Distinguish sugars with eye-catching and stretchy rainbow film

02-Dec-2022 - Rainbows and sugar may conjure up images of a certain leprechaun-branded breakfast cereal. But now, researchers in ACS Nano report a kaleidoscope-like film for telling different sweeteners apart that displayed multiple colors when stretched by hand. When evenly stretched with a simple apparatus, ...

Mini-fuel cell generates electricity using the body's sugar

Glucose energy source for medicinal implants and sensors

24-May-2022 - Glucose is the most important energy source in the human body. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) now want to use the body's sugar as an energy source for medicinal implants. They have developed a glucose fuel cell which ...

Hybrid electro-biosystem upcycles carbon dioxide into energy-rich long-chain compounds

Upcycling CO₂ via electrochemical and metabolic engineering

03-May-2022 - Artificial upcycling of carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added products in a sustainable manner represents an opportunity to tackle environmental issues and realize a circular economy. However, compared with facilely available C1/C2 products, efficient and sustainable synthesis of energy-rich ...

How sugar-loving microbes could help power future cars

Genetically engineered E. coli eat glucose, then help turn it into molecules found in gasoline

24-Nov-2021 - It sounds like modern-day alchemy: Transforming sugar into hydrocarbons found in gasoline. But that’s exactly what scientists have done. In a study in Nature Chemistry, researchers report harnessing the wonders of biology and chemistry to turn glucose (a type of sugar) into olefins (a type of ...

Team develops bioprocess for converting plant materials into valuable chemicals

19-Aug-2021 - A team of scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a bioprocess using engineered yeast that completely and efficiently converted plant matter consisting of acetate and xylose into high-value bioproducts. Lignocellulose, the woody material that gives plant cells their ...

Biodiesel made from discarded cardboard boxes

Development of a microorganism that doubles the yield of biodiesel precursor production using genetic scissors and based on the principles of evolution

02-Dec-2020 - Automobile exhaust emitted by fossil-fuel-based vehicles, especially those operating on diesel, is known to be a major source of fine dust and greenhouse gases. Using biodiesel instead of diesel is an effective way of coping with climate change caused by greenhouse gases while reducing fine dust ...

Actively Swimming Gold Nanoparticles

Chemotactic movement on the macroscale by a swarm of bacteria-mimicking nanoswimmers

07-Aug-2019 - Bacteria can actively move towards a nutrient source—a phenomenon known as chemotaxis—and they can move collectively in a process known as swarming. Chinese scientists have redesigned collective chemotaxis by creating artificial model nanoswimmers from chemically and biochemically modified gold ...

Efficiently producing fatty acids and biofuels from glucose

24-Jun-2019 - Researchers have presented a new strategy for efficiently producing fatty acids and biofuels that can transform glucose and oleaginous microorganisms into microbial diesel fuel, with one-step direct fermentative production. The newly developed strain, created by Professor Sang Yup Lee and his ...

Industry-ready process makes plastics chemical from plant sugars

07-May-2019 - Developing renewable, plant-based alternatives for petroleum-derived chemicals is a major piece of the effort to transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly bio-based economy. But integration of novel and unproven technology into ...

Key enzyme for production of second-generation ethanol discovered in Brazilian Amazon

17-May-2018 - Second-generation ethanol (also called cellulosic ethanol) open perspectives for optimizing alcohol production. Since 2G ethanol is obtained from from sugarcane straw and bagasse, it basically makes it possible converting waste into energy. Holder of the world's best biomass and boasting the ...