30021031
submission
LilaG writes:
Not just a way to transport trains at high speed, magnetic levitation could find use in diagnosing disease. Researchers at Harvard have shown that they can detect proteins in blood using MagLev. The researchers, led by George Whitesides, use levitation to detect a change in the density of porous gel beads that occurs when a protein binds to ligands inside the beads. The lower the bead levitates, the more protein it holds. The method (abstract of paywalled article) could work for detecting disease proteins in people’s blood samples in the developing world: The magnets cost only about $5 each, and the device requires no electricity or batteries. Because the beads are visible to the naked eye, researchers can make measurements with a simple ruler with a millimeter scale.
29680417
submission
LilaG writes:
Gasoline-burning engines put out twice as much black carbon as was previously measured, according to new field methods tested in Toronto. The tiny particles known as black carbon pack a heavy punch when it comes to climate change, by trapping heat in the atmosphere and by alighting atop, and melting, Arctic ice. With an eye toward controlling these emissions, researchers have tracked black carbon production from fossil fuel combustion in gasoline-burning cars and diesel-burning trucks. Until this study was published, gas-burning vehicles had been thought to be relatively minor players.
29399869
submission
LilaG writes:
Watson and Crick deciphered the double helical structure of DNA in 1953, but 10 years later another scientist, Karst Hoogsteen, realized that DNA’s bases could pair up in a different way. Now researchers at the University of Michigan have reported the first direct proof that Hoogsteen was right: Just 1% of the time in double helical DNA, two DNA bases (the purines) swing around and interact with bases on the other DNA strand in an unusual way. The story comes from Chemical & Engineering News and the paper it describes (abstract) appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
29398577
submission
LilaG writes:
Researchers have been trying to develop diagnostic devices on paper, for use in developing countries. Now a group at Harvard has designed one to detect liver damage, which is a side effect of many drugs and, if unchecked, can cause death. The device measures three protein levels in a drop of blood; its output is color changes. Done using the device? Burn it to dispose of any hazardous waste. The device has been tested in the lab, is now undergoing testing with patients, and seems ready for field tests.
