organic

Tiny particles could solve billion-dollar problem

...nic parts, is one of the most common and poisonous organic pollutants in U.S. groundwater. It is found at 60 percent of the contaminated waste sites on the Superfund National Priorities List, and it is considered one of the most hazardous chemicals at these sites because of its prevalence and its toxicity. H...

The secret lives of whales

...adly contaminated oceanic fish are with persistent organic pollutants (POP’s),?says Payne, “What we are working on may be the worst public health crisis that humanity has ever faced. That’s because 70% of all humanity (4.2 billion people) depends on seafood as its primary source of animal protein, and if the...

Dinosaur DNA? New Patent Covers Degraded DNA recovery

... when DNA was recovered from 12 samples of ancient organic remains, ranging in age from 4 to 13,000 years. The remains included several Egyptian mummies and two extinct species -- the marsupial wolf and ground sloth. Plant DNA up to 400,000 years old, and DNA from the extinct mammoth and steppe bison have be...

Sea skate experiment sheds light on human cell transport

...to release excess water along with salts and other organic material. The researchers made their discovery by using a plant-based substance to block an enzyme that causes phosphorylation. The result: The gates wouldn't open. These findings are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Physiol...

Solution to Pollution: New Bacteria Eats Toxic Waste

...living organisms to degrade or transform hazardous organic contaminants using natural biology. It offers an attractive solution to pollution cleanup because it can occur on-site and at relatively little cost compared to other alternatives, he continued. The team received a $1.5 million dollar contract from t...

Nano-Probes Allow an Inside Look at Cell Nuclei

...olecules. In contrast, conventional labels such as organic fluorescent dyes and green fluorescent proteins only fluoresce for a few minutes at a high resolution. These labels are also either toxic to cells or difficult to construct and manipulate. In the future, they hope to tailor quantum dots to track spe...

NC State scientist finds soft tissue in T. rex bones

... into "rocks" through a gradual replacement of all organic material by minerals. New research by a North Caro... her technician, Jennifer Wittmeyer, isolated soft organic tissue from the leg bone of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. Schweitzer was interested in s...

UCSD discovery may help extend life of natural pesticide

... pesticide produced by bacteria and widely used by organic farmers and in genetically engineered crops to ward off insect pests. Their findings should facilitate the design and use of Bt toxins to prevent insects, which the researchers believe also possess the molecule, from developing resistance to Bt, ext...

South America's vast pantanal wetland may become next everglades, UNU experts warn

...f all carbon held in terrestrial sinks, most of it organic matter in soil which can be released when the soil is disturbed, for example through wetlands drainage and destruction. Already, changes in land use and land cover account for about 1.6 gigatonnes (17%) of annual human-caused carbon emissions, the a...

LUCA technologies confirms real-time methane generation

...e anaerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons to alcohols, organic acids and carbon dioxide. Thermatoga also thrive i...s" ?microbes that generate methane by metabolizing organic materials including various hydrocarbons. While it has also been generally accepted that many of the...

Microbial fuel cell: High yield hydrogen source and wastewater cleaner

...lds of hydrogen from any biodegradable, dissolved, organic matter -- human, agricultural or industrial wastewater, for example -- and simultaneously clean the wastewater. "While there is likely insufficient waste biomass to sustain a global hydrogen economy, this form of renewable energy production may help...

Newly discovered pathway might help in design of cancer drugs

... itself." In the lab, Greenberg and his team used organic chemistry to create a synthetic, double-stranded DNA with special chemical characteristics and exposed it to long wavelength light that selectively switches on the DNA damage process. He said that the synthetic DNA is very similar to that which is p...

To control germs, scientists deploy tiny agents provocateurs

...e researchers have so far unveiled three promising organic compounds that seemingly quell bacterial signaling. ...

NASA study finds snow melt causes large ocean plant blooms

...e deeper waters are not well ventilated. Also when organic matter produced by phytoplankton breaks down and decomposes, more oxygen gets consumed in the process. An increase in phytoplankton could therefore cause oxygen deficiencies in the Arabian Sea to spread, leading to fish mortality. Oxygen-depleted wa...

Growth in biomass could put US on road to energy independence

...rategy in which 1 billion dry tons of biomass ?any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis ?would displace 30 percent of the nation's petroleum consumption for transportation. Supplying more than 3 percent of the nation's energy, biomass already has surpassed hydropower as the larg...

