67 Current news of Royal Society of Chemistry
rss07-05-2013
It may soon be easier to protect consumers from dangerous condiments thanks to an electrochemical method developed by Chinese scientists that can spot the toxic azo dye, Orange II. They were able to spot the dye at nanomolar concentrations in ketchup and chilli products using the ...
16-04-2013
Chloride ions are central to many biological processes and measuring the concentration of chloride ions in biological fluids can help diagnose a number of diseases, including cystic fibrosis. Scientists from the US have synthesised a squaraine rotaxane which can detect chloride ions via ...
10-04-2013
Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scientists from Germany were able to differentiate between carcinoma, normal tissue and necrosis, and determine the primary tumour of brain metastasis. Using support vector machines and a training set of known primary tumours, it was ...
21-03-2013
Scientists using computational techniques to look at processes in DNA have employed a surface-hopping approach to predict the degree of charge localisation across nucleobases. The technique should allow more accurate modeling of the effects of charge transfer within the molecule. Different ...
07-03-2013
Researchers have developed the first example of an electrochemical immunosensor for the diagnosis of coeliac disease – a genetically determined specific immune response to the antigens present in gluten. Electrochemical immunosensors (EIs) are interesting alternatives to conventional ...
07-03-2013
Analytical chemists have measured the levels of selected organic compounds found in human breath, with the aim of one day applying the technique to the routine diagnosis of disease. The analysis of biomarkers in exhaled air and in blood can reveal the presence of cancer, the rejection of ...
07-03-2013
A disposable point-of-care device has been designed that can detect cardiac troponin I (cTnI) – a biomarker that is highly specific to cardiac injury. The approach uses a surface acoustic wave immunosensor packaged within a disposable microfluidic cartridge that can test for cTnI in the ...
05-03-2013
A new method of sample preparation, developed by a group of US scientists, promises to increase the sensitivity of asbestos analysis 100-fold, to the point where it can be used to detect the substance in soil. Although at a low level, asbestos contamination in soil is of potential concern. If ...
19-02-2013
Organic compounds produced by colonies of bacteria can now be characterised using a mass-spectrometry technique that is both location specific and non-destructive. The method enables the rapid identification of metabolites from specific areas of an agar gel without affecting the viability of ...
15-02-2013
Scientists in China have made polymer gels that behave like artificial tongues. By measuring how the gels swell, bend and fluorescence, the researchers found that the gels selectively respond to and can distinguish between sourness (citric acid and gluconic acid), sweetness (glucose), ...
