The Smurfs Secret.

Almost every current add for a new phone emphasizes how much longer its battery life can last. Battery life seems to be an important topic in today’s society due to all of the advancements in technology that we have. Recently, I had been thinking about buying one of those portable things that can charge a phone without needing an outlet but it seems like the researchers at the University of California – Riverside have a better idea, mushrooms.

At first I thought what I was reading was fictitious, how can a mushroom help generate battery life? Portobello mushrooms are edible mushrooms that are commonly found in Europe and North America. They are white or brown and are usually found in backyards or really anywhere; I’m sure you have seen them at least once (maybe even stepped on one accidently).

Well, these common mushrooms have caps with porous skins which are the main components of this experiment. The skin is heated to produce porous, carbon nanoribbons which contain naturally occurring carbon and pores that provide space and surface area. The pores are crucial because they allow for the transfer and storage of energy as well as other fluids (which are needed for lithium-ion batteries to function efficiently). The carbon is also important because it doesn’t need to be prepared, like graphite, from chemicals that harm the environment. Furthermore, the mushroom contains potassium salt which is needed to activate “blind pores” that charge the battery when it begins to discharge. In other words, as the battery begins to lose charge, these pores are activated causing it to gain energy and be charged again.

The researchers believe the use of Potobello mushrooms to increase battery life can be applied to other technology besides cell phones. Their next goal is to try and incorporate this into electrical cars because according to the article, electrical cars produce a lot of harmful chemicals and hazardous waste that harm the environment.

Personally, I am still a little skeptical but if this can help the environment and is cheaper then why not? Maybe this is something the military or even our instruments in the laboratory can use. What do you think?

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Let's unboil a boiled egg..

In working with the denaturation of proteins this week, I thought this article would be relevant.

When an egg is boiled the heat causes the proteins to denture and unfold. The proteins then create new bonds with other proteins causing it to get hard (a boiled egg). Now, have you ever wondered if there was a way to unboil an egg? Some chemists from the University of California -Irvine, have discovered a way to unboil boiled eggs. How is this possible? According to the article, all one needs is a way of denaturing the proteins and letting them refold. Sounds easy and simple, but how does one tell a protein to refold into a desired manner or in this case, to become liquid again? Well, the current method for refolding proteins is a type of dialysis that is done at the molecular level for several days. It seems to be an expensive and long process that not always yields good results. With this new method, however, it can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes (and quite cheaply).

 The chemists introduce a urea substance that dissolves the hard-boiled egg back into its liquid form. Apparently, the addition of urea helps to re-activate the activity of lysozyme which in turn creates a sort of cascade of other proteins being activated as well. Finally, the chemists add some “shear stress” using a “vortex fluid device” to finish unfolding any proteins that are still “folded”.

This method can be beneficial for research, pharmaceutical companies, or even farmers because sometimes proteins that are useful no longer work due to folding incorrectly. This can cause setbacks, or waste of time and money. Therefore, being able to get proteins back to their original state and “re-use” them is exciting.  

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150126095911.htm

PCR Amplification in Minutes?

My first experience in a lab was back in the summer of 2009 at a neuroscience laboratory in the university of my hometown, Brownsville. In this laboratory I learned about the polymerase chain reaction and all of its uses and benefits. I found this article on science daily about a new advancement in the PCR technique from some researchers in the University of California, Berkley.

We all should know by now that PCR is used to amplify DNA in a series of cycles that undergo different temperatures. This process can take an hour or even more depending on what your experiment needs. The researchers at Berkley have found a way of decreasing the amount of time it takes to complete the process. Through the use of LED lights and a thin film of gold, they were able to cut down the time from hours to minutes! According to the article, micro fluid wells with the PCR and DNA samples are placed in a plastic chip with films of gold. The LED light is then placed under the wells and the cycles can begin. Their results showed a completion of 30 cycles in under five minutes with temperatures ranging from 131-203°F. It doesn't provide any statistics about how efficient the process was compared to a traditional PCR. All it says is that it "compared well with conventional PCR tests". 

You may be wondering why Gold? Well, apparently gold is great at absorbing light and the free electrons on the metal interact with the LED light causing the electrons to get excited and oscillate which in turn creates heat. For cooling off, all they have to do is turn off the light! The researchers at Berkley have big plans for this new way of conducting PCR and hope it can integrated into emergency rooms, developing countries like Africa, and even forensics. it is a cheaper, faster, and portable way of amplifying DNA.

Here is the link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150731070215.htm

Review of "An update on molecular biology and drug resistance mechanisms of multiple myeloma"

The overall structure of the article will be discussed in this post.

Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that affects plasma cells by making them multiply numerously especially in the bone marrow. Plasma cells become cancerous and begin to affect the immune system, the bone, and the number of platelets in the body. In this article, “An update on molecular biology and drug resistance mechanisms of multiple myeloma”, the focus is on the different mechanisms that are known to cause the disease, the developments on the resistances against drugs, and ways in which all of this can be overcome.

 The article is set-up by giving some background of the disease, transitions onto the various ways multiple myeloma can develop, and then describes how it has been found to be drug and treatment resistant.

 The reader is presented with a lot of information within the first paragraphs that can become overwhelming and most of all confusing. It just keeps mentioning one thing after another without really explaining one concept coherently. The reader is left with questions like “where did this information come from” or “how is this issue relevant or being addressed”. However, since the title does say it is an update, it leads the reader to believe that there might be another article that was published before this one which may be able to answer or clear up any confusions.

On the other hand, the article is able to better describe the resistant mechanisms of multiple myeloma. It mentions the drugs that have been effective like melphalan, but also informs the reader of how it can have negative effects by damaging bone marrow stem cells. Therefore, although the article lacks structure and clarity in some sections, it makes up for it in others. A suggestion would be to divide the article into two so that the concepts can be explained better and independently.

 

Link to Article on MySam