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Sugar makes cancer light-up in MRI scanners

A new technique for detecting cancer by imaging the consumption of sugar with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been unveiled by UCL scientists. The breakthrough could provide a safer and simpler alternative to standard radioactive techniques and enable radiologists to image tumours in greater detail.

The new technique, called ‘glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer’ (glucoCEST), is based on the fact that tumours consume much more glucose (a type of sugar) than normal, healthy tissues in order to sustain their growth. (more…)

Secret of Scent Lies in Molecular Vibrations

By Guest PostFebruary 2, 2013General, Sciencealexander fleming, athens, atom, bonds, british chemist, bsrc, chemists, cyclopentadecanone, deuterium odorants, electron cloud, Greece, hydrogen atom, hydrogen musk molecules, inelastic electron tunnelling, lcn, luca turin, malcolm dyson, mass, molecular shape, molecular vibrations, nano scale changes, quantum mechanism, secret of scent, simon gane, spectroscope, ucl scientists, vibration of molecule

Molecular vibrations, rather than molecular shape, give substances their distinct smell according to a new study by UCL scientists.

In a study designed to find out how smell is written into a molecule’s structure, scientists tested whether changing how a molecule vibrates on a nano-scale changes its smell.

Molecules are made of atoms connected by bonds. The arrangement of bonds and atoms defines the vibration of the molecule. Chemists can therefore identify molecules by their vibrations, using a spectroscope. (more…)

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Sugar makes cancer light-up in MRI scanners

Secret of Scent Lies in Molecular Vibrations