to 100%.The finding that fullerenes are able to catalyze hydrogenation of aromatic compounds in a way comparable to noble metals may lead to the replacing of precious metals with carbon based molecules for catalysis. B. Li and Z. Xu. J. Am. Chem. Soc. On line first (2009)

Pasadena (CA, USA) – The researchers Aycan Yurtsever and Ahmed Zewail (the 1999 Nobel Price Laureate in Chemistry) of the Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena reported in an article published on Science that by means of Convergent-Beam Ultrafast Electron Microscopy (CB-UEM) they were able to observe and to follow over the time, i.e. in 4xD, Nanoscale Diffraction. The Convergent-Beam Ultrafast Electron Microscope is a modified transmission electron microscope interfaced with an ultrafast laser being able to collect over the time the three dimensional structural changes of molecules adding to 3xD imaging a fourth dimension. This kind of microscopy allows following in real time chemical structure changes. The microscope is emitting electron pulses in the range of femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds) which allow assembling the single frames to construct a digital movie of atomic scale motions. In this study the technique was adapted to electronic diffraction studies which until now could be used only on static samples or, in the case of non static samples only approximations could be made with a huge loss of information. The novel technique was assessed measuring the change of diffraction intensities in laser-heated crystalline silicon as a function of time and fluence. The structural dynamics (change in 7.3 ± 3.5 picoseconds), the temperatures (up to 366 Kelvin), and the amplitudes of atomic vibrations (up to 0.084 angstroms) were determined for atoms strictly localized within the confined probe area (10 to 300 nanometers in diameter). Authors declared in their article “We anticipate a broad range of applications for CB-UEM and its variants, especially in the studies of single particles and heterogeneous structures”. A.Yurtsever and A.H. Zewail. Science. Vol. 326, pp. 708 – 712 (2009).

Raleigh (North Carolina, USA) – A team of scientists lead by James C. Bonner, Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University, published a letter on Nature Nanotechnology explaining a study on the effect of inhaled carbon nanotubes in mice. Carbon nanotubes can stimulate inflammatory reactions when injected into the abdominal cavity of mice. This fact raises concerns about the possibility that inhaled nanotubes may cause pleural fibrosis and/or mesothelioma. The study published by the group demonstrated that multiwalled carbon nanotubes are able to reach the subpleura in mice subsequent to a single inhalation exposure of 6 hours to 30 mg per cubic meter. After the exposure Nanotubes were found embedded in the subpleural wall and within the subpleural macrophages. Mononuclear cell aggregates on the pleural surface increased in number and size after 1 day and nanotube-containing macrophages were observed within these foci. Subpleural fibrosis unique to this form of nanotubes increased after 2 and 6 weeks following inhalation. On the contrary, no effects could be observed in mice when they were exposed to black carbon nanoparticles or when an exposure to lower levels of nanotubes was assessed (1 mg per cubic meter). As the authors of the study suggest, a prudent approach to nanotube handling apt to minimize inhalation should be taken into consideration at least as long as further long term exposure studies are conducted and completed. J.P. Ryman-Rasmussen, M.F. Cesta, et al. Nature Nanotechnology. On line first (2009).

Psycho-physical well being beauty, environment and health are values which nowadays are well known to be linked. The Island of Ischia, among the most famous and renewed travel destinations worldwide and also well known for its spa, is the obvious location to discuss about these topics. In fact, “The Second International Salon on Wellbeing - Viverein” (September 25th-27th) focused on “life quality among science and philosophy” was organised on the Island. Even if this initiative is relatively new, it immediately collected a huge success and a notable participation becoming a point of reference in the sector: 7000 people visited the 66 stands in the 1200 sqm of the ten swimming pools in the huge park where the event was located. Tens of speakers alternated during the three days of debate: scientists, physicians, biologists, sociologists, psychologists, cosmetologists, book authors and businessmen characterised the interdisciplinary work of the meeting. The topics ranged from food to sports, from beauty treatments to workplace safety, from non conventional medicines to thermal water and mud baths, from wellness technologies to environment protection, from the materialistic to psychological and cultural bases of wellbeing to several more highly specialised topics. The scientific research divulgation association “Insula Major” which organised the meeting had the support of several universities, public and private institutions. Excellence awards were given in disciplines concurring to the general wellbeing of humans, i.e. the emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, environmental, and social state. Awards for literature, music, medicine, food, and several other awards were given. Among these, our Editor in Chief Prof. Carla Scesa was awarded in the field of Cosmetics.

Madrid (Spain) - A first symposium on flow reactor technologies in industrial chemistry was organised on October 12th in Madrid by the journal Chemistry Today, edited by our editorial group, in coordination with the symposium sponsor, Corning SAS (Fontainebleau, France). Nineteen speakers from the industry and academia discussed the most recent applications and experiences from the world of continuous flow chemistry. Flow reactors represent a breakthrough in the field of industrial chemical synthesis, enabling fewer reagents, less discarded materials, high throughput, more efficiency, increased safety and reduced environmental impact. Conventional synthesis normally occurs in “batch” reactions where reagents are mixed and react in bulky vessels, often with byproducts that are wasted and sometimes, in the case of dangerous processes or highly toxic reagents, may represent a safety issue. Flow reactors continuously and efficiently stream chemicals together in a highly controlled manner. Given the high level of optimization, significant savings can be realized by bringing together fewer reagents to obtain the same amount of final product achieved by batch. The presentations were organised in four main sessions: Continuous Flow Reactors in Industrial Production; Best Practices for Continuous Flow Reactors; and Pumps, Control Systems and On-line Analysis. Additionally, two panel discussions were held on future field applications and on real world practical experiences. In the first two sessions and associated panel discussions, experts from Alfa Laval, Lonza, DSM, Sigma Aldrich, PCAS, Astra Zeneca, Corning and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) covered industrial applications of flow chemistry. Many aspects were discussed, including economic impact, cGMP, design of multipurpose plants , and the integration of semi batch systems with continuous flow reactors. The associated panel discussion complimented these contributions by addressing topics identified through open interaction with attendees. The third session delved into best practices for continuous flow reactors as well as the design and conversion of traditional batch productions to continuous flow productions. Experts from Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) and Microinnova discussed the issue of whole process design, and the feasibility of production conversion. The second panel discussion put together experts from Corning, Siegfried, SNPE Matériaux Energétiques, Sanofi and Chemtrix, to provide practical experience from the industry. Batch and flow chemistry systems were compared, set-up examples provided, and pilot plants for green chemistry illustrated. Finally, experts from Fuji Techno Industries Corp., Zeton BV and the University of Washington provided the latest insights on pumps, control systems, and online analysis.“I found the symposium to be valuable and informative and a great opportunity to engage with leaders in this exciting new field. I look forward to attending next year’s event,’ said Martin Jönsson, Sales and Marketing Manager, Alfa Laval during the event’s closing reception. “We were very pleased by the sold out response and very engaged participation from more than 140 attendees representing 75 organizations and 20 countries at this first annual symposium”, said Gary Calabrese Senior Vice President, Corning Incorporated. “Based on this very strong reaction, we look forward to the opportunity to work with Teknoscienze in planning next year’s program.”http://chemistry-today.teknoscienze.com/lp/madrid_symposium.html

Stockholm (S)- 7 October 2009 - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 jointly toVenkatraman Ramakrishnan, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge,UK, Thomas A. Steitz, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA and Ada E. Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome". The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 awards studies of one of life's core processes: the ribosome's translation of DNA information into life. Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms. As ribosomes are crucial to life, they are also a major target for new antibiotics.This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry awards Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath for having showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level. All three have used a method called X-ray crystallography to map the position for each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome.Inside every cell in all organisms, there are DNA molecules. They contain the blueprints for how a human being, a plant or a bacterium, looks and functions. But the DNA molecule is passive. If there was nothing else, there would be no life.The blueprints become transformed into living matter through the work of ribosomes. Based upon the information in DNA, ribosomes make proteins: oxygen-transporting haemoglobin, antibodies of the immune system, hormones such as insulin, the collagen of the skin, or enzymes that break down sugar. There are tens of thousands of proteins in the body and they all have different forms and functions. They build and control life at the chemical level.An understanding of the ribosome's innermost workings is important for a scientific understanding of life. This knowledge can be put to a practical and immediate use; many of today's antibiotics cure various diseases by blocking the function of bacterial ribosomes. Without functional ribosomes, bacteria cannot survive. This is why ribosomes are such an important target for new antibiotics.This year's three Laureates have all generated 3D models that show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. These models are now used by scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving of lives and decreasing humanity's suffering.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, US citizen. Born in 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Ph.D. in Physics in 1976 from Ohio University, USA. Senior Scientist and Group Leader at Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.Thomas A. Steitz, US citizen. Born in 1940 in Milwaukee, WI, USA. Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in 1966 from Harvard University, MA, USA. Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, both at Yale University, CT, USA.Ada E. Yonath, Israeli citizen. Born in 1939 in Jerusalem, Israel. Ph.D. in X-ray Crystallography in 1968 from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Martin S. and Helen Kimmel Professor of Structural Biology and Director of Helen & Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure & Assembly, both at Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/press.html

