Exploring 3-D printing to make organs for transplants
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
Printing whole new organs for transplants sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but the real-life budding technology could one day make actual kidneys, livers, hearts and other organs for patients who desperately need them.
In the ACS journal Langmuir, scientists are reporting new understanding about the dynamics of 3-D bioprinting that takes them a step closer to realizing their go ...
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Chinese mosquitos on the Baltic Sea
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
The analysis of the roughly 3,000 pieces is still in its infant stage. But it is already evident that the results will be of major significance. "Amazingly often, we are finding-in addition to Asian forms-the same insect species in Fushun amber that we found in Baltic amber," explained Bonn paleontologist Professor Dr. Jes Rust.
The Baltic amber comes from the Baltic Sea region, which is a ...
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Marine pest provides advances in maritime anti-fouling and biomedicine
Clemson SC (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
A team of biologists, led by Clemson University associate professor Andrew S. Mount, performed cutting-edge research on a marine pest that will pave the way for novel anti-fouling paint for ships and boats and also improve bio-adhesives for medical and industrial applications.
The team's findings, published in Nature Communications, examined the last larval stage of barnacles that attaches ...
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Saving Seeds the Right Way Can Save the World's Plants
Knoxville TN (SPX) Aug 01, 2014 -
Exotic pests, shrinking ranges and a changing climate threaten some of the world's most rare and ecologically important plants, and so conservationists establish seed collections to save the seeds in banks or botanical gardens in hopes of preserving some genetic diversity.
For decades, these seed collections have been guided by simple models that offer a one-size-fits-all approach for how ...
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A new way to make microstructured surfaces
Boston MA (SPX) Jul 31, 2014 -
A team of researchers has created a new way of manufacturing microstructured surfaces that have novel three-dimensional textures. These surfaces, made by self-assembly of carbon nanotubes, could exhibit a variety of useful properties - including controllable mechanical stiffness and strength, or the ability to repel water in a certain direction.
"We have demonstrated that mechanical forces ...
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Building the Foundation for Future Synthetic Biology Applications with BRICS
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2014 -
The development of increasingly sophisticated techniques and tools to sequence, synthesize and manipulate genetic material has led to the rapidly maturing discipline of synthetic biology. To date, work in synthetic biology has focused primarily on manipulating individual species of domesticated organisms to perform specific tasks, such as producing medicines or fuels.
These species tend to ...
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Tough foam from tiny sheets
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 31, 2014 -
Tough, ultralight foam of atom-thick sheets can be made to any size and shape through a chemical process invented at Rice University. In microscopic images, the foam dubbed "GO-0.5BN" looks like a nanoscale building, with floors and walls that reinforce each other.
The structure consists of a pair of two-dimensional materials: floors and walls of graphene oxide that self-assemble with the ...
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