Human Cells Filmed Instantly Messaging for First Time

...rategy in which 1 billion dry tons of biomass ?any organic matter that is available on a renewable or recurring basis ?would displace 30 percent of the nation's petroleum consumption for transportation. Supplying more than 3 percent of the nation's energy, biomass already has surpassed hydropower as the larg...

Anammox bacteria produce nitrogen gas in oceans' snackbar

...f bacteria that convert nitrate (via nitrite) with organic matter to nitrogen gas in the absence of oxygen (d... recently discovered that anammox bacteria can use organic matter to convert nitrate into nitrite (much better than denitrifying bacteria). This new finding ev...

Could microbes solve Russia's chemical weapons conundrum?

...ducts of their detoxification. "Bioutilization of organic compounds of reaction masses is a biotechnological method that pro-vides maximum environmental safety, since the pollutants are naturally degraded to innocuous products such as carbon dioxide and water, as well as microbial biomass," said Dr. Ermakov...

Study uncovers bacteria's worst enemy

...ater and combinations of actinides, radionuclides, organic chemicals and metal regularly exist at many nuclear sites. Based on the results of this study, if bioremediation is to be effective at these types of sites, the operative microorganisms must be able to grow, function and do better than other bacteria...

Hydrogen and methane provide raw energy for life at 'Lost City'

...microorganisms ?comparable to what's found in rich organic sediments. However the diversity of species is low with, for example, just a handful of methane-producing and methane-consuming Archaea. In surprising contrast, researchers discovered Lost City has a diversity of "larger" organisms that's as high, o...

A hope for oil spill bioremediation

... The sampling area is an energetic system poor in organic mater. Consequently, the anomalous DIC isotopic composition of certain samples taken along the shore of a contaminated island in the Cíes archipelago showed degradation of a depleted 13C source such as the Prestige crude oil, pointing out to a natura...

Atmosphere may cleanse itself better than previously thought

...lled hydrocarbons, which are produced when we burn organic matter such as wood or fossil fuels. The atmosphere has three main ways to cleanse itself of such pollutants, two of which are relatively direct: either water droplets in clouds absorb them and rain them out, or sunlight strikes them and the energy b...

NASA probe could reveal comet life, scientists claim

...y fragments blasted out by the impact will include organic matter, they suggest. The mainly copper projectil...ght to have accumulated from a mixture of ices and organic interstellar dust at the time the solar system was formed some 4.6 billion years ago. "This materia...

Life detection instrument passes key test on road to Mars

...y learned is that with low environmental levels of organic compounds, as is likely to be the case on Mars, the microfluidic channels in the capillary disks don't get clogged as readily as they do when used to test samples in Berkeley with its high bioorganic levels. That means they'll need fewer channels on ...

New miniaturised chip dramatically reduces time taken for DNA analysis

...ease from two days, as is currently the case using organic production techniques, to just thirty minutes. In trials developed with the support of the UAB's Department of Genetics and Microbiology, the new sensors have enabled Salmonella to be identified in four and a half hours, compared to three to five day...

Major new UNC-based drinking water study suggests pregnancy fears may be overstated

...rk did suggest that brominated compounds and total organic halides at normal-range levels in purified drinking water might modestly increase the risk of miscarriages among pregnant women. "These latter findings suggest that we or others should take a closer look at individual and groups of chemicals that mi...

Amazon source of 5-year-old river breath

...s, decomposing woody debris, leaf litter and other organic matter. Once in waterways it is chewed up by microorganisms, insects and fish. The carbon dioxide they generate quickly returns to the atmosphere, some 500 million tons a year, an amount equal to what is absorbed each year by the Amazonian rainforest...

Researchers extend mouse lifespan by protecting against free radicals

...itochondrion, the cell's power plant that converts organic matter into energy. They compared the different groups of mice to a control group and found that increased production of catalase could affect the mouse lifespan. The mice with higher catalase levels in the mitochondria, dubbed the MCAT group, had a...

Deep thinking: Scientists sequence a cold-loving marine microbe

...e-living bacteria, such as enzymes that break down organic matter. C. psychrerythraea possesses genes that may break down complex compounds, including pollutants, as well. Collectively, Methé suggests, these subtle changes in biology allow C. psychrerythraea--and possibly similar bacteria--to thrive in the ...

Researchers Discover That Microbes Can Produce Miniature Electrical Wires

...en and carry out such unique phenomena as removing organic and metal pollution from groundwater,?Lovley said. Geobacter can live in the absence of oxygen because of its ability to transfer electrons outside the cell onto iron minerals, which are natural constituents of most soils. However, prior to the disco...

