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Here is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) News Service Weekly press package (PressPac) with reports selected from 35 major peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News.
Weekly PressPac – ALL CONTENT IS FOR IMMEDIATE USE EXCEPT ARTICLE #5 (EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, DEC. 4, 2006)
In This Edition:
- Unprecedented efficiency in producing hydrogen from water
- New biosensors from the blood of llamas
- More accurate estimates of community-wide illicit drug use
- Carbon nanomaterials may disperse more widely in waterways
- Toward tracing the source of anthrax in the 2001 terrorism attacks
- Journalists' Resources: Landmarks, news sources and more
- Mark Your Calendars: Chemistry's growing role in cancer research
ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Unprecedented efficiency in producing hydrogen from water
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Scientists are reporting a major advance in technology for water photooxidation —using sunlight to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel from ordinary water. Michael Gratzel and colleagues in Switzerland note that nature found this Holy Grail of modern energy independence 3 billion years ago, with the evolution of blue-green algae that use photosynthesis to split water into its components, hydrogen and oxygen.
Gratzel is namesake for the Gratzel Cell, a more-efficient solar cell that his group developed years ago. Solar cells produce electricity directly from sunlight. Their new research, scheduled for publication in the Dec. 13 issue of the weekly Journal of the American Chemical Society, reports development of a device that sets a new benchmark for efficiency in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using visible light, which is ordinary sunlight.
Previously, the best water photooxidation technology had an external quantum efficiency of about 37 percent. The new technology's efficiency is 42 percent, which the researchers term "unprecedented." The efficiency is due to an improved positive electrode and other innovations in the water-splitting device, researchers said.
ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"New Benchmark for Water Photooxidation by Nanostructured Fe203 Films"
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http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jacsat/asap/pdf/ja064380l.pdf
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CONTACT:
Michael Gratzel, Ph.D.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
Phone: +41-21-6933112
Fax: +41-21-6936100.
Email: michae1.graetzel@epfl.ch
ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New biosensors from the blood of llamas
Analytical Chemistry
An unusual protein found in the blood of llamas has enabled scientists to develop a quick, simple method for making antibodies that could be used in a new generation of biosensors. The biosensors could detect deliberate environmental contamination with a wide range of disease-causing microbes and toxins, with new sensors produced quickly in response to newly emerging biothreats, researchers said.
The U. S. Naval Research Laboratory's Ellen R. Goldman and Andrew Hayhurst, of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, describe their research in a report scheduled for the Dec. 1 issue of the ACS's Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal. Llamas, they point out, are among certain animals (camels and sharks being the others) that produce heavy chain antibodies, from which so-called single domain antibodies (sdAbs) can be isolated by genetic engineering. These antibodies are tougher and more durable than the antibodies now used in medical tests and biosensors. Single domain antibodies do not need refrigeration, for instance, and can withstand temperatures of almost 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers describe producing sdAbs to a smallpox virus surrogate, cholera toxin, and other biothreats by harvesting antibodies from a library of over a billion different sdAbs engineered in the laboratory, which bypasses the need for injecting llamas with those substances. "The delivery speed and the sdAb protein characteristics of small size, ruggedness, and ability to be engineered for optimal orientation and patterning means that sdAbs are likely to be high-performance yet low-maintenance substitutes for any antibody-based biosensor," the report states.
ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Facile Generation of Heat-Stable Antiviral and Antitoxin Single Domain Antibodies From a Semisynthetic Llama Library"
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http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac0610053.pdf
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CONTACT:
Ellen R. Goldman, Ph.D.
U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC
Phone: 202-404-6052
Fax: 202-767-5954
Email: ellen.goldman@nrl.navv.mil
Andrew Hayhurst, Ph.D.
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas
Phone: 210-258-9530
Fax: 210-670-3329
Email: ahayhurst@sfbr.org
ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
More accurate estimates of community-wide illicit drug use
Analytical Chemistry
Scientists in Italy are reporting development of a method for more accurate estimates of the amount of illicit drug use in a community. Sara Castiglioni and colleagues note that current estimates of community-wide illicit drug use are based on indirect methods—such as population surveys, crime statistics and interviews—that tend to be unreliable.
In a report scheduled for the Dec. 15 issue of ACS's Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, they describe the first application of an analytical technique that directly determines the amounts of a wide variety of illicit drugs in wastewater collected at sewage treatment plants. Termed high pressure liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, the tool can detect amphetamines, cocaine, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and other drugs.
The test identifies drugs and drug byproducts that illicit drug users excrete in their urine. Those compounds pass through sewage treatment plants and may appear in rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. In addition to making better estimates of population-wide drug use, the technique also could provide a way to monitor drug use and changing patterns of drug use in real time, the researchers state. They previously developed a similar test for cocaine, and used it to suggest that cocaine use was more prevalent than once believed.
ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Identification and Measurement of Illicit Drugs and Their Metabolites in Urban Wastewater by Liquid
Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry"
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http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac061095b.pdf
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CONTACT:
Sara Castiglioni, Ph.D.
Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
Phone: +39-02-39014499
Fax: +39-02-39001916
Email: castiglioni@marionegri.it
ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Carbon nanomaterials may disperse more widely in waterways
Environmental Science & Technology
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) released to the environment in the coming era of industrial-scale production could spread through lakes, rivers and other waterways more widely than previously anticipated, scientists are reporting in a study scheduled for the January 1, 2007, issue of ACS's Environmental Science & Technology.
The Georgia Institute of Technology's Jaehong Kim and colleagues point out that industrial-scale production facilities for CNTs are now under construction in order to meet anticipated demand for these nanomaterials in a range of commercial applications. Gaps, however, still remain in understanding of the possible health and environmental effects of CNTs, they add.
CNTs are extremely hydrophobic—repelled by water—and clump together rather than dispersing widely in pure water. That led to reduced concerns about widespread dispersion of CNTs in the water environment. The new study, however, showed that CNTs interact with natural organic matter, which is present in lakes and rivers, in ways that lead to wider dispersion.
The researchers conclude: "These findings suggest that dispersal of carbon-based nanomaterials in the natural, aqueous environment might occur to an unexpected extent following a mechanism that has not been previously considered in environmental fate and transport studies."
ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Natural Organic Matter Stabilizes Carbon Nanotubes in the Aqueous Phase"
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CONTACT:
Jaehong Kim, Ph.D.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia
Phone: 404-894-2216
Fax: 404-385-7087
Email: jaehong.kim@ce.gatech.edu
ARTICLE #5
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, DEC. 4, 2006
Toward tracing the source of anthrax in the 2001 terrorism attacks
Chemical & Engineering News
New technology for analyzing water may have narrowed the possible source of anthrax used in the 2001 terrorist attacks to a handful of institutions, according to an article scheduled for the Dec. 4 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, the ACS's weekly newsmagazine.
In the article, C&EN Senior Correspondent Lois R. Ember describes how science is aiding an extraordinarily difficult FBI criminal probe of the first major act of bioterrorism on United States soil. It occurred a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when anthrax-laced letters sent through the mail killed five people and raised the fear level nationwide. Despite 9,100 FBI interviews, 67 searches, and 6,000 grand jury subpoenas, the case remains unsolved.
Ember surveys new developments in the case, including an August scientific article with a paragraph that "set the scientific and arms control communities abuzz." Another development involves the reported application of technology for tracing the source of water used to process the anthrax spores to the northeastern United States. If true, one source told C&EN, it would narrow the likely source of the anthrax to "two or three" institutions in the region that had access to the Ames strain of anthrax used in the attacks.
ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, DEC. 4
"Anthrax Sleuthing: Science aids a nettlesome FBI criminal probe"
FOR FULL TEXT, CONTACT:
Michael Bernstein
ACS News Service
Phone: 202-872-6042
Fax: 202-872-4370
Email: m_bernstein@acs.org
Mark Your Calendars
Chemistry in Cancer Research: A Vital Partnership
Chemistry has an increasingly important role in research on cancer diagnosis, prevention and treatment. To spotlight that role, the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will cosponsor a special conference entitled, "Chemistry in Cancer Research: A Vital Partnership," Feb. 4-7 in San Diego, Calif. The program (http://acswebcontent.acs.org/meetings/specialty/AACR/index.html) will feature presentations by prominent scientists on drug discovery, proteomics, the chemical biology of carcinogenesis, biomarkers and analytical chemistry, modeling and bioinformatics, and structural biology.
Journalists' Resource: National Historic Chemical Landmarks
America came of age as a nation in the late 1700s — the same time chemistry came of age as a science. Since then, chemists have played key roles in expanding the frontiers of knowledge, advancing medicine and industry, and creating products from aspirin to zippers. The ACS's National Historic Chemical Landmarks program recognizes these outstanding accomplishments and tells the stories behind the research. The most recent landmark was designated on Oct. 25, when ACS designated Procter & Gamble's development of Tide® — "the washing miracle" synthetic detergent — a National Historic Chemical Landmark in a special ceremony in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Landmarks' Web site (http://acswebcontent.acs.org/landmarks/) has valuable resources for feature stories and background.
The American Chemical Society — the world's largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
PressPac Archive: http://www.chemistry.org/news/presspac.html
The American Chemical Society (ACS) News Service PressPac is your access point for discoveries in fields ranging from astronomy to zoology, which are reported in the 35 peer-reviewed journals of the American Chemical Society. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society. Chemistry is the science that transforms lives, and these news alerts are from the leading edge of that science at ACS headquarters.
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