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Spider Venom Reveals New Secret

By Guest PostAugust 31, 2013Natureaffect, brown recluse spider, cell membranes, chemical product, clark college, cyclic molecule, cyclical chemical product, daniel lajoie, genus loxosceles, greta binford, humans, loxosceles laeta, matthew cordes, north, phospholipid molecules, plastic surgeon, portland, protein, south america, species of loxosceles, spider bite, spider venom, syndrome, tissue damage, tissue suicide, toxin, united states, university of arizona, vahe bandarian

Venom of the brown recluse spider causes a reaction in the body that is different from what researchers previously thought, a discovery that could lead to development of new treatments for spider bites.

University of Arizona researchers led a team that has discovered that venom of spiders in the genus Loxosceles, which contains about 100 spider species including the brown recluse, produces a different chemical product in the human body than scientists believed.

The finding has implications for understanding how these spider bites affect humans and for the development of possible treatments for the bites. (more…)

Bugs produce diesel on demand

By Guest PostApril 27, 2013Environmentbiofuel, bugs produce diesel, carbon dioxide emissions, cell membranes, diesel fuel, drop ins, e coli bacteria, global oil price, global requirement, oil molecules, professor john love, rob lee, shell, shell research ltd, synthetic fuel, Technology, transport fuel, university of exeter

It sounds like science fiction but a team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand.

While the technology still faces many significant commercialisation challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel.

This means that it does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils. It also means that the diesel can be used with current supplies in existing infrastructure because engines, pipelines and tankers do not need to be modified. Biofuels with these characteristics are being termed ‘drop-ins’. (more…)

Engineering Bacterial Live Wires

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2013Sciencebacterial species, berkeley lab, bioelectronic systems, biological wire, caroline ajo franklin, cell membranes, cheryl goldbeck, common language, e coli, electron, electronic communication systems, energy, energy conversion techniques, guillaume cambray, heather jensen, information transfer, largus angenent, living cell, matt hepler, metabolic pathways, michaela teravest, molecular foundry, mr 1, mtrcab pathway, nanocrystalline iron oxide, nicole beedle, protein complex, shewanella oneidensis, strain, synthesis, university of california, vivek mutalik, yancey appling

Berkeley Lab scientists discover the balance that allows electricity to flow between cells and electronics

Just like electronics, living cells use electrons for energy and information transfer. Despite electrons being a common “language” of the living and electronic worlds, living cells cannot speak to our largely technological realm. Cell membranes are largely to blame for this inability to plug cells into our computers: they form a greasy barrier that tightly controls charge balance in a cell. Thus, giving a cell the ability to communicate directly with an electrode would lead to enormous opportunities in the development of new energy conversion techniques, fuel production, biological reporters, or new forms of bioelectronic systems. (more…)

Tag Archives: cell membranes

Spider Venom Reveals New Secret

Bugs produce diesel on demand

Engineering Bacterial Live Wires