Breakthrough: Scientists create world's tiniest organic particles

...ufactured particles for delivering drugs and other organic materials into the human body.Adapting technology ... the first time opens the world's door to marrying organic materials to nanotechnology. Biology, after all, is almost exclusively organic materials."We really ...

Oxygen increase caused mammals to triumph, researchers say

...Placental Mammals," stem from years of analysis of organic and inorganic core samples. Scientists have been using deep-sea core samples for years, but Falkowski and his colleagues have achieved greater precision in their measurements, thanks to two high-precision, isotope ratio mass spectrometers housed in t...

New Scripps Oceanography project to study sediments and ecosystem restoration in Venice lagoon

...he sediment is so old, you could expect metals and organic contaminants to be present," said Deheyn, whose experience includes using biological indicators to test for toxins and pollutants in San Diego Bay. As in San Diego's waters, when studying Venice's lagoon Deheyn will use luminous brittle stars, a cou...

NIH creates nationwide network of molecular libraries screening centers

...detail using small molecule probes. Certain small organic chemical compounds, also referred to as small molecules, can be valuable tools for understanding the many important cellular events involved in health and disease, which is key to identifying possible new targets for diagnosis, treatment and preventi...

UNC computer, marine scientists collaborate to predict flow of toxic waters from Katrina

...g and modeling capability. Floodwaters containing organic and chemical pollutants such as sewage and oil still cover swaths of Mississippi and Louisiana. To aid cleanup, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coast Survey Development Laboratory (CSDL), along with UNC fac...

'Sinkers' provide missing piece in deep-sea puzzle

...vering significant amounts of food (in the form of organic carbon) to the deep sea. As he explains, "When it ..., the researchers carefully measured the amount of organic carbon in each sinker. Finally, by multiplying the number of sinkers reaching the seafloor times the...

Organic farms produce same yields as conventional farms

...g Systems Trial, the longest running comparison of organic vs. conventional farming in the United States. "O...nded fertilizer and pesticide applications with an organic animal-based farm (where manure was applied) and an organic legume-based farm (that used a three-yea...

Microbe has huge role in ocean life, carbon cycle

...d can reproduce efficiently by consuming dissolved organic matter. "By comparison, humans are mostly junk DN...ess used by plants to convert sunlight energy into organic molecules, creating the foundation of the food chain and producing oxygen. About half of photosynthe...

Lands surface change on Alaska tundra creating longer, warmer summers in Arctic

...er time, as the permafrost begins to melt, ancient organic matter that has been frozen for thousands of years is exposed, potentially adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The result is a positive feedback loop that could continue to raise temperatures in the region and further lengthen the snow-fre...

Deep sea buffet for bone-devouring worms

...symbiotic bacteria can turn-over a large amount of organic carbon (one whale carcass may weigh up to 50 tons), approximately 2000 years faster than the usual mechanism of carbon deposition to the deep seafloor. The results of this study will aid understanding of the potential for adaptation between animals ...

New markers of climate change

... levels of two stable isotopes, 13C and 18O in the organic material and leaf-water of the plants. These isotopes accumulate in the plant over time and are indicators of photosynthesis and water evaporation, respectively. Because the plants are subjected to conditions such as fog and high rainfall, the levels...

Digging in the dirt for life's biochemical foundations

...rtilizers, more productive output on low-input and organic farming operations, and improved ability to stanch the effects of acid rain on natural ecosystems, Shachar-Hill says. "These exciting results suggest that fungi are more important in plant nitrogen nutrition than we have hitherto suspected," says Al...

Shampoo detergent added to paint makes surfaces self-sterilizing

...s tested a variety of metal dusts, salts and other organic chemicals by mixing them into clear varnish. Once dried, varnished surfaces were tested for the speed in which they killed the microbes applied to them. The coating doped with cetavlon, a major detergent component of many shampoos that is completely ...

New technique may speed DNA analysis

...pplications beyond DNA microarrays. Materials both organic and inorganic (metal nanoparticles, for example) can be made to assemble along a pattern composed of DNA strands. This makes SuNS a versatile technology that could be used to produce other complex nano-devices currently manufactured slowly and expens...

New technique helps identify multiple DNA regulatory sites

...pplications beyond DNA microarrays. Materials both organic and inorganic (metal nanoparticles, for example) can be made to assemble along a pattern composed of DNA strands. This makes SuNS a versatile technology that could be used to produce other complex nano-devices currently manufactured slowly and expens...