Stockholm (S) - 6 October 2009 - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK, and Chinese University of Hong Kong "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication" and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor".This year's Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded for two scientific achievements that have helped to shape the foundations of today’s networked societies. They have created many practical innovations for everyday life and provided new tools for scientific exploration. In 1966, Charles K. Kao made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fiber optics. He carefully calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibers. With a fiber of purest glass it would be possible to transmit light signals over 100 kilometers, compared to only 20 meters for the fibers available in the 1960s. Kao's enthusiasm inspired other researchers to share his vision of the future potential of fiber optics. The first ultrapure fiber was successfully fabricated just four years later, in 1970.Today optical fibers make up the circulatory system that nourishes our communication society. These low-loss glass fibers facilitate global broadband communication such as the Internet. Light flows in thin threads of glass, and it carries almost all of the telephony and data traffic in each and every direction. Text, music, images and video can be transferred around the globe in a split second.If we were to unravel all of the glass fibers that wind around the globe, we would get a single thread over one billion kilometers long – which is enough to encircle the globe more than 25 000 times – and is increasing by thousands of kilometers every hour.A large share of the traffic is made up of digital images, which constitute the second part of the award. In 1969 Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The CCD technology makes use of the photoelectric effect, as theorized by Albert Einstein and for which he was awarded the 1921 year's Nobel Prize. By this effect, light is transformed into electric signals. The challenge when designing an image sensor was to gather and read out the signals in a large number of image points, pixels, in a short time. The CCD is the digital camera's electronic eye. It revolutionized photography, as light could now be captured electronically instead of on film. The digital form facilitates the processing and distribution of these images. CCD technology is also used in many medical applications, e.g. imaging the inside of the human body, both for diagnostics and for microsurgery. Digital photography has become an irreplaceable tool in many fields of research. The CCD has provided new possibilities to visualize the previously unseen. It has given us crystal clear images of distant places in our universe as well as the depths of the oceans.Charles Kuen Kao, British and US citizen. Born 1933 in Shanghai, China. Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering 1965 from Imperial College London, UK. Director of Engineering at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK. Vice-chancellor, Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retired 1996.Willard Sterling Boyle, Canadian and US citizen. Born 1924 in Amherst, NS, Canada. Ph.D. in Physics 1950 from McGill University, QC, Canada. Executive Director of Communication Sciences Division, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA. Retired 1979.George Elwood Smith, US citizen. Born 1930 in White Plains, NY, USA. Ph.D. in Physics 1959 from University of Chicago, IL, USA. Head of VLSI Device Department, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, USA. Retired 1986.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/index.html

Stockholm (S) - 5 October 2009 - The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 jointly to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase".This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase. The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.The chromosomes contain our genome in their DNA molecules. As early as the 1930s, Hermann Muller (Nobel Prize 1946) and Barbara McClintock (Nobel Prize 1983) had observed that the structures at the ends of the chromosomes, the so-called telomeres, seemed to prevent the chromosomes from attaching to each other. They suspected that the telomeres could have a protective role, but how they operate remained an enigma.When scientists began to understand how genes are copied, in the 1950s, another problem presented itself. When a cell is about to divide, the DNA molecules, which contain the four bases that form the genetic code, are copied, base by base, by DNA polymerase enzymes. However, for one of the two DNA strands, a problem exists in that the very end of the strand cannot be copied. Therefore, the chromosomes should be shortened every time a cell divides – but in fact that is not usually the case.Both these problems were solved when this year's Nobel Laureates discovered how the telomere functions and found the enzyme that copies it.Elizabeth H. Blackburn has US and Australian citizenship. She was born in 1948 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. After undergraduate studies at the University of Melbourne, she received her PhD in 1975 from the University of Cambridge, England, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, New Haven, USA. She was on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, and since 1990 has been professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco.Carol W. Greider is a US citizen and was born in 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. She studied at the University of California in Santa Barbara and in Berkeley, where she obtained her PhD in 1987 with Blackburn as her supervisor. After postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, she was appointed professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore in 1997.Jack W. Szostak is a US citizen. He was born in 1952 in London, UK and grew up in Canada. He studied at McGill University in Montreal and at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he received his PhD in 1977. He has been at Harvard Medical School since 1979 and is currently professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is also affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2009/press.html

London (UK) – Researchers of the Imperial College in London were able to develop a microfluidic format system to perform 2xD separations. The results were published on the journal Chemical Communications. 2xD separations play an important role in proteomics, genomics, metabolomics and a range of other biochemical fields. Several techniques exist to perform 2xD separations. In the field of proteomics several techniques based on polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis allow to separate and identify proteins in complex mixtures by separating them on the basis of the isoelectric point in the first dimension and of the molecular weight in the second dimension. These techniques are highly reproducible but require a high amount of work. In the era of high throughput techniques more fast and at least comparably reliable techniques are require. The problem is that transferring materials between two orthogonal dimensions has proved to remain a significant challenge. Several techniques coupling in different ways liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis have been already developed, but the challenge remains to have a high analytical performance coupling spatially and temporally two separation techniques and applying these on extremely small samples. The authors describe in their article a new approach for coupling two separation techniques (or mechanisms) using a dynamic microdroplet interface. In theory, this approach does not sacrifice resolution in any single dimension and allows analysis of nanolitre to femtolitre volumes without the need for valves. Droplets are made to spontaneously form when laminar streams of aqueous reagents are injected into an immiscible carrier fluid, either at a T junction or in a flow focusing geometry. Analyte molecules can be encapsulated and stored inside the droplets, without evaporation or contamination between droplets. Moreover, recent advances in microfluidic control architecture have also facilitated the precise temporal and spatial manipulation of single droplets and functions such as sorting, splitting and merging for complex analyses. The approach developed by the authors approach efficiently integrates both separation dimensions utilizes droplet generation after the first dimension with oil depletion and droplet merging prior to the second dimension. Authors claim that this combination forms a fully functional droplet connector for two-dimensional separations.N.Z. Niu, B. Zhang, et al. Droplet-based compartmentalization of chemically separated components in two-dimensional separations. Chem. Commun. On line first (2009).

Nagoya (Japan) – Researchers of the Department of Chemistry of the Nagoya University and of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Tsukuba in Japan were able to synthesize ultrathin metal nanowires of single atom diameter (approx. 1,7 nm) inside carbon nanotubes. The research was published on the journal Angewandte Chemie (International Edition). The high yield synthesis was obtained by putting carbon nanotubes along with metal powder into glass tubes which are then heated at 500-600°C. The metal which are chosen usually sublime at a relatively low heat. Vaporized metal atoms fill up hollow centers of the nanotubes and solidify into wires. The thickness of wires can be varied by varying the width of carbon nanotubes and therefore it is possible to obtain nanowires of the diameter of one single atom. High quality nanotubes as starting material allowing the metal vapor can flow in smoothly and regularly are crucial to obtain up to 90% of filled nanotubes. The Nanotubes obtained by the research group were filled with europium and ytterbium, to low sublimination temperature metals. Other metals like samarium, potassium, rubidium, calcium and strontium are good candidate for the production of nanowired nanotubes. One open question remains: will the nanowires be stably inserted in the nanotube pipes or will they slip out? Atom-thin metal wires show many novel electronic properties. One major drawback is that they are extremely fragile and prone to oxidation. A carbon nanotube sheath would protect them efficiently allowing the measuring and the mapping of their peculiar properties. R. Kitaura, R. Nakanishi, et al. High-Yield Synthesis of Ultrathin Metal Nanowires in Carbon Nanotubes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. On line first (2009).

