Monash microbiologist to convert greenhouse gases into sustainable pet food

(L-R) Dr Rachael Lappan and A/Prof Chris Greening
Credit: Monash University

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced today that Monash University will receive $5 million funding to lead a new Research Hub to develop cutting-edge technologies to transform greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and manufacturing sectors into valuable products.

Monash University will partner with seven national and international academic organizations, as well as 22 industry partners including Woodside Energy, to form the ARC Research Hub for Carbon Utilization and Recycling.

Monash will use new electrochemical, thermochemical, and biochemical methods to convert the climate-active gases carbon dioxide and methane into useful products. It will also drive new policy mechanisms to support early-stage market development of products and technologies to help drive industry transformation.

The Monash arm of the biochemical conversion node will be led by Associate Professor Chris Greening, an award-winning microbiologist who heads Monash BDI’s Health in a Changing World Program.

His team will convert gases produced by the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors into protein-rich pet and fish foods. To do so, they will use bacteria that grow on gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen alone.

AI tackles the challenge of materials structure prediction

The researchers from Cambridge and Linkoping Universities, have designed a way to predict the structure of materials given its constitutive elements. The results are reported in the journal Science Advances.

The arrangement of atoms in a material determines its properties. The ability to predict this arrangement computationally for different combinations of elements, without having to make the material in the lab, would enable researchers to quickly design and improve materials. This paves the way for advances such as better batteries and photovoltaics.

However, there are many ways that atoms can ‘pack’ into a material: some packings are stable, others are not. Determining the stability of a packing is computationally intensive, and calculating every possible arrangement of atoms to find the best one is not practical. This is a significant bottleneck in materials science.

“This materials structure prediction challenge is similar to the protein folding problem in biology,” said Dr Alpha Lee from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, who co-led the research. “There are many possible structures that a material can ‘fold’ into. Except the materials science problem is perhaps even more challenging than biology because it considers a much broader set of elements.”

A Nanokelvin Microwave Freezer for Molecules

A close view inside the main vacuum chamber of the NaK molecules experiment. In the middle four high-voltage copper wires are routed to an ultrahigh-vacuum glasscell where the ultracold polar molecules were produced.
Credit: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have developed a novel cooling technique for molecular gases. It makes it possible to cool polar molecules down to a few nanokelvin. The trick used by the team in Garching to overcome this hurdle is based on a rotating microwave field. It helps to stabilize the collisions between the molecules during cooling by means of an energetic shield. In this way, the Max Planck researchers succeeded in cooling a gas of sodium-potassium molecules to 21 billionths of a degree above absolute zero. In doing so, they set a new low-temperature record. In the future, the new technique will allow us to create and explore many forms of quantum matter that have not been experimentally accessible until now.

When a highly diluted gas is cooled to extremely low temperatures, bizarre properties are revealed. Thus, some gases form a so-called Bose-Einstein condensate - a type of matter in which all atoms move in unison. Another example is supersolidity: a state in which matter behaves like a frictionless fluid with a periodic structure. Physicists expect to find particularly diverse and revealing forms of quantum matter when cooling gases consisting of polar molecules. They are characterized by an uneven electrical charge distribution. Unlike free atoms, they can rotate, vibrate and attract or repel each other. However, it is difficult to cool molecular gases to ultra-low temperatures.

A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching has now found a simple and effective way to overcome this roadblock. It is based on a rotating field of microwaves.

Ural Scientists Found Earliest Evidence of Hyenas Toxocariasis

Image of a hyena coprolite taken with a microscope. In the center is a toxocara egg.
Credit: Dmitry Gimranov

Ural paleontologists, together with Permian parasitologists, found helminth eggs in coprolites (fossil excrement) of the giant short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta. This is the earliest finding indicating that this species of hyena was infected with parasites and had toxocariasis. A description of the finding and analysis of the specimens is published in Doklady Biological Sciences.

"During excavations in the Tavrida cave we found the remains of large mammals, including at least two dozen individuals of Pachycrocuta hyena, dated to the early Pleistocene (1.5-1.8 million years). We believe that hyenas used the cave Tavrida as a den for quite a long time, because here, in the southern corridor of the cave, there were a huge number of coprolites of hyenas, both single and in large assemblies. The massive teeth and especially strong enamel structure allowed hyenas to gnaw the bones of even large hoofed animals. Therefore, the Pachycrocuta could utilize the carcasses of large herbivores," says Dmitry Gimranov, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities at Ural Federal University.

