Inorganic and biocatalysts work together to reduce CO2

First author Panpan Wang tested the catalysis cascade in the laboratory.
Photo Credit: Ruhr-Universität Bochum / Marquard

In a hybrid cascade, climate-damaging CO2 is turned back into valuable methanol. An international research team has shown how this works. 

In order to recover valuable substances from CO2, it must be reduced in many individual steps. If electrocatalysis is used for this, many potentially different potential molecules are formed, which cannot necessarily be used. Biocatalysts, on the other hand, are selective and only produce one product – but they are also very sensitive. An international research team led by Professor Wolfgang Schuhmann from the Center for Electrochemistry at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, and Dr. Felipe Conzuelo from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, has developed a hybrid catalysis cascade that makes use of the advantages of both processes. The researchers report in the journal “Angewandte Chemie Interational Edition” from December 23, 2024.

Polygamy is (not) for the birds

Rafael S. Marcondes, a faculty fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice
Photo Credit: Alex Becker/Rice University

Researchers at Rice University have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over time. In a recent paper published in the journal Evolution, Rafael S. Marcondes and Nicolette Douvas reveal that lekking — a mating system where males display for females without forming lasting bonds — is an evolutionarily stable strategy. In contrast, resource-defense polygamy, where one sex — usually but not always the male — guards territories to attract mates, is highly unstable and often reverts to monogamy.

“This research not only examines how mating behaviors influence species survival but also sheds light on larger evolutionary questions,” said Marcondes, the corresponding author and a faculty fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice. “By studying birds, we’re uncovering principles that may resonate across other species too.”

The study analyzed data from more than 60% of the world’s bird species — approximately 6,620 species — making it one of the most comprehensive analyses of its kind.

Oxford researchers develop blood test to enable early detection of multiple cancers

Photo Credit: Fernando Zhiminaicela

Oxford University researchers have unveiled a new blood test, powered by machine learning, which shows real promise in detecting multiple types of cancer in their earliest stages, when the disease is hardest to detect.

Named TriOx, this innovative test analyses multiple features of DNA in the blood to identify subtle signs of cancer, which could offer a fast, sensitive and minimally invasive alternative to current detection methods.

The study, published in Nature Communications, showed that TriOx accurately detected cancer (including in its early stages) across six cancer types and reliably distinguished those people who had cancer from those that did not.

Cancers are more likely to be cured if they’re caught early, and early treatment is also much cheaper for healthcare systems. While the test is still in the development phase, it demonstrates the promise of blood-based early cancer detection, a technology that could revolutionize screening and diagnostic practices.

A team of researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a new liquid biopsy test capable of detecting six cancers at an early stage. The cancer types evaluated in this study were colorectal, esophageal, pancreatic, renal, ovarian and breast.

Apex predators in prehistoric Colombian oceans would have snacked on killer whales today

. Illustration of some of the apex predators in the Paja Formation biota with a human for scale.
Illustration Credit: Guillermo Torres, Hace Tiempo, Instituto von Humboldt.

Predators at the top of a marine food chain 130 million years ago ruled with more power than any modern species, McGill research into a marine ecosystem from the Cretaceous period revealed. 

The study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, reconstructs the ecosystem of Colombia’s Paja Formation, and finds it was teeming with marine reptiles reaching over 10 meters in length that inhabited a seventh trophic level.  

Trophic levels are the layers or ranks within a food chain that describe the roles organisms play in an ecosystem based on their source of energy and nutrients. Essentially, they help define who eats whom in an ecosystem. Today’s marine trophic levels cap at six, with creatures like killer whales and great white sharks. 

The discovery of giant marine reptile apex predators occupying a seventh trophic level underscores the Paja ecosystem’s unmatched diversity and complexity, offering a rare view into an evolutionary arms race among predators and prey. 

Unraveling the Mysteries of DNA Damage in the Brain

Immunofluorescent staining of mouse brain, showing neurons and glial cells in the hippocampus. Blue are cell nuclei, while green are microfilaments of the cell extensions. Red is a marker of DNA damage and is predominantly in the neurons.
Image Credit: Aris Polyzos/Berkeley Lab

Brain cells receive sensory inputs from the outside world and send signals throughout the body telling organs and muscles what to do. Although neurons comprise only 10% of brain cells, their functional and genomic integrity must be maintained over a lifetime. Most dividing cells in the body have well-defined checkpoint mechanisms to sense and correct DNA damage during DNA replication.

Neurons, however, do not divide. For this reason, they are at greater risk of accumulating damage and must develop alternative repair pathways to avoid dysfunction. Scientists do not understand how neuronal DNA damage is controlled in the absence of replication checkpoints.

A recent study led by Cynthia McMurray and Aris Polyzos in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab’s) Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division addressed this knowledge gap, shedding light on how DNA damage and repair occur in the brain. Their results suggest that DNA damage itself serves as the checkpoint, limiting the accumulation of genomic errors in cells during natural aging. The paper, published in Nature Communications, offers clues to understanding the potential role of unrepaired DNA damage in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and could help inform the development of therapies.