Oxford (UK) – An international team of UK and US scientists developed a novel approach to perform the water−gas shift (WGS) reaction (CO + H2O ->CO2 + H2) exploiting catalysis operated by redox enzymes immobilised on conducting graphite platelets. The WGS reaction is of major industrial significance in the production of H2 from hydrocarbon sources and is conventionally performed at high temperatures, typically in excess of 200°C, using d-metal catalysts on oxide supports. Enzymes offer a cheap, fast and reliable alternative to perform several chemical reactions of industrial relevance. The team lead by Fraser Armstrong uncoupled the reaction in two half cell electrochemical reactions (the reduction of H+ and the oxidation of CO) by immobilizing two enzymes on conducting particles: the H+ reduction reaction is catalyzed by a hydrogenase, Hyd-2, from Escherichia coli, and CO oxidation is catalyzed by a carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH I) from Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans. The resulting enzyme assembly on conducting graphite platelets is able to act as a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst with a turnover frequency, at 30 °C, of at least 2.5 s−1 per minimum functional unit (a CODH/Hyd-2 pair) which is comparable to conventional high-temperature catalysts. Until now it is questionable whether the process could be scaled up for industrial applications, but on the other hand it demonstrates once more the potentials of enzymatic reactions versus standard industrial processes. O. Lazarus, T. W. Woolerton, et al, Water−Gas Shift Reaction Catalyzed by Redox Enzymes on Conducting Graphite PlateletsJ. Am. Chem. Soc., On line first (2009).

Uppsala, Sweden – Researchers from the The Ångstrom Laboratory of the Uppsala University in Sweden describe in the journal Nano Letters a novel way to produce environmentally friendly rechargeable aqueous based all-polymer paper batteries. The batteries based on this material can be charged with currents as high as 600 mA cm−2 with only 6% loss in capacity over 100 subsequent charge and discharge cycles. Until now investigations on battery applications based on conducting polymers gave few exploitable results, because the functional charging rates and the cycling stabilities have so far been found to be insufficient for practical applications. Authors in their article state that “These shortcomings can, at least partially, be explained by the fact that thick layers of the conducting polymers have been used to obtain sufficient capacities of the batteries”. The novel batteries are based on cellulose fibers of algal origin, which are assembled to form a nanostructured high surface area electrode coated with a 50 nm thin layer of polypyrrole and which show the until now highest reported charge capacities and charging rates for an all polymer paper-based battery. The composite conductive paper material is shown to have a specific surface area of 80 m2 g−1 and exhibit charge capacities between 25 and 33 mAh g−1 or 38−50 mAh g−1 per weight of the active material, open up new possibilities for the production of environmentally friendly, cost efficient, up-scalable and lightweight energy storage systems, as the authors state in their article. Gustav Nystroem, Aamir Razaq, et al. Ultrafast All-Polymer Paper-Based Batteries. Nano Letters. On line first (2009)

Zurich (CH), Utrecht (NL) - Atomic Force Microscopy, developed in the ’80, exploits the deflection of nanoscale tips employed to scan surfaces. The resolution of this techniques is so high to allow to visualize single atoms and is used for studies of matter at the nanoscale level. Despite the high resolution, until now several limits didn’t allow to easily resolve single atoms within adsorbed structures. To this regard, the authors state that: “The scanning tunneling microscope images atomic-scale features on surfaces, but resolving single atoms within an adsorbed molecule remains a great challenge because the tunneling current is primarily sensitive to the local electron density of states close to the Fermi level”. The team of scientists was for the first time able to visualize all the atom positions and bonds of a single molecule, pentacene, including its hydrogens. This achievement was possible by probing the short-range chemical forces, i.e. the van der Waals and electrostatic forces, with use of noncontact atomic force microscopy . This allowed to reduce the diffused background of previous imaging experiments. L. Gross, F. Mohn, et al. The Chemical Structure of a Molecule Resolved by Atomic Force Microscopy. Science, Vol. 325, pp. 1110 – 1114 (2009).

Mülheim and Potsdam Golm (D) – Scientists of the Max Plank Society in Germany described a new catalyst able to catalyse the low temperature oxidation of methane to methanol. The selective oxidation reaction starting methane and sulfuric acid (oleum) is promoted by a newly designed solid catalyst working at 200°C of temperature. Conventional employed procedures require temperatures of more than 600°C. The new solid catalyst is formed in a covalent triazine-based framework formed by trimerization of 2,6-dicyanopyridine in a ZnCl2 melt which possesses bipyridine units as coordination sites for platinum. The catalyst depicts a high activity and is easily separable from the reaction mixture. Moreover, the catalyst can be reused for several times without a significant loss of activities. Converting methane in the more easily and more safely transportable methanol employing an economic way and with a higher selectivity compared to conventional methods confers important economical advantages to the new methodology. R. Palkovits, M. Antonietti et al. Solid Catalysts for the Selective Low-Temperature Oxidation of Methane to Methanol. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 48 pp. 6909-6912 (2009).

Urbana-Champaign (IL, USA). Aptamers are short DNA strands able to recognise and bind specific tridimensional structures like e.g. specific proteins. This feature makes aptamers an ideal candidate for site specific delivery of antitumoral drugs. These highly toxic drugs have notoriously strong side effects as they hit healthy cells as well as cancerous cells. A key challenge has been to find a way to deliver them exclusively to the target cells without affecting healthy cells. Yi Lu and co-workers at the University of Illinois, were able to specifically target liposome packaged drugs, and, for the first time, were able to tune the drug delivery by disrupting the targeting ability of the molecules.Cisplatin, a highly potent anti-cancer drug depicting substantial side effects, was packaged in liposomes and conjugated to aptamers specific for nucleolin, a protein primarily known as a nuclear and cytoplasmic protein. Recent studies have shown that nucleolin exists also in a form expressed at the cell surface of exponentially growing cells such as cancer cells. The aptamer mediated delivery system is able to specifically target cultivated breast cancer cells. Moreover, the delivery system can be switched off using DNA sequences complementary to the sequence of the aptamer. The hybridization to the complementary DNA of the aptamer abolishes the ability of the aptamer to specifically recognize nucleolin and therefore to bind it. Zehui Cao, Rong Tong, et al. Reversible Cell-Specific Drug Delivery with Aptamer-Functionalized Liposomes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition On-line first (2009)

Tokyo (Japan) – A group of researchers of the Waseda University in Tokyo led by S. Takeoka prepared a free-standing polysaccharide nanosheet by using a spin-coating-assisted layer-by-layer method. The sheet can be transferred from silicone rubber onto human skin fabricating a three-layered nano-adhesive plaster with a water-soluble sacrificial layer. By using this novel technique, conventional ultrathin films can be made without the need for a solid substrate. Nanosheets were made of poly(L-lactic acid).(PLLA) which, along with other polyesters, is clinically applied in drug delivery or to produce degradable stitches. Until now no ultra thin foils have been produced. The researchers formed 23nm thick sheets by spin-coating PLLA on a silicon dioxide substrate and then transferred them to a supporting poly(vinyl alcohol) film. After taping across surgical incision sites, they dissolved the supporting films in saline, leaving just the nanosheets. Having scarless healing is of particular importance in the healing of internal incisions: but internal scarring can also lead to painful and sometimes dangerous adhesions, involving areas of tissue that should remain separate and that could become joined by scar tissue. The new material also appears to reduce the risk of these adhesions. Experiments were performed on mice stomachs which when stitched normally showed evidence of adhesion after a week. When stomachs were sealed with nanosheets there were no adhesions, and very little scarring. This application is only experimental and a major challenge will be represented by the adaptation of the technique from mice to bigger animals and men where the tension across scars is definitively higher. T. Fujie, Y. Okamura, S. Takeoka Ubiquitous Transference of a Free-Standing Polysaccharide Nanosheet with the Development of a Nano-Adhesive Plaster. Advanced Materials Vol. 19, pp. 3549 – 3553.

