Chemistry World Blog

— CW this week

27 September 2010: Have something to say about an article you’ve read on Chemistry World this week? Leave your comments below…

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This week’s stories:

On-off catalyst mimics enzyme function
An enzyme-like catalyst that could form the basis for ‘synthetic PCR’

Hybrid electronics get twisted
Microfluidic radio frequency radiation sensor bends, twists and stretches

Bacteria factories for Taxol precursors
E. coli bacteria have been engineered to produce precursors of one of the most widely used cancer drugs

Weightlifting crystals
Two-component crystal can bend like human muscle to lift weights 600 times greater than its own when exposed to UV light

Banishing bad bacteria
Specially designed polymers distinguish between good and bad bacteria

Interview: Solving polymer problems
David Haddleton talks to Russell Johnson about polymers, problems and the little detail

Protein folding: knotted or not
New computational studies could help scientists unpick the knots in real proteins

Flowery magnetic microspheres clean water
Iron oxide nanomaterials remove pollutants from water

Monitoring radicals in water
A sensitive fluorescent probes monitors hydroxyl radicals in environmental water

US university’s scheme to rate faculty draws fire
Professors unnerved by internal plan to generate profit-loss statements for faculty

Helium nanodroplets host ion analysis
New infrared spectroscopy technique uses freezing helium to provide detailed structural information of molecular ions

Shape memory polymers get graded
Polymers that change shape in response to a variety of temperatures could be used in weather-responsive public art, claim US scientists

America’s scientific lead remains on the brink
Despite investment, the outlook for US competitiveness has deteriorated over the last five years, says influential report

Structure dictates glycan story
Small structural differences in oligosaccharide clusters can lead to dramatic differences in the way they interact with the body