Protons in Biological News

Wastewater produces electricity and desalinates water

... the wastewater it releases charged ions -- protons -- into the water. These protons cannot pass the anion membrane, so negative ions ... the wastewater chamber. At the other electrode protons are consumed, so positively charged ions move ...

Two-day symposium in Baltimore to tackle the promises and perils of proton radiotherapy

... and creating therapeutic beam of protons. In theory, a thin beam of protons can destroy a tumor with less damage to surrounding tissues than the broader cone of X-ray photons. This is because the protons penetrate a specific distance into the body and release most of their ...

Microbial fuel cells turn on the juice

... cathode chambers. When hydrogen meets the anode electrode, it splits into protons and electrons, with protons going across the membrane to the cathode chamber, and electrons passing ...

Small animal imaging facility is big boon to research

... When powerful magnets line up the bodys protons before radiofrequency waves can grab their attention away, its called spin ... Georgia. But if you put an object in the MRI, the magnet will line up the protons and what that does is generate the original, steady state. Then, by ...

Sulphur in just one hair could blow a terrorist's alibi

... of Oviedo, Spain, have come up with a method to detect how the proportions of isotopes in a chemical element (atoms with an equal number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons) vary throughout the length of a single hair. The mid-term objective is to be able to use these ...

Turning sunlight into liquid fuels

... carry out the critical photosynthetic reaction of splitting water molecules. "Photooxidation of water molecules into oxygen, electrons and protons (hydrogen ions) is one of the two essential half reactions of an artifical photosynthesis system - it provides the electrons needed to reduce carbon ...

Louisiana Tech physicists highlight top 10 science stories of 2008

... has begun the transition to LHC-related work," says Sawyer, head of the physics department at Louisiana Tech. The LHC accelerates two streams of protons toward each other at nearly 99.99% of the speed of light in an effort to prove, or possibly disprove, the "Big Bang Theory." It could also explain ...

Europe rallies behind nanotechnology to wean world from fossil fuels

... and a class of bacteria, cyanobacteria, have evolved photosynthesis, involving the harvesting of light and the splitting of water into electrons and protons to provide a stream of energy that in turn produces the key molecules of life. Photosynthesis can potentially be harnessed either in ...

UC Santa Barbara has key role in Large Hadron Collider project

... back again, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva fired the first beams of protons that they hope will eventually produce history-making science. A contingent of more than 40 faculty members, graduate students, postdoctoral ...

Molecular cubes in the sunlight

... in a battery: that is electrical energy is converted to chemical energy. The electrolysis of water involves two half reactions: at the cathode, protons (positively charged hydrogen ions) are reduced to hydrogen, whereas at the anode the oxidation of water produces oxygen. The goal of the researchers ...

Future for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution

... of photosynthesis, in particular the protein complex known as photosystem II, which breaks down the hydrogen atoms of water into their constituent protons and electrons to carry the energy derived from sunlight onto photosystem I, leading to production of carbohydrates and ultimately also the proteins ...

Carnegie Mellon MRI technology that non-invasively locates, quantifies specific cells in the body

... into an animal subject and tracks the cells in vivo using 19F MRI. While conventional MRI detects the nuclear magnetic resonance signal from protons contained in the mobile water in tissue, 19F MRI detects the signal from the nucleus of the fluorine atom. Fluorine is not normally present in the ...

Water refineries?

... had deposited as a film. Nocera and Kanan believe the film is the catalyst that helps break apart the water molecules to create oxygen gas. The protons (hydrogen nuclei) released from the process pick up electrons and convert back into hydrogen at a partner electrode. Nocera and Kanan also found ...

Researchers 'see' structure of open nicotinic acetylcholine ion channels

... alter the current, revealing the structure of the open-channel conformation in unprecedented detail. As the ionizable amino acids bind and release protons from the watery environment, the pore gains or loses a positive charge that interferes with the normal flow of cations through the channel, Grosman ...

Project focuses on production of hydrogen from bacteria and sunlight

... size, much smaller than what can be seen individually by the human eye. Bacterias evolutionary drive is to multiply and in that process electrons and protons are used for the generation of energy and as building blocks for growth of the organism. In the modified cyanobacterial system, Vermaas wants to ...

New technique helps researchers determine amino-acid charge

... detect the association and dissociation of protons to and from individual amino-acid residues in ... which can acquire a positive charge upon binding protons and become neutral upon releasing them. "One ... a glass beaker; another thing is the affinity for protons in the complex microenvironment presented by a ...

Shedding new light on proteorhodopsin

... that proteorhodopsin is a light-driven proton pump, able to transport protons across cellular membranes in order to create stored electrochemical ... light of the proton motive force (pmf), the electrochemical potential of protons across cellular membranes that bacteria use as the energy source to, among ...