Scientists analyzed three samples of coprolites, in one of which they found parasite eggs. Based on the size and morphology, paleontologists determined that these were helminth eggs. Scientists believe that toxocariasis was a widespread disease among extinct hyenas. This is also confirmed by the data of other researchers. Eggs of helminths of 1.2 million years old were found in coprolites of the same hyena species from the Haro site in Pakistan and 0.3-0.5 million years old at the Menez-Dregan site in France. There are also finds in Italy (Costa San Gicomo site) dated at 1.5 million years. The find in Tavrida will not only help to complete the list of parasites of ancient animals and compare it with helminths of modern hyenas, but also to clarify other features of ancient animals.

"Ancient animal coprolites are unique fossils reflecting biological features that cannot be demonstrated by studying bone remains. Coprolites can be a valuable source of paleoclimate data because they may contain pollen and spore remains of ancient plants. Coprolites may also contain remains of ancient parasites, which provides a unique opportunity to obtain additional information about the ecology of extinct species," adds Daniyar Khantemirov, Laboratory of Natural Science Methods in Humanities researcher.

Note that the research team included employees of the Ural Federal University, the Institute of plant and animal ecology Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Perm State Agro-Technological University named after Academician D.N. Pryanishnikov.

Reference:
Toxocariasis is an infection caused by animal ascarid larvae. Other helminth eggs of toxocarias mature in the soil and infect dogs, cats and other animals. The source of the disease, toxocara was discovered by the German scientist Werner in 1782. Only in 1950 lesion with these helminths was isolated as a separate disease. Eggs from toxocars can be found in the ground and contaminated water.

Source/Credit: Ural Federal University

pal072822_01

Scientists use copper nanowires to combat the spread of diseases

Left: Scanning electron microscopy image of the CuNW network on a copper-sprayed surface. Right: Up-close image of CuNW nanowire, which is about 60 nm in diameter, approximately 100x smaller than a human hair.
Resized Image using AI by SFLORG
Credit: Ames National Laboratory

An ancient metal used for its microbial properties is the basis for a materials-based solution to disinfection. A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory, Iowa State University, and University at Buffalo developed an antimicrobial spray that deposits a layer of copper nanowires onto high-touch surfaces in public spaces. The spray contains copper nanowires (CuNWs) or copper-zinc nanowires (CuZnNWs) and can form an antimicrobial coating on a variety of surfaces. This research was initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the findings have wider-reaching applications.

People have taken advantage of copper’s antimicrobial properties since 2400 B.C. to treat and prevent infections and diseases. It has been proven effective for inactivating viruses, bacteria, fungi, and yeasts when they are directly in contact with the metal. According to Jun Cui, a scientist at Ames Lab and one of the lead researchers on the project, “copper ion can penetrate the membrane of a virus and then insert itself into the RNA chain, and completely disable the virus from duplicating itself.”

Amidst the pandemic, “The DOE asked researchers, what can you do to help to mitigate this COVID situation?” Cui said. Ames Lab is known for work in materials science, not a field that often intersects with disease research. However, Cui’s team came up with the idea to apply copper’s antimicrobial properties to help reduce the spread of COVID.

Cui explained their idea came from a separate project they were working on, which is a copper ink designed for printing copper nanowires used in flexible electronic devices. “So, the thinking is, this is ink, and I can dilute it with water or even ethanol, and then just spray it. Whatever the surface, I spray it once and coat it with a very light layer of copper nanowire,” he said.

NIST Develops Genetic Material for Validating Monkeypox Tests

A vial of the positive control material from NIST that can be used to help ensure the accuracy of tests for monkeypox.   
Credit: R. Press/NIST

In an effort to help speed the expansion of monkeypox testing in the U.S., the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has produced a material that can help ensure the accuracy of tests for the disease. NIST is making the material, which contains gene fragments from the virus that causes the disease but is noninfectious and safe to handle, freely available for use by test manufacturers and testing laboratories.

Monkeypox is spread by close contact and can cause fever, flu-like symptoms and skin lesions. More than 3,500 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the United States since the outbreak began in late May, and the World Health Organization has declared monkeypox to be a global health emergency.

Testing is necessary to identify the extent of an outbreak and contain it, and to properly care for people who have caught the disease and those who may have been exposed. The monkeypox test, like the most sensitive test for COVID-19, uses a technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, to detect genetic sequences from the virus that causes the disease.

Because the material from NIST contains those genetic sequences, laboratories can use it as a positive control — that is, a sample that should cause a positive result if their test is working properly. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to expand the nation’s testing capacity, the material from NIST will fill a growing need.