Cold Spring Harbor, (NY, USA)- The woolly mammoth, also called the tundra mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), mostly extincted at the end of Pleistocene, i.e.10,000 years ago, even if some reminders dating 4,000 back have been found. Recent paleogenomic studies have successfully recovered genetic information from both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of this extinct species. Mammoths belong to Afrotheria, a group of mammals exhibiting extreme morphological diversity and large genome sizes. In a study published on Genome Research, scientists of the Pennsylvania State University led by Dr. Stephan Schuster analysed the mammoth genome looking for retrotransposons, i.e. mobile DNA elements interspersed throughout the genome, revealing new insights into how some of these elements arose in mammals and shaped the genome of an animal headed for extinction. Transposable elements, or transposons, are DNA sequences that can "jump" around the genome, causing mutations and contributing to expansion of the genome through duplications of entire regions of it. They account for a significant fraction of the genome of mammalians and some of them are still active, i.e. able to transpose throughout the genome. In Homo sapiens around 44% of the genome is composed of interspersed repeated DNA sequences. Sequencing data reveal that the mammoth genome is composed of 4,7 billions of bp, approximately 1,5 times the size of the human genome. In the study they found that the mammoth genome contains a larger proportion of interspersed repeats than any other mammalian genome reported so far. Authors suggest that the proliferation of the RTE family of retrotransposons (covering 12% of the genome) may be the main reason for an increased genome size. Phylogenetic analysis showed that RTEs in mammoth are closely related to the family BovB/RTE. BovB family of repeats is particularly interesting in that its distribution throughout the mammalians is inconsistent with the theoretical reconstructed lineages. It is conceivable that RTEs in mammoth may be acquired through an ancient lateral gene transfer event, i.e. that they were not inherited but passed from one species to the other. A recent proliferation of SINEs was also found in the probocidean lineage, whereas the Afrotherian-wide SINEs in mammoth have undergone a rather flat and stepwise expansion. Comparisons of the transposable elements (TEs) between mammoth and other mammals may shed light on the evolutionary history of TEs in various mammalian lineages.F. Zhao, J.Qi and S.C. Schuster, Tracking the past: Interspersed repeats in an extinct Afrotherian mammal, Mammuthus primigenius. Genome Res., On-line first (2009).

Riverside (CA, USA) Seoul (Korea) – The group led by Yadong Yin at the University of California in Riverside, published a paper on the Journal of the American Chemical Society about the production of magnetochromatic microspheres. Superparamagnetic (SPM) colloidal particles of iron oxide were embedded inside emulsion droplets of UV curable resin. The instant assembly of the microspheres was ensured by an immediate UV curing process apt to polymerize the droplets and fix the ordered structures. The beads can be oriented with the application of a magnetic field. The change of the order of the microspheres results in a change of the diffraction scheme and is leading to different diffraction colours. Authors explain that: “When dispersed in the liquid droplets, superparamagnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 core/shell particles self-organize under the balanced interaction of repulsive and attractive forces to form one-dimensional chains, each of which contains periodically arranged particles diffracting visible light and displaying field-tunable colours”, this allows to align before polymerization the particles and fix them: “UV initiated polymerization of the oligomers of the resin fixes the periodic structures inside the droplet microspheres and retains the diffraction property”. Consequently, different diffractive colors can be obtained, by changing the orientation of the crystal lattice relative to the incident light using magnetic fields. Microspheres are very stable and the response to magnetic fields is very fast. Several applications can be imagined like the fabrication of colour displays, rewritable signs, or sensors. To do this authors have fabricated a display unit that has on/off bistable states by embedding the magnetochromatic microspheres in a matrix that can thermally switch between solid and liquid phases.J. Ge, H. Lee, et al. Magnetochromatic Microspheres: Rotating Photonic Crystals J. Am. Chem. Soc.,On-line first (2009)

Berkeley (CA, USA) – A research published by Dino Spagnoli and colleagues at the Earth Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, on the journal Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta show that in aqueous solutions, the size and shape of mineral particles influence the structure of the first few layers of water on their surfaces, which represents an important determinant of reactivity. In the case of nanoparticles, the structure of water around them is difficult to probe directly, compared to macroscopic surfaces. Researchers used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of particle size and morphology on the time-averaged structure and the dynamics of water molecules around two sizes of common iron-oxide mineral hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles. The water order and layering around the particle decreased for particles of decreasing size. The residence time of water molecules near the surface was shorter for smaller, less-crystalline nanoparticles than for larger nanoparticles or a bulk hematite surface: 1.6 and 2.7 nm particles were both predicted to cause the formation of ordered water regions close to the nanoparticle surface. The extent of localization and ordering, the connectivity between regions of bound water, and the rates of molecular exchange between inner and outer regions are all affected by particle size and morphology. Faceted particles or low curvature particles tended to preferentially stabilize the water network and in some cases caused faceting within the water layer itself. The dynamic nature of the water shell surrounding environmental nanoparticles probably influences the energetics of crystal growth and may help explain why some surface processes—including heterogenous catalysis, bacterial metal respiration, and ion adsorption—show trends that vary with particle size. Authors conclude that “These findings are anticipated to be relevant to understanding the rates of interfacial processes involving water exchange and the transport of aqueous ions to surface sites”.D.Spagnoli, B.Gilbert, et al. Prediction of the effects of size and morphology on the structure of water around hematite nanoparticles, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, Vol. 73, On-line first (2009).

Utrecht, Enschede (NL), Ghent (B) – Dr. Jacqueline Alblas and colleagues evaluated the application of hydrogels tissue engineering and innovative strategies such as organ printing where cells are deposited on 3D hydrogel scaffolds. Hydrogel requisites for 3D printing are: 1) preservation of the printed shape after the deposition; 2) they must maintain cell viability and cell function and 3) easy handling of the printed construct.The researchers prepared a polymer hydrogel material fluid enough to be used in a printing device. The hydrogel can be converted into stable structures which can be handled. Stem cells able to begin the process of tissue generation within the scaffolds were incorporated into the hydrogels. A novel, photosensitive hydrogel (Lutrol) for printing of 3D structured bone grafts was assessed. The fast temperature-responsive gelation ability of thermosensitive Lutrol-F127, ensuring organized 3D extrusion, and the additional stability provided by covalent photocrosslinking allowed the handling of the printed scaffolds. Cytotoxicity of the hydrogel and osteogenic differentiation of embedded osteogenic progenitor cells were investigated. After photopolymerization of the modified Lutrol hydrogel, cells remained viable for up to three weeks and retained the ability to differentiate in bone tissue. Moreover encapsulation of cells does not compromise the mechanical properties of the formed gels and multilayered porous Lutrol structures were successfully printed.The cell-laden hydrogel is printed as a long strand, which can be built up into multi-layered structures, explained Dr. Alblas. “We made a layer of strands, then a cross-hatched layer on top of that to build upwards, but you can also print circles to make tubes”. “By combining different structures impregnated with different types of cells, it should be possible to build much more complex structures such as tissue grafts that have blood vessels built into them”, she added.N.E. Fedorovich, I. Swennen, et al. Evaluation of Photocrosslinked Lutrol Hydrogel for Tissue Printing Applications, Biomacromolecules, On-line first (2009)

Ispra (I) – The fiftieth anniversary of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the biggest Directorate General (DG) of the European Commission was celebrated in Ispra, Italy, by European Commissioner Dr. Janez Potočnik, and the Director General of the JRC Dr. Roland Schenkel during the “open doors” initiative on May 16th 2009. More than 8500 people could access the 160 hectare of the site of Ispra and directly interact with the scientists of the research plant. The history of the JRC begins with the Treaties of Rome of 1958 which instituted two of the three European Communities, i.e. the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). In year 1959 the experimental atomic reactor “Ispra 1” was inaugurated. Now, 50 years later, the atomic installations are decommissioned and the JRC, which is also present in the sites of Karlsruhe (D), Brussels and Geel (B) Petten (NL) and Seville (ES), hosts the following Scientific Institutes: the Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (IPSC), the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), the Institute for Energy (IE) and the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS). The main scope of the JRC is to provide technical and scientific support to the development and the implementation of the EU policies, having as its stakeholders, in last analysis, the Citizens of the European Union. As it is stated by the JRC: "The mission of the JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national."ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc

Beijing (China) - Shoushan Fan and his colleagues of the Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, published a research on the Journal Advanced Materials on the development of a new type of incandescent display made of thin layers of highly aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The prototype displays were constructed from films of superaligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes consisting of concentric stacks of three to ten tubes with diameters ranging from 6 to15 nm which were prepared using a variant of the chemical vapour deposition method the scientist previously developed. The analysis with scanning electron microscopy showed that the nanotubes in their thin, transparent films were super-aligned, i.e., arranged almost perfectly parallel, and with a uniform density. Using screen printing and laser cutting, an incandescent CNT film array that can dynamically display Chinese characters was fabricated. Short pulses of voltage (20V) stimulate the films which glow at a temperature of 1542 K producing a brightness up to 6400 cd m-1. The time needed to switch the light on or off was less than one millisecond each way, i.e. faster than that of liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Moreover, the light is non-polarised, and consequently it can be seen equally well from any angle. The incandescence experiments were conducted in a high vacuum. Authors believe that the vacuum may not be necessary for practical applications and the filling of screens with inert gases (e.g. Nitrogen or Argon) could prevent carbon nanotubes from being burnt at the high operating temperature. P. Liu, L. Liu et al, Advances in Advance: Fast High-Temperature Response of Carbon Nanotube Film and Its Application as an Incandescent Display, Adv. Mater., On-line first, 2009

Tokyo (Japan) – Scientists from the Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, published on the Journal Energy & Environmental Science an article on the development of novel tiny fuel cells of a membraneless, air-breathing and monolithic design which they call “on-chip fuel cells”. Cells are pump-free microchannel-based cells and use oxygen from the air as oxidant. Their design is very simple with the two electrodes made in a single substrate. The development was triggered by the progresses in micro-devices like micro-sensors or lab-on-a-chip which inevitably require the development of suitable micro-power sources: several research groups are miniaturising conventional fuel cells but they are until now not compatible with other micro-devices. Tetsuya Osaka and his colleagues investigated the feasibility of the use of ethanol and isopropanol as fuel alternatives to the conventional toxic methanol solution for on-chip fuel cells. In addition the use phosphate buffer was assessed to realize safe operation under neutral pH conditions. Cells operated not only on methanol but also on ethanol and on isopropanol both under acidic and neutral conditions. These results indicate that the on-chip fuel cell is flexible to fuel solution: the most adequate solutions can be chosen on the basis of the application scope of cells. For example, methanol is suitable for applications requiring long life because of its characteristic propensity to be oxidized to carbon dioxide. A neutral ethanol solution is suitable for applications requiring safety, and this fuel is attractive as a renewable energy source. 2-Propanol is suitable for applications prioritizing power because of the higher power of a cell operating on this fuel.S.i Tominaka, H. Nishizeko, et al. On-chip fuel cells for safe and high-power operation: investigation of alcohol fuel solutions, Energy Environ. Sci., On-line first, 2009

Prage (cz) – During the two days meeting “Research Connection 09” organised in Prague by the European Commission Prof. Frantisek Stepanek of the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic, presented an update on his research project CHOBOTIX. The aim of the project is to develop chemical processing systems based on the principle of swarm robotics. This principle was inspired by the behaviour of collective organisms like bees or ants, being able to perform complex tasks by the combined action of a large number of relatively simple identical agents. Such simple chemical active autonomous entities could be seen as very simple micro organisms (without the ability to self replicate) which perform simple chemical reactions. A chemical processing entity is composed of few defined elements. 1. An outer shell or membrane being both soft (a flexible membrane) and hard (a porous outer shell); 2. a system allowing the transport into and out of the shells of reagents and products and a system allowing to control it; 3. internal compartmental sub-structures allowing the storage of reagents and/or products and “hosting” the chemical reactions itself; 4. a system providing the collective behaviour of swarm robots and tuning their response to external stimuli. Several applications in different areas are possible for such robots: including next generation distributed chemical processing, synthesis and delivery of personalised drugs, recovery and concentration of valuable chemicals from diluted solutions, environmental clean-up, etc. A possible application is the customized targeting of high potency drugs synthesising robots in patients. Specific robots containing innocuous precursors of high potency drugs could synthesise the required amounts of drugs after having specifically recognised and anchored to their target cells delivering at the right place the required amount of drug considerably reducing their averse side effects experienced with other delivery methods.www.vscht.cz/chobotics

Prage (cz) – During the two days meeting “Research Connection 09” organised in Prague by the European Commission Dr. Bruno Canard of the University of Marseille, France, presented an update on the VIZIER project involving several partners from all Europe co-financed by the European Commission. The scope of VIZIER is to identify new drug targets against RNA viruses through a comprehensive structural characterisation of a diverse set of viruses. RNA viruses include something like 350 major human pathogens and most of the agents of emerging or re-emerging diseases like, gastroenteritis, measles, influenza, dengue fever, enteroviruses, encephalitis, hepatitis C virus, etc. The devastating economic impact of viruses was recently demonstrated by the SARS outbreak or the more recent swine flu alarm. RNA viruses have the peculiarity to depict a very high mutation rate as a consequence of the fact that no RNA repair mechanisms to correct mutations or replication errors exist in cells. Conventional antiviral drug development is based on the characterisation of virus structures and genomes, a time consuming process which doesn’t allow quick responses in the case of a sudden epidemic outbreak. The VIZIER approach focuses on RNA viruses not including DNA stages in their replicative cycle. The enzymes of the RNA replication machinery are extremely attractive targets for drug development. The VIZIER Consortium is characterising the structure of core replicative enzymes among 300 carefully selected viruses, including strains of medical interest to identify several putative targets for drugs which will be developed against them. The VIZIER project is a huge effort involving five main scientific sections: Bioinformatics for genome analysis and target selection, virus production and sequencing, protein production, protein crystallisation and structural analysis and, last but not least, target validation. This approach allows the development of several efficient drugs against several virus strains or classes prior to new viral outbreaks. www.vizier-europe.org

Our journals were proudly invited by the DG-Research of the European Commission to take part to the event. During the European Council held in march 2000 in Lisbon, the Member States of the European Union decided to make the EU "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010". The “Lisbon Strategy” was born. Within this frame, several programs, structures and agencies were created to implement the agenda. The creation of an European Research Area (ERA) is underway to respond to the need to integrate research programs and to stimulate Europe wide cooperation among research institutions, industry and SMEs. Framework programs are the main instrument the European Commission (EC) uses to co-finance research, technological development and demonstration projects. The current Framework Program is the seventh (FP7): it started on 2007 and will last until 2013 with a total budget of 50 billion of Euro. A substantial increase with respect to previous programs. Grants aredetermined on the basis of calls for proposals and a peer review process, which are highly competitive. Moreover, activities funded from FP7 must have a “European added value”, i.e. they must be transnational research projects carried out by consortia including participants from different European countries (plus third countries). Fellowships in FP7 require mobility over national borders. Main goals of FP7 are to strengthen the scientific and technological base of European industry and to encourage its international competitiveness, while promoting research supporting EU policies.The Research Connection 09, organized in Prague by the Czech Presidency of the EU, presented several success stories of projects financed under the FP6 and the FP7 in the thematic areas Health, Food and Food Safety, Biotechnology, Environment, New Materials and Processes, Space & Security, Energy, Information Society, Science Economy, Science and Society, Science Ethics, Science Communication, ERA Nets, Transport, Euratom, Joint Research Centre and many more. The event brought together something like 2000 people: scientists, industrialists, research managers, members of the EC and the press. Besides a dense program of specific parallel sessions a series of press conferences were organized to present to the press several researches, their results and possible practical applications and implications. An exhibition with over 50 stands of sectors of the European Commission involved with research, companies, research institutions, research clusters and consortia financed by the FP6 or FP7 completed the event. The event was inaugurated at the Congress Centre of Prague, near the castle of Vyšehrad, by the EU Commissioner for Science and Research Mr. Janez Potočnik and the Czech Vice Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Mr. Vlastimil Růžička. In his speech Mr. Potočnik made the point on the stage of the seventh Framework Program and its achievements.“There is no alternative to better collaboration in European Research", said Mr. Potočnik, adding "We are facing new threats, and new global challenges. It is up to us in the research community - both the "new" and "old", the "big" and "small" Member States - to adapt and build a new EU sustainable and profitable research ecosystem. We need to connect". During his analysis the Commissioner pointed out that only 10% of the 36.000 FP7 applications received until now came from the EU-12 countries, i.e. those countries which joined the Union on and after May 1st 2004. Mr. Potočnik thinks that the causes of this level of participation being far lower to the share of these countries with respect to the total of research workforce in the EU-27 is mainly due to the poor networks and connections. The Vice Minister Mr. Růžička on his side, pointed out how important it is to make careful choices when financing research, which should ultimately serve to increase the amount of money spent on developing human potential. Mr. Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, held the inaugural lecture providing a picture of our environmental, economics and energy crises and suggested a visionary perspective of a “third industrial revolution” (3IR): “What’s required now is a new economic vision that can address the enormity of this moment in history” he claimed, adding that “a third industrial revolution must get underway very quickly if we are to stave off some of the more dire consequences of global warming”. According to Mr. Rifkin economic revolutions have all been made possible by technological breakthroughs along with advances in communications allowing to share knowledge. It is now possible to realize 3IR thanks to major advances in renewable energies, to the grid technology and to satellite and wireless communications technologies. To achieve a breakthrough a revolution of the entire existing infrastructure (energy, housing, transport, manufacture, etc.) will be necessary. Decentralizing the infrastructures is the key point of Mr. Rifkin’s solution: renewable energies (solar, eolic, geothermic, etc.), which are universally distributed, can merge with internet and other communication technologies that are also distributed, to create a novel model of non centralized energy production. As an example, each house could be adapted to collect power from various sources and feed it back into the grid when an excess of power is produced or gain energy from it in the case less energy is produced. One major problem is represented by the huge cost of such revolution, which, as Mr. Rifkin stated, will run into the trillions, and the endeavour will need to be paid for by a combination of public and private funding. According to Mr. Rifkin, the EU is emerging as a major leader in this third industrial revolution. With its firm commitment to renewable energies and its investment in hydrogen energy storage technology, it is, Mr Rifkin said, “leading the world in sustainability”.Florian Weighardt, Teknoscienze Srlec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2009/rtd-2009/index_en.cfmcordis.europa.eu/fp7/