Team makes sustainable aviation fuel additive from recycled polystyrene

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center research scientist Hong Lu and his colleagues developed a method for converting waste polystyrene into a sustainable jet fuel additive, ethylbenzene. Their work overcomes a key obstacle to the wider use of sustainable aviation fuels.
Photo Credit: Fred Zwicky

A new study overcomes a key challenge to switching commercial aircraft in the U.S. from their near-total reliance on fossil fuels to more sustainable aviation fuels. The study details a cost-effective method for producing ethylbenzene — an additive that improves the functional characteristics of sustainable aviation fuels — from polystyrene, a hard plastic used in many consumer goods. 

The findings are reported in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.  

Fuels derived from waste fat, oil, grease, plant biomass or other nonpetroleum sources lack sufficient levels of aromatic hydrocarbons, which help keep fuel systems operational by lubricating mechanical parts and swelling the seals that protect from leaks during normal operations, said Hong Lu, a research scientist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center who led the new research. ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

While ethylbenzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon and can be derived from fossil fuels, finding a sustainable way to produce it would aid the aviation industry’s conversion to sustainable jet fuels. 

Chornobyl Dogs’ Genetic Differences Not Due to Mutation

Photo Credit: Norman Kleiman

Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chornobyl City and the nearby Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study in PLOS ONE from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study has implications for understanding the effects of environmental contamination on populations over time.

“We have been working with two dog populations that, while separated by just 16 kilometers, or about 10 miles, are genetically distinct,” says Matthew Breen, Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology Genetics at NC State. “We are trying to determine if low-level exposure over many years to environmental toxins such as radiation, lead, etcetera, could explain some of those differences.” Breen is the corresponding author of the study.

Previously, the team had analyzed genetic variants distributed across the genome and identified 391 outlier regions in the dogs that differed between the two populations. Some of these regions contained genes associated specifically with repair of DNA damage. In this new study, the researchers conducted a deeper dive into the genomes of the dogs to detect evidence of mutations that may have accumulated over time.

New data on atmosphere from Earth to the edge of space

Clouds in Antarctica.
Our weather is influenced by many factors, at ground level (such as mountains and human activity), interactions in our atmosphere, and space (such as auroras and magnetic fields).
Photo Credit: © Kaoru Sato

A team led by researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a dataset of the whole atmosphere, enabling new research to be conducted on previously difficult-to-study regions. Using a new data-assimilation system called JAGUAR-DAS, which combines numerical modeling with observational data, the team created a nearly 20-yearlong set of data spanning multiple levels of the atmosphere from ground level up to the lower edges of space. Being able to study the interactions of these layers vertically and around the globe could improve climate modeling and seasonal weather forecasting. There is also potential for interdisciplinary research between atmospheric scientists and space scientists, to investigate the interplay between space and our atmosphere and how it affects us on Earth.

Complaining about the weather, and about weather forecasters when they get things wrong, is a popular pastime for many. But a meteorologist’s job is not easy. Our atmosphere is multilayered, interconnected and complex, and global climate change is making it even harder to forecast both long-term and sudden, extreme weather events.

One Step Coating Could Save Lives and Property

Image Credit: Rachel Barton/Texas A&M Engineering Communications

Although extremely flammable, cotton is one of the most commonly used textiles due to its comfort and breathable nature. However, in a single step, researchers from Texas A&M University can reduce the flammability of cotton using a polyelectrolyte complex coating. The coating can be tailored for various textiles, such as clothing or upholstery, and scaled using the common pad-dry coating process, which is suitable for industrial applications. This technology can help to save property and lives on a large scale. 

“Many of the materials in our day-to-day lives are flammable, and offering a solution to protect from fire benignly is difficult,” said Maya D. Montemayor, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M and the publication’s lead author. “This technology can be optimized to quickly, easily and safely flame retard many flammable materials, offering vast protection in everyday life, saving money and lives of the general population.” 

Current studies developing flame retardant coatings deposited via polyelectrolyte complexation require two or more steps, increasing the time and cost to coat a material effectively. 

New study identifies how blood vessel dysfunction can worsen chronic disease

OHSU researchers have uncovered how specialized cells surrounding small blood vessels, known as perivascular cells, contribute to blood vessel dysfunction in chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and fibrosis. The findings could change how these diseases are treated.
Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have uncovered how specialized cells surrounding small blood vessels, known as perivascular cells, contribute to blood vessel dysfunction in chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and fibrosis. The findings, published in Science Advances, could change how these diseases are treated.

The study, led by Luiz Bertassoni, D.D.S., Ph.D., founding director of the Knight Cancer Precision Biofabrication Hub and a professor at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and the OHSU School of Dentistry, shows that perivascular cells sense changes in nearby tissues and send signals that disrupt blood vessel function, worsening disease progression.