What bats can teach us about stopping the next pandemic

Tulane researcher Hannah Frank was part of a team of scientists looking at the complex connections between bats and coronaviruses, and how they evolved together.
Credit: Rusty Costanza

Why are bats often linked to incubating coronaviruses such as those behind COVID-19, SARS and other highly contagious respiratory diseases?

A new Tulane University study suggests that the link between bats and coronaviruses is likely due to a long-shared history, and that their genetic information can help us prevent and manage future pandemics.

Hannah Frank, PhD, a bat expert in the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering, led the effort in collaboration with David Enard (University of Arizona) and Scott Boyd (Stanford University).

“This study gives us greater insight into how mammals, particularly bats, have evolved with coronaviruses. It also highlights broad patterns in susceptibility that may prove useful for managing this and future pandemics.”

Tulane assistant professor Hannah Frank, PhD

“We found that bats have been under unusual pressure from coronaviruses compared to other mammals, supporting the idea that bats are rich sources of coronaviruses and may yield insights for future prevention or treatment,” said Frank, an assistant professor in the Tulane Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Oldest DNA from domesticated American horse lends credence to shipwreck folklore

This tooth is all that remains from one of the first horses introduced to the Americas, and its DNA is helping rewrite the history of one of the best-known horse breeds in the United States: The Chincoteague pony.
Credit: Jeff Gage

An abandoned Caribbean colony unearthed centuries after it had been forgotten and a case of mistaken identity in the archaeological record have conspired to rewrite the history of a barrier island off the Virginia and Maryland coasts.

These seemingly unrelated threads were woven together when Nicolas Delsol, a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History, set out to analyze ancient DNA recovered from cow bones found in archaeological sites. Delsol wanted to understand how cattle were domesticated in the Americas, and the genetic information preserved in centuries-old teeth held the answer. But they also held a surprise.

“It was a serendipitous finding,” he said. “I was sequencing mitochondrial DNA from fossil cow teeth for my Ph.D. and realized something was very different with one of the specimens when I analyzed the sequences.”

That’s because the specimen in question, a fragment of an adult molar, wasn’t a cow tooth at all but instead once belonged to a horse. According to a study published this Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, the DNA obtained from the tooth is also the oldest ever sequenced for a domesticated horse from the Americas.

Scientists develop effective intranasal mumps-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Researchers used a modified live attenuated mumps virus, illustrated above, to develop a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Credit: Alissa Eckert | CDC

New research has advanced COVID-19 vaccine work in several ways: using a modified live attenuated mumps virus for delivery, showing that a more stable coronavirus spike protein stimulates a stronger immune response, and suggesting a dose up the nose has an advantage over a shot.

Based on these combined findings in rodent experiments, Ohio State University scientists envision one day incorporating a coronavirus antigen into the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine as a way to produce COVID-19 immunity in kids.

“We were pushing to make a vaccine for infants and children with the idea that if we could incorporate the mumps COVID vaccine into the MMR vaccine, you’d have protection against four pathogens – measles, mumps, rubella and SARS-CoV-2 – in a single immunization program,” said Jianrong Li, senior author of the study and a professor of virology in Ohio State’s Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Infectious Diseases Institute.

“If infants and children could develop immunity against COVID infection with the MMR vaccine, that would be great – no extra immunization needed.”

The research is published today (July 27, 2022) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To create the antigen that stimulates immunity in this vaccine candidate, researchers used a prefusion version of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein – the shape it is in on the surface of the virus before the virus infects a cell. The spike was locked into this form by changing six of its amino acids to prolines, an inflexible amino acid.

100000 and Counting Atomic Modeling Silicon

Jim Chelikowsky and recent Oden Institute PhD graduate, Kai-Hsin Liou, sitting in the Professor's Oden Institute office.
Credit: Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences

A new record has been set by the Oden Institute’s Center for Computational Materials for calculating the energy distribution function, or “density of states,” for over 100,000 silicon atoms, a first in computational materials science. Calculations of this kind enable greater understanding of both the optical and electronic properties of materials.

Jim Chelikowsky leads the Center for Computational Materials, which set a new standard for the number of atoms that can be modeled. They didn’t just raise the bar though. They smashed it – multiplying the previously held record number by a factor of 10.

Chelikowsky along with Oden Institute PhD graduate, Kai-Hsin Liou and postdoctoral fellow, Mehmet Dogan, led the team behind this significant technical advancement in atomic modeling. Working with silicon atoms, they increased the number that could be modeled simultaneously from around 10,000 to over 100,000.

One mathematical way to approach such complex systems is by describing solutions in sines and cosines. This is useful for crystalline matter because it is periodic and we know that the properties of a little piece of a crystal will inform the whole crystal.