Accra (Ghana) Biotechnology allows scientists to easily and quickly identify species. This feature can be exploited to combat major diseases around the world. A study supported by the the Philadelphia-based JRS Biodiversity Foundation and conducted by Prof. Daniel Boakye, Head of the Parasitology Department at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana and his co-workers are pioneering the use of DNA "barcodes" to map dangerous West African mosquito species that spread lymphatic filariasis (LF), commonly known as elephantiasis. This disease is threatening around 1 billion of people living in 80 countries. 120 millions of people are infected by the parasite and 40 millions of them are permanently disabled or disfigured. Using a short DNA sequence from a particular genome region, scientists can determine a 'barcode' identity for closely-related species, having different capabilities to transmit LF, which are otherwise hard to distinguish. Poor sanitation and rapid growth in tropical and subtropical areas allow mosquitoes to breed and thus to spread LF infection. World health authorities have earmarked the disease for eradication by 2020 through mass drug administration (MDA). Officials are identifying communities where LF is endemic and treating people at risk with annual doses of a combined drug therapy (albendazole / DEC or albendazole / ivermectin, donated by Merck and Co. and GSK respectively). The drug reduces the density of worm larvae in humans. This LF elimination strategy relies on a belief that the region's main LF vector, the Anopheles mosquito, is incapable of transmitting low-density worm larvae. The Anopheles family is highly diverse and contains hundreds of species. The new molecular studies reveal that not all Anopheles species are equal. Some can transmit the disease despite the drugs' thinning of the worm larvae. The research is pointing out places infested with the menace species and, therefore, where the drug strategy needs to be supplemented with insecticides to successfully eliminate LF. Blanket vector control using insecticides can have serious impact on non-target organisms, leading to biodiversity loss. The additional information and insights into specific mosquito species allow for those species and areas to be targeted, reducing the level of spraying and its effect on other organisms.www.ug.edu.gh

York (UK) Amides synthesis is a fundamental reaction in the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, amide synthesis has been identified by pharmaceutical industry as one of the most important targets for a greener, more sustainable and less polluting production. James Clark and co-workers from the University of York developed a cheap and simple method to perform this reaction based on a heterogeneous catalyst from silica gel usually used in chromatography. Silica gel heated to 700C becomes active and can be used to chemically combine a carboxylic acid with an amine to produce an amide. The only by-product of the reaction is water. This method is cleaner and definitively cheaper with respect to other existing procedures. The catalyst remains active for a long time, even after exposure to the atmosphere, and can be filtered for reuse. Several other methods for amide synthesis exist. Amides can participate in hydrogen bonding as hydrogen bond acceptors and donors. They do not ionize in aqueous solution, whereas their parent acids and amines are almost completely ionized in solution at neutral pH. Some condensation polymers like nylon or aramid (Kevlar) are amides. Amides can be synthesized with a variety of reactions like the Schotten-Baumann reaction from amines and acid chlorides, the Schmidt reaction from ketones and hydrazoic acid, the Willgerodt-Kindler reaction from aryl alkyl ketones, sulfur and morpholine, the Passerini reaction from an isocyanide, an aldehyde (or ketone), and a carboxylic acid, the Ugi reaction from a ketone or aldehyde, an amine, an isocyanide and a carboxylic acid, the Bodroux reaction, the Chapman rearrangement, etc. All these reactions have by-products and involve complex synthesis procedures. www.rsc.org

Cambridge (MA, USA), Daejeon (Korea) Researchers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology led by Angela M. Belcher, developed a novel kind of electrodes for high power Li-Ion batteries, based on modified M13 bacteriophages. The results of their research were published on Science. The researchers were able to structure electrodes manipulating two genes of the M13 bacteriophage: viruses were equipped with peptide groups having affinity for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on one end and peptides capable of nucleating amorphous iron phosphate (a-FePO4) fused to the viral major coat protein. Attaching electrochemically active materials to conducting carbon nanotubes networks through biological molecular recognition, reduces materials dimensions for lithium ion batteries and can boost Li+ ion and electron transfer in nanostructured electrodes. The tighter the virus grabs nanotubes, the better the battery performs, the researchers found. The electrodes showed excellent capacity retention upon cycling at 1C for at least 50 cycles. In addition, the battery fabrication process takes place below room temperature and doesnt require harmful organic solvents or toxic starting materials. Researchers conclude that: This environmentally benign low temperature biological scaffold could facilitate fabrication of electrodes from materials that have been excluded because of their extremely low electronic conductivity.www.sciencemag.org

Urbana (Il, USA) - An international team of scientists led by Prof. Eric Oldfield, University of Illinois, Urbana, published a research article on the Journal of The American Chemical Society demonstrating that lipophilic bisphosphonates have activities far greater than those of current bisphosphonate drugs in inhibiting tumor cell growth and invasiveness, both in vitro and in vivo. Bisphosphonate drugs were originally developed for osteoporosis and other bone diseases. Clinical trials have demonstrated that they also have anticancer and immune-enhancing activities. Unfortunately, bisphosphonates may not be optimal against soft-tissue tumors because of their high affinity for bone tissue. Lipophilic bisphosphonates have an additional lipophilic tail allowing the compounds to target and cross cell membranes. Studies in-vitro and in-vivo demonstrated that these new molecules have a 200 fold tumor killing activity with respect to current bisphosphonates and is more bioavailable to soft tissue tumors. In addition, these molecules are able to stimulate 100 times more the immune response against cancer cells with respect to their traditional counterparts. Bisphosphonates target farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPPS) an enzyme whose inhibition impairs cancer cell-survival signaling pathways that involve synthesizing isoprenoids. In addition, lipophilic bisphosphonates also target geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPPS), another viable target for anticancer drugs. The authors conclude that: Due to dual site targeting and decreased polarity, the compounds have activities far greater than do current bisphosphonate drugs in inhibiting tumor cell growth and invasiveness, both in vitro and in vivo.pubs.acs.org/journal/jacsat

