Category Archives: Chemistry
Catalysis depends on the crystallographic plane of the catalyst
A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. As the catalyst itself takes part in the reaction it may undergo a physical change. Hence, if catalysts take […]
Self-knotting bionic proteins
Author: Ivan Coluzza is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CICbiomaGUNE
Some heteropolymers can be designed to spontaneously self-assemble in complex pre-determined knotted structures. In the past, we referred to such designable heteropolymers as “bionic proteins”. Here we present an extensive […]
Origin of the mysterious blue fluorescence of polymer carbon dots
A quantum dot is a nanometric crystalline structure of semiconductor materials. In a quatum dot electrons are confined in a region of space, thus creating a well defined structure of energy levels that depends very much on the size and […]
Catechol derivatives from “ideal lignin”
In the transition from a petrol-based society to a one based on bio-renewable resources, the replacement of aromatic chemicals is one of the most challenging issues. Nowadays, around 40% of the bulk chemicals belong to the aromatic category, and a […]
How to study the protein corona using fluorinated nanoparticles
Author: Mónica Carril is an Ikerbasque Research Associate at the Biophysics Institute CSIC-UPV/EHU.
When nanoparticles (NPs) get in contact with biological fluids such as blood, proteins present in it will adsorb on the surface of those NPs forming what is […]
Buckyball difluoride, a single-molecule crystal
Endohedral fullerenes, also called endofullerenes, are fullerenes that have additional atoms, ions, or clusters enclosed within their inner spheres. The first lanthanum C60 complex was synthesized in 1985 and called La@C60. The @ (at sign) in the […]
Avoiding geological timescales to access low energies in bulk glasses
Common glass, used in windows or bottles, for example, is made by heating a mixture of calcium oxide (lime), sodium carbonate (soda), and silicon (IV) oxide (sand), resulting in a calcium silicate. This silicate is not a crystal but a […]
When we forget basic science. Seeking the small details out
Author: Adrián Matencio is pursuing a PhD at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – A, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, where he graduated in biotechnology.
It is time to round off this trilogy of articles about […]
A generalized approach for NMR studies of lipid–protein interactions
Author: Francisco J. Blanco is an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC bioGUNE
Molecular interactions in cell membranes, particularly lipid-protein interactions in their hydrophobic core, are difficult to analyse and remain poorly characterised despite high relevance in physiological and pathological processes. […]
Early research on the origin of life. The Miller experiment.
“It is often said that all the conditions for the first production of a living organism are now present, which could ever have been present.— But if (& oh what a big if) we could conceive in some warm […]