'Pinball protons' created by ultraviolet rays and other causes can lead to DNA damage

... protons, meaning there are numerous targets for processes that knock the protons off. The lesions are breaks in the hydrogen bonds, of which there are ... result in cancer cell formation, the new study is the first evidence that protons do the same thing. The study in PNAS also has other implications. ...

UCLA scientists strengthen case for life more than 3.8 billion years ago

... 100-to-one of 12C (the most common isotope form of carbon, containing six protons and six neutrons) to 13C (a rarer isotopic form of carbon, containing six protons and seven neutrons). The light carbon, 12C, is more than 3 percent more ...

Carnegie Mellon scientists develop tool that uses MRI to visualize gene expression in living animals

... A typical MRI scan detects and analyzes signals given off by hydrogen protons in water molecules after they are exposed to a magnetic field and ... MRI reporter alters the magnetic field in its proximity, causing nearby protons to give off a distinctly different signal. The resulting image reveals ...

Meat and two neutrons -- the key to a longer life

... Isotopes could also be used in pet food or as a means to protect workers or soldiers from radiation. Deuterium, a natural isotope of hydrogen (with 2 protons rather than one) could be used routinely. Previous successes in extending lifespan have involved withdrawing food to the point of near ...

Cholera pathogen reveals how bacteria generate energy to live

... essential cell functions, such as the movement of the bacterium’s tail, the flagellum. Most cells, including human cells, use gradients of protons for this energy conservation function, but enzymes that work with sodium ions are ideal for experimental study, according to Barquera. Sodium is ...

With record resolution and sensitivity, tool images how life organizes in a cell membrane

... Kraft had labeled the short and tall lipids with isotopes-elements that compare exactly in chemical properties because they have the same number of protons but that differ in mass because they have a different number of neutrons. Isotopes do not change the chemical structure of the molecules that they ...

One therapeutic dose of radiation causes 30 percent spongy bone loss in mice

... commonly, proton radiation. Astronauts on a Mars mission are expected to receive extended periods of low-dose radiation of multiple types, including protons and heavy ions, Bateman said. Source "A murine model for bone loss from therapeutic and space-relevant sources of radiation," by S.A. ...

Production of key Alzheimer's protein monitored for first time in humans

... subjects a form of the amino acid leucine that has been very slightly altered to label it. Inside the leucine are carbon atoms with 13 neutrons and protons in their nucleus instead of the more common 12 neutrons and protons--in scientific parlance, carbon 13 instead of carbon 12. "Normally only about ...

Getting old? Slowing down? Blame inefficient mitochondria

... This represents a 50% loss in efficiency. "The best explanation for this loss of efficiency is that the mitochondria become leaky as they get old. protons leak back into the mitochondria without making ATP, and so reduce the coupling between oxygen use and ATP production," says lead author David ...

A salty tale: New bacterial genome sequenced from ancient salterns

... and another previously recognized in archaea. A photosynthetic protein, rhodopsin works as a proton pump, capturing light energy and using it to move protons across the membrane and out of the cell. In doing so, the protein maintains a balance of ions inside and outside the cell. "It's very unusual to ...

Superconducting magnet attracts molecular research

... field, causing them to essentially line up and act in unison, like a battalion of marching soldiers, said Pochapsky. The electrons, neutrons and protons within the atom have an intrinsic property known as "spin" and within the electromagnetic field created by the magnet, the frequency of the spinning ...

'Acid rain' and forest mass: Another perspective

... the acidic ions deposited at the same time. Subsequently, certain bacteria are capable of oxidising the compound, thus forming nitrate and liberating protons that acidify the soil. Amongst the effects of the deposition of these compounds on the forest mass are the well-known nutrition disorders of the ....

Drug resistant avian influenza viruses more common in Southeast Asia than North America

... The M2 protein is an ion channel located in the envelope of the virus that permits hydrogen ions (protons) to enter the flu virion. This influx of protons allows the virus to shed its coat after it enters a cell-an essential step in the replication of the virus. Amantadine inhibits the function of the ...

It's electric: Cows show promise as powerplants

... fuel cell. Each chamber was about a foot high and about 6 inches in diameter. The chambers were separated by a special material that allowed protons to move from the negative (anode) chamber into the positive (cathode) chamber. This movement of protons, along with the movement of electrons across ...

Microbial fuel cell: High yield hydrogen source and wastewater cleaner

... on the anode migrate via a wire to the cathode, the other electrode in the fuel cell, where they are electrochemically assisted to combine with the protons and produce hydrogen gas. A voltage in the range of 0.25 volts or more is applied to the circuit by connecting the positive pole of a programmable ...