As we all sadly know, the city of L'Aquila and the region of Abruzzo have been hit by a terrible earthquake which has struck the population very hard, with a high toll of victims and the weighty loss of homes and public buildings.We wanted to remember this tragic moment in our countrys history through the pages of our journal - a country, Italy, which unfortunately sits on a geographical area that can be frequently exposed to earthquakes.Every time an earthquake hits us it brings back sad memories of our countrys history. Throughout the centuries, the list of earthquakes is long, and in recent times we all recall the earthquake in Messina and Reggio Calabria in 1908, with 130,000 victims a tragedy whose aftermath matches the Tsunami we have witnessed is Asia just a few years ago. Besides destroying the cities, the sea surged and fell back with a tremendous force onto the coast, dramatically increasing the toll of deaths and destruction.And then also the tragic earthquakes in Avezzano and Abruzzo in 1915, in the Belice (1968), the Friuli region (1976), in Irpinia (1980), basically throughout the whole country, from North to South. In recent months, the term quake has often been used to comment on the global economic crisis that had started in the US and quite unexpectedly and surprisingly had spread all over the world, leading to unexpected and serious consequences, some of which still need to be understood.Yet, though serious, the image of the current financial quake vanishes in front of a tragedy that in a few minutes takes your life, the life of your beloved ones, your home, with all that this implies, your spirit, culture and history. There are times in life when you feel tragically naked, helpless and lost. There is ongoing squabble on whether the earthquake could be predicted or not, and on the prevention measures that might have been taken. However, given the fact that the matter must be investigated to identify faults and responsibilities, the hard reality is there to tell us that death and destruction have struck people, things and souls. A tragically symbolic image of this event is the collapse of the Students Home in L'Aquila. A number of students have lost their life under those ruins. The death of someone is always something that strikes us, even more if children or young men and women are those who leave us. The mind immediately goes to our sons and daughters, nephews and neices. Lives broken forever, a future that will never come. Even more grave and deeply saddening is to see a house hosting students collapse, the loss of lives that represent the future of our country, of our world.After the many days of grief and mourning, the media have started to show the first signs of recovery of normal life, with school lessons set up in shelter tents and students back to their desks.The first day at school was hard for everyone, for the kids and their parents, for the kids who wont be back to school again, for their teachers. Yet, opening the schools again has been an important and most significant sign, for everyone.Much more could be said, but we might risk to speak useless words. Certainly, our thank you goes to the hundreds of people that have provided first aid to our people, to their generosity and support. Thank you also to all those showing their support and solidarity, the many offers of help from all over the world. At the journals office, we have received so many messages from all over the world, from readers and colleagues asking information, showing concern and offering support.For the reasons above, we wish to give some space on our journal, a scientific journal dealing with chemistry, to the Chancellor of the University of L'Aquila, Prof. Ferdinando di Iorio. Chemistry, chemical engineering, biotechnologies are a significant part of the study courses offered by this university. As regards the scope of our journal, an important presence in the University of L'Aquila is professor emeritus Giovanni Schippa, a chemist, graduated in Chemistry at the University la Sapienza in Roma in 1949, with a long and brilliant academic career, and a former Chancellor of the University of L'Aquila.Providing this space to host the message the Chancellor has published on the Universitys website is a way to do homage to the land of Abruzzo and its people in the first place, people who are traditionally closely bound to their way of life, land and history, It is our way to show participation to this grief-stricken territory, yet also a sign of support and encouragement for the reconstruction. A recontruction that stems from our heart. The nature and vocation of a university is to look forward, to look at our tomorrow, at the world. Its all about life, desire, hope and rebirth.Silvana MainiDear friends,there is a moment for crying and a moment for going back to living.There is a moment for being stunned before the tremendous forces of nature and a moment for reacting and seeking the motivations to go back to building our future. After the grief and astonishment, it is now time to make new plans, think to tomorrow.Grief and astonishment must give way to a new awareness: the University of L'Aquila hasnt collapsed, because its foundations sit on the solid ground of culture and science. All of us that have worked in and for the University of L'Aquila in past and recent years gather today to witness our unstoppable desire and strong willingness to go on performing our mission: education, research and support to the cultural and social-economic development of the territory.This very territory, our very town we all love so greatly, demand additional efforts and commitment to start again, with more enthusiasm and energy.For the respect we owe to the grief that has struck us in what the University holds most dearest its students we cannot and do not want to stop.We will find the best and safest solutions to allow students, teachers and staff go back to work. Though a number of University facilities in the historic centre have been destroyed, those of the Coppito complex are standing and have been declared safe for use, and the academic activities of the University of L'Aquila will restart from these facilities.Its not rhetorical to recall now the motto of the University of L'Aquila: Renovabitur ut Aquilae juventus tua, which commits l'Aquila to continuously and endlessly seek renewal. Today, more than ever before, this is our commitment.The ChancellorProf. Ferdinando di Orio

Kyoto (J) Scientists of the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere of the Kyoto University Gokasho, announced in a communication on Advanced Materials the creation of an optically transparent paper from nanosized cellulose fibres. Masaya Nogi, post-Doc student in the group led by Hiroyuki Yano, presented the work before the Division of Cellulose & Renewable Materials on March 26 at the ACS national meeting in Salt Lake City. The nanofibre paper was obtained pressing a slurry composed of wood flour (cellulose) and water into sheets which were dried and subsequently polished with fine grit sandpaper. Hydroxyl groups of cellulose fibres are held together by hydrogen-bonds. The materials used for the fabrication of this paper are the same employed for traditional paper. The difference resides in differences in fibre-width and size of internal cavities which gives conventional papers different physical properties. Nogi stated that nanofibre paper appears transparent because the fibres pack densely and create tiny spaces that avoid light scattering whereas conventional paper appears opaque because of fibres have interstices scattering light. The obtained material is renewable and besides being transparent, it is strong and has a good thermal stability. These features provide potential advantages over glass or other polymers for the use in electronic devices.www.rish.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Hattiesburg (MS, USA) The group lead by Marek W. Urban at the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, Shelby F. Thames Polymer Science Research Centre, University of Southern Mississippi, USA, published a study on Science describing a new self-repair approach for a polyurethane coating incorporating a minimal amount of a self-healing additive into it. The additive was obtained by linking chitosan, a polysaccharide extracted from crab and shrimp shells, to oxetanes, which are four-membered rings consisting of three carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. The self-healing additive is able to covalently bind to the urethane polymers. When a scratch damages the material, exposure to UV light initiates a free-radical process cross-linking broken chitosan and oxetane fragments, repairing the damage in a short period of time (approx. one hour). The technique was set-up and demonstrated with microscopic scratches of about 10 m wideness. Further work is necessary to assess the strength of the repaired material and to demonstrate whether the technique is applicable on macroscopic scratches.Researchers of the Urban Research Group state on their internet site: Self-repairing materials are of great interest and we are in the process of developing thermoplastics and thermosetting polymeric systems that are capable of self-healing upon exposure to various physico-chemical conditions. Molecular level understanding of physical damages and subsequent recombination to reform structural features are a particular significance in creating new generations of sustainable materials. www.usm.edu/

Berkley (USA) – Scientists of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Physical Biosciences, California, are developing an artificial photosynthesis system allowing to capture energy from sunlight and convert it in electrochemical energy, i.e. in biofuel. The process they intend to use consists in the splitting of water molecules to free oxygen and electrons used to fix carbon dioxide in organic compounds. The procedure could be used to produce with a high degree of efficiency clean biofuel directly from sunlight imitating the procedure used by plants to fix CO2 in sugars. The researchers of the laboratory report in an article in the Journal Angewandte Chemie the discovery of a nano-sized complex of cobalt oxide crystals being able to efficiently carry out the critical reaction of water molecules splitting. Photooxidation of water molecules into oxygen, electrons and hydrogen ions is a crucial reaction of photosynthesis and consequently also of an artificial photosynthesis system in that it provides the electrons needed for the second crucial reaction, i.e. the reduction of carbon dioxide to an organic compound which could be used as a fuel. The scientists used mesoporous silica as scaffold, growing their cobalt nanocrystals within the naturally parallel nanoscale channels of the silica via a technique known as “wet impregnation”. The best performers were rod-shaped crystals measuring 8 nanometres in diameter and 50 nanometres in length, which were interconnected by short bridges to form bundled clusters. The bundles were shaped like a sphere with a diameter of 35 nanometres. While the catalytic efficiency of the cobalt metal itself was important, the major factor behind the enhanced efficiency and speed of the bundles was their size. The yield for clusters of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nano-sized crystals was about 1,600 times higher than for micron-sized particles and the turnover frequency (speed) was about 1,140 oxygen molecules per second per cluster, which is commensurate with solar flux at ground level (approximately 1,000 Watts per square metre).”Artificial photosynthesis for the production of organic fuels would allow the production of a renewable and carbon-neutral source of transportation energy, which would not contribute to the global warming. F. Jiao, H. Frei. Nanostructured Cobalt Oxide Clusters in Mesoporous Silica as Efficient Oxygen-Evolving Catalysts. Angewandte Chemie, Volume 121, pp.1873 – 1876 (2009)