Pollution-eating bacteria produce electricity

...eloped microbial fuel cells using simple sugars or organic waste products. What makes Milliken's and May's discovery so unique is the bacterium itself. It is the member of a genus known as Desulfitobacterium, which up until now was not known to have the capacity to generate electricity. These bacteria are mo...

Virginia Tech, Nanjing Institute researchers discover half-billion year-old fossils

...es and looked at them under a microscope. They saw organic remains of millimeter-sized tubes that were the building blocks of the Ediacara fossils from China. Their discovery thus directly confirms Seilacher's hypothesis. The new fossils also help to refine the Seilacher hypothesis. Seilacher originally hyp...

Protein structure key for AIDS, cell function

..., the Cornell researchers identified a peptide, an organic compound composed of amino acids, that they believe may play a role in interrupting the interface between CD4 and HIV-AIDS. The findings, published in the journal Structure (Vol. 13, Sept. 2005), mark a major step toward designing drugs that could ...

Toxic flood lifts lid on common urban pollution problem

...cal oxygen demand, an indicator of the presence of organic chemicals in oil, gas, grease, cigarette filters a...plant growth. Once they cross a certain threshold, organic chemicals and metals also can be harmful to people. New Orleans officials remain extremely concerne...

Life's origins were easier than was thought

...rdial soup that produced life on earth, there were organic molecules that combined to produce the first nucleic acid chains, which were the first elements able to self-replicate. According to one of the more accepted theories, these molecules were ribonucleic acid (RNA) chains, a molecule that is practically...

New law for resolution allows unprecedented sharpness in fluorescence microscopy

... in the quantification of the reaction kinetics of organic molecules (Phys. Rev. Lett., April 15 and Phys. Rev. Lett. May 6). Ever since its invention in the 17th century, the light microscope has served as a key instrument to the advancement of knowledge. For biology, this statement is true even today, sin...

Hidden sponges determine coral reef's nutrient cycle

...redible capacity to convert enormous quantities of organic plankton into inorganic material. The results from Scheffers' research have been made available to the personnel from the Marine under water park of Curaao and have been presented to the local government. ...

A radical solution for environmental pollution

...isome because it's more soluble in water than most organic compounds are, which means that it can contaminate groundwater. Bacteria such as T. aromatica hold promise for use in cleaning up environmental pollutants because they not only can break down hazardous chemicals, but they can also do it underground,...

Water management in cells

...of specific channels that transport water. Slow organic reaction In addition to water channels and ion channels, organic particles play an important role. If the salt balance is disrupted, so-called 'volume-regulated anio...

Acid water in East Java threatens biodiversity and local welfare

...lgae was also very low. The inhibited breakdown of organic material was another ecological effect measured. Lohr established this using packs containing jati and bamboo leaves, which she suspended in the river at various locations. She determined the loss dry matter over a period of several months. Soluti...

Corn grain mould used as pesticide

...ago the 'good' mould was permitted in the US as an organic pesticide. Five kilos of mould-infected grains of corn are sufficient to 'inoculate' an area of one hectare ?this means that the method is relatively inexpensive. "For developing countries, particularly, this would be the ideal strategy to get the up...

Researchers find ways to turn manure into power

...s a result, the low-ash manure had about twice the organic matter and heating value, he said. "The low-ash feedlot biomass would be much better fuel than high-ash feedlot biomass," Sweeten said. "The problem is, there is not that much of it in the commercial feedlots." Large bulk samples from the compost p...

Biotechnology's newest chemical tool

...come this problem, the authors took some tips from organic chemistry textbooks and stabilized the transfer with a multiple carbon bond. "It turned out that our first bet, a double or triple carbon-carbon bond, placed next to the transferable carbon unit, helped to alleviate the problems that had plagued th...

Plant wounds trigger bacteria

...er, in bacterial congress. The plasmid recognizes organic compounds called phenols that leak out of damaged cells when a plant is wounded. A bacterial protein called VirA acts like an antenna, detecting phenols in a plant wound; the phenols, in turn, signal VirA to add a phosphate (PO4) group to a related p...

Natural compound from 'pond scum' shows potential activity against Alzheimer's

...enefit, says study leader Karl Gademann, Ph.D., an organic chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. Gademann's lab specializes in identifying, synthesizing and studying new bioactive compounds from natural sources. There is no cure for Alzheimer's at present, although cholineste...