USA Archives

Mechanochemistry: A new route to sustainable polymer recycling

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Junpeng Wang investigates how mechanochemistry and chemical unlocking can be used in combination to prepare degradable polymers that are otherwise too challenging to synthesise using standard synthetic routes.

Plastics and rubbers are some of the most important materials in advanced societies, and hundreds of millions of tonnes are produced every year. Devising efficient and cost-effective ways to recycle these materials has become a crucial environmental concern. Although degradable plastic-based materials can be produced, their practical use is limited by their vulnerability under environmental stress. Professor Junpeng Wang and […]

The flipside of DNA: Flipons and alternative nucleic acid structures

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Alan Herbert investigates how conserved microRNAs and flipons shape gene expression during development by altering promoter conformations.

DNA sequences called flipons can adopt alternative DNA structures. New research suggests that they have important biological roles. In a quest to further unravel the mystery of these dynamic DNA elements, Dr Alan Herbert, InsideOutBio Inc, USA, and colleagues have spent years conducting experiments at the cutting edge of genomic and molecular science. Now, they demonstrate that by targeting flipons, […]

Loneliness and social isolation: How can we protect our mental health and cognitive functions?

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How can we protect our mental health and cognitive functions? Dr Jing Liang and her team study social isolation in mice and DHM treatments.

It is well known that social isolation can cause poor mental and physical health. Our recent global experience of compulsory social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has created a need to find new ways to prevent its devastating consequences, such as anxiety-induced cognitive decline, from manifesting. Dr Jing Liang and her team at the University of Southern California’s Mann School […]

Regulating RNA interference by modifying RNA backbone with amides

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Professor Rozners and his team use nucleic acid chemistry to improve RNA-based technologies, modifying RNA backbone with amides

Professor Eriks Rozners and colleagues at Binghamton University in New York, USA, are using innovative nucleic acid chemistry to modify RNA-based technologies such as RNA interference (RNAi) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) to enhance their utility in molecular biology. These technologies suffer from off-target effects that limit their clinical utility. By replacing phosphates in the backbone with […]

The cold, dark secrets of the Universe in few-body physics

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The AMO physics group at Stony Brook University uses few-body physics, cold and ultracold chemistry as well as machine learning to study fundamental problems in the research field.

Understanding fundamental processes in physics, particularly physics beyond the Standard Model, is no easy task. Experiments and theories looking for new general theories to describe many of the phenomena that are missing in the Standard Model focus on particle physics experiments at places like CERN. Professor Jesús Pérez Ríos of the atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics group at Stony […]

Cleft lip simulation: A step closer to achieving surgical excellence

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Dr Rogers-Vizena and her collaborators developed a surgical simulation model for cleft lip repair.

Surgical training is a long and laborious process, traditionally performed by learning to operate on actual patients under a senior surgeon’s supervision. However, with surgical techniques getting ever more sophisticated and standards of care increasing, it is not always easy for surgical trainees to access the required number of surgical cases. Surgical simulation has recently become the solution to this […]

Empowering communities in the face of grand challenges: The critical role of local food systems and democratized science

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Dr William Lacy examines how local food systems and democratized science might secure an equitable and sustainable food system.

Feeding a rapidly growing global population is nearly impossible. Food production is increasingly controlled by powerful organizations, climate change is negatively impacting food production, inequality is growing globally, and menacing geopolitical shifts are likely to make matters worse. Dr William Lacy, a leading sociologist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of California Davis, USA, […]

The heart of the matter: Elamipretide in the treatment of Barth syndrome

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Dr Hani Sabbah has spent a decade researching the potential of elamipretide as a therapy for the Barth syndrome.

Barth syndrome (BTHS) is an ultra-rare but debilitating genetic disease affecting cell mitochondria. High infant mortality due to cardiac complications and a weakened immune system significantly decrease life expectancy. Current medications treat symptoms but not the cause, leaving an unmet clinical need to develop effective treatments that target the underlying pathology. Dr Hani N Sabbah, Professor of Medicine at Wayne […]

Artemis:DNA-PKcs: A new drug target for cancer treatment?

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Watanabe studies the molecular mechanisms of NHEJ and describes the basal state Artemis:DNA-PKcs complex for the first time.

Cells encounter DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) every day. Because they can lead to loss of genetic information, DSBs must be repaired. Nonhomologous DNA end joining (NHEJ) is the major pathway for repairing DSBs, and the key enzymes include Artemis nuclease and DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). For the first time, Dr Go Watanabe and his team from the University […]

Simple blood tests could predict immunotherapy effectiveness

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Dr George Laliotis and his team predict the response of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients to immunotherapy using precision-medicine techniques.

Despite the extensive use of immunotherapy in patients suffering from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, this therapy has significant limitations. Not everyone responds to treatment and current therapies can have serious adverse side effects. When working at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA, Dr George Laliotis and his team discovered that biochemical factors, measured […]