'Dominating' fungus could be solution to producing more biofuels and chemicals

30-Apr-2021 - The discovery of a novel enzyme that releases a valuable chemical from agricultural waste could provide an important breakthrough in the upscaling of renewable fuels and chemicals, a new study shows. Researchers - led by the University of York - have discovered an enzyme in a fungus which can act ...

New control over topological insulator

24-Mar-2014 - An international team of scientists investigating the electronic properties of ultra-thin films of new materials – topological insulators (TIs) - has demonstrated a new method to tune their unique properties using strain. Topological insulators are new materials with surfaces that host a new ...

From surgery to laboratory and back again

13-Feb-2014 - A University of York scientist's experience in seeing his partner in hospital recovering from a double lung transplant prompted him to design and synthesise new chemical agents that could revolutionise post-operative patient care. Professor Dave Smith, of the University's Department of Chemistry, ...

Significant step forward in biofuels quest

03-Jan-2014 - Scientists at the University of York have made a significant step in the search to develop effective second generation biofuels. Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at York have discovered a family of enzymes that can degrade hard-to-digest biomass into its constituent sugars. 'First ...

Closer to reality

17-Jun-2013 - Heterogeneous gas-solid catalyst reactions occur on the atomic scale and there is increasing evidence single atoms and very small clusters can act as primary active sites in chemical reactions. When studying the reactions taking place at the catalyst surface, scientists usually have to look into ...

Scientists discover new clue to the chemical origins of life

26-Jan-2012 - Organic chemists at the University of York have made a significant advance towards establishing the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life. A team led by Dr Paul Clarke in the Department of Chemistry at York have re-created a process which could have occurred ...

Developing enzymes to clean up pollution by explosives

13-Oct-2009 - Scientists at the University of York have uncovered the structure of an unusual enzyme which can be used to reverse the contamination of land by explosives. The discovery, by scientists in the York Structural Biology Laboratory and the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, will support the ...

Medical use for waste television screens

16-Jul-2009 - Waste material from discarded televisions could be recycled and used in medicine, according to new research by scientists at the University of York. The chemical compound polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) is widely used in industry and is a key element of television sets with liquid crystal display (LCD) ...

Mannosidase catches the boat

15-Apr-2009 - A boat conformation of the Michaelis complex of beta-mannosidase Man2A has been demonstrated by a collaboration of scientists in the UK and Canada. Gideon Davies and Wendy Offen at the University of York and colleagues from Newcastle University, worked with scientists from Queen’s University, ...

UK chemists warn of funding crisis

Sharp drop in grant numbers hits young scientists and blue skies research

22-Oct-2008 - Senior researchers have warned that a sharp drop in the number of research grants awarded this year risks damaging UK chemistry. Young chemists applying for first-time grants have suffered most under widespread changes to the funding strategy of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research ...