Chicago (USA) – Researchers of the team of Samuel I. Stupp at Northwestern University published on Science a novel approach to develop novel treatments: the self-assembly of simple tailored molecules to address a multitude of medical needs. At the basis of the research are peptide amphiphiles (PA), small synthetic molecules first developed seven years ago, which have been essential for their work on regenerative medicine. By tailoring these molecules and combining them with other molecules, the researchers of Northwestern University can create a wide variety of structures that may provide new treatments for medical issues including spinal cord injuries, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Ramille M. Capito, a research assistant, recently discovered that combining the PA molecules with hyaluronic acid (HA) resulted in an instant membrane structure in the form of self-assembling sacs. The sac membrane was found to have hierarchical order from the nanoscale to microscale giving it unique physical properties. HA molecules are larger and heavier than the smaller PA molecules. Injecting a HA solution onto a PA solution in a vial, the heavier sinking HA molecules are engulfed by the lighter PA molecules, creating closed sacs with the HA solution trapped inside a PA membrane. The next step consisted in engulfing human stem cells with the self-assembly process inside HA-PA sacs and placing them into culture. Stem cells, which remained viable for up to four weeks, were able to differentiate and factors controlling cell growth and differentiation could cross the membrane. Moreover, damaged sacs can be repaired by simply adding new PA solution deposing onto the HA. While the underlying, highly ordered structures of the sacs and membranes have dimensions on the nanoscale, the sacs and membranes themselves can be of any dimension and are visible to the naked eye. Sacs including bioactive regions could allow researchers to create new methods for stem cell delivery. Stem cells could be loaded in sacs tailored to release the cells at the point of injury to be targeted. Previous work has shown that the PA molecules can be dissolved to form fibril structures with diameters of 5 to 8 nanometers. These gel structures can be used for regenerative medicine, and the research group has in vivo data for spinal cord repair, angiogenesis and bone and cartilage regeneration.www.northwestern.edu

La Jolla (USA) – Scientists of the Scripps Research Institute of La Jolla, California, published a paper on Nature Biotechnology describing a novel class of RNA enzymes (ribozymes) able to undergo self-sustained replication when bound to a specific ligand. These RNA molecules combine a catalytic domain with a ligand-binding domain (aptamer) to produce an “aptazyme”. These RNA molecules amplify exponentially in a ligand dependant manner through a cross-replicative process, whereby two enzymes catalyze each other's synthesis by joining component oligonucleotides. The exponential growth rate of the RNA depends on the concentration of the ligand, allowing one to determine the concentration of ligand in a sample. This process is analogous to quantitative PCR (qPCR) but can be generalized to a wide variety of targets, including proteins and small molecules that are relevant to medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring.B.J. Lam,G.F. Joyce, Autocatalytic aptazymes enable ligand-dependent exponential amplification of RNA Nature Biotechnology Vol. 27, pp. 288 - 292 (2009)

Oxford (UK) – Researchers of the University of Oxford and the Oxford Nanopore company published a paper on Nature Nanotechnology in which they describe the development of a novel methodology allowing to electrically detect with a sensor individual bases cut off from a single stranded DNA. The sensor consists in a single chemically and genetically engineered protein nanopore mounted on a lipid bilayer. Single stranded DNAs are broken down by an exonuclease and single nucleotides released. When the pore is immersed in a salt solution and a voltage difference is applied across the system, bases flow through the nanopore, giving a detectable current. As nucleotides pass through the pore, a tubular cyclodextrin-based molecule within the pore transiently binds each base. When a base binds in the pore, it obstructs the ion flow and a characteristic current drop can be measured for each of the four DNA bases (A, C, G and T), allowing them to be recognised.In the system set up at the moment nucleotides are clipped from a DNA strand by an enzyme in solution above the nanopore. Consequently, it cannot be ensured that the order in which single nucleotides are detected correspond to the actual sequence. This could be overcome by linking the enzyme to the nanopore in such a way that each base is cut from the DNA strand it is fed directly into the pore. The nanopore technique could allow to sequence small samples of DNA by just cutting sequences at the desired length and adding it to the system. J. Clarke, H.-C. Wu, et al., Continuous base identification for single-molecule nanopore DNA sequencingNature Nanotechnology

Glasgow (UK) – Researchers from the University of Glasgow found that microtubes of controlled size and shape can be grown when water-insoluble anionic polyoxometalate (POM) crystals are dropped into water and a polyaromatic phenanthridinium-based cation coating the crystals is added. Scientist Leroy Cronin explained that: “Within a few seconds, the crystals decompose by squirting out polyoxometalate metal oxide-based micron-scale tubes from the crystal surface,” adding that: “The insides of the crystal get reformatted from a crystalline lattice into a hollow amorphous tube”. This growth is extremely fast, 0,1 centimetres per minute, and can be observed in real time. Moreover the researchers were able to control the growth, obtaining a series of shapes like cubes and crosses and were able to build junctions to join tubes together. The diameter of the tubes can be changed by varying the concentration of the added aromatic cation: the higher the concentration the smaller the resulting diameter. Leroy Cronin explains: “Osmotic pressure is behind the tubes' growth”. The POM and the cation form a membrane around the crystal, and gradually take up water from the solution until the membrane suddenly ruptures, jetting out POM-rich solvent. This material precipitates to form the start of the tube, down which polyanions continue to flow, ensuring that the tube continues to grow. The direction of microtube growth can be manipulated by applying and varying an electric field. When two tubes collide they form branched junctions. POMs are electronically very active and are used for many purposes, including catalysis. This opens these findings to several possible applications. The scientist suppose that their findings will have a wide impact, especially on microfluidic device fabrication.C. Ritchie, G.J.T. Cooper, et al., Spontaneous assembly and real-time growth of micrometre-scale tubular structures from polyoxometalate-based inorganic solids Nature Chemistry

Pasadena (USA) ¡V Researchers of the Caltech in Pasadena, California, discovered why Nicotine binds with high affinity to acetylcholine (ACh) receptors in the brain and with low affinity to ACh receptors in the muscle. Xinan Xiu and co-workers stated that: ¡§Nicotine addiction begins with high-affinity binding of nicotine to acetylcholine (ACh) receptors in the brain. The end result is over 4,000,000 smoking-related deaths annually worldwide and the largest source of preventable mortality in developed countries¡¨, adding that ¡¨Stress reduction, pleasure, improved cognition and other central nervous system effects are strongly associated with smoking. However, if nicotine activates ACh receptors found in muscle as potently as it does in brain ACh receptors, smoking would cause intolerable and perhaps fatal muscle contractions¡¨.Until today it was not possible to determine the basis for the differential action of nicotine on brain compared with muscle despite extensive pharmacological, functional and structural studies of ACh receptors.Caltech neurobiologists showed that at the ƒÑ4ƒÒ2 brain receptors thought to underlie nicotine addiction, the high affinity for nicotine is the result of a strong cation¡Vƒà interaction to a specific aromatic amino acid of the receptor, TrpB. They dissected the binding interaction by substituting fluorinated amino acid analogs in the binding site. The Binding affinity difference between muscle and brain is most probably due to a point mutation near TrpB that differentiates ƒÑ4ƒÒ2 and muscle-type receptors which seems to influence the shape of the binding site, allowing nicotine to interact more strongly with TrpB in the neuronal receptor. ACh receptors are established therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, smoking cessation, pain, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy, autism and depression.X. Xiu, N.L. Puskar, et al., Nicotine binding to brain receptors requires a strong cation¡V interaction, Nature