Category: Spectroscopy

Okay, here’s the thing. Sciencebase is now getting around 2000 spam comments every day. So, if I take a break, like I did this week, that’s a vast cr*pflood to check through even with the help of the Akismet spam filter and the Auntie Spam Greasemonkey script for Firefox that compresses and labels Akismet’s findings.

I just passed the 1200 posts mark on this blog and a total of 1200 or so legitimate comments and questions have been posted here by you, the readers. That’s one comment per post, on average, give or take a few. Some posts, such as any that mention the science and religion debate, Richard Dawkins or perpetual motion machines seem to elicit a flurry of comments, but other posts, which personally I predicted would stimulate discussion, seem not to get any comments at all.

Could it be that the vast majority of my posts are simply so wonderfully written and self contained that there is nothing more for you to add? I doubt it! Could it be that no one is actually reading Sciencebase? Well, with 2700 or so RSS subscribers, 1000 podcasters, and several thousand unique visitors to the site each day, that cannot be true either.

I know I shouldn’t worry that the blog receives relatively few comments even compared to countless blogs with fewer subscribers, but I would like to feel that this blog was more than just my random rants and raves and that there might be an opportunity for dialog across cyberspace.

So, here’s the challenge, have a dig around among my blog archives and pick out a post that piques your interest (it could be this one, if you like), leave a pertinent comment on that post of, say, at least 20 words. I’ll then pick out the most inspirational ten new comments over the coming week and post a summary next weekend together with a back link in that post to a site of the commentator’s choice (so be sure to include the web address you want linked in the comment form).

To get you started here are a few links to posts that have proved popular (i.e. were visited the most): Medical marijuana, No More Chocolate Headaches, and Benzene Soda.

Well…what are you waiting for, comment away…

MRI brain scans have recently been used to calibrate and corroborate the results of a new eye-scanning technique that can diagnose multiple sclerosis symptoms in just a few minutes. The technique, optical coherence tomography (OCT), scans the layers of nerve fibres in the retina to reveal nerve damage associated with the disease. The quick test will ultimately complement more detailed MRI studies of the brain when nerve damage is found an be useful in monitoring how effective treatment is. More on this in the latest issue of SpectroscopyNOW.com which goes live on November 1 (Sciencebase readers can get a sneak preview here)

Also, in the new issue, I discuss new research that could help pharmaceutical companies distinguish more easily between the different possible forms – polymorphs – of their products. The approach does not need to be used with a pure crystalline product and so works on formulated tablets. Researchers at the University of Warwick working with colleagues at Astra Zeneca have demonstrated that solid-state proton NMR spectroscopy can be used to crack the polymorphic secret of drugs by focusing on hydrogen atoms. The discovery could allow pharmaceutical companies to eradicate unwanted polymorphs from their formulations and so potentially improve drug efficacy and safety. Once again, you can get a sneak preview here

Also, in the new issue: A new grid technology that allows images from different analytical sources to be superimposed with high precision and so provide a mashup of X-ray fluorescence results on the inorganic components of a sample with an infrared image of the organic parts. The researchers who developed the technique say that their grid technology could be as useful in medical diagnostics and biomedical research as in environmental studies. More on this here.

Other research covered includes a study of bacteriophage DNA that could help explain how we get our mother’s eyes but not our father’s nose, and how Raman spectroscopy might explain the bacterial activity that is destroying ancient Italian frescoes – all on www.spectroscopynow.com

Science news with a spectroscopy bent from my desktop hit the virtual newsstands today over on SpectroscopyNOW.com First up, an atomic coilgun that can stop atoms in their tracks using a sequence of pulsed magnetic fields has been developed by US scientists. The device opens up the possibility of slowing and trapping atoms regardless of atomic number, which is not possible even with Nobel prize winning laser trapping science, which works only for specific atoms. The new approach could allow technologically important elements such as iron, nickel, and the most fundamental element of all, hydrogen, to be slowed to a standstill.

Next, we have a story for fans of Italian cuisine in which scientists have figured out the details of how enzymes in the fragrant herb basil give it its sweet zing so beloved of pesto fans. structure of eugenol synthase, frozen in mid-action as it makes its natural product, eugenol. The researchers at the University of Michigan have taken an X-ray snapshot of basil’s enzyme eugenol synthase working on a substrate molecule key to the biological synthesis of the aromatic component of fresh basil leaves, eugenol. Apparently, the enzyme has a rather unique action in that it involves a push-pull mechanism that evolved from a simpler enzyme seen in other plants and basil’s ancestors.

We also have a rather gory story in this week’s issue related to sticky blood. In it, an entirely new approach to testing for the sticky blood disorder known as Hughes syndrome, or antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is developed. The technique involves a statistical analysis of near-infrared (NIR) spectra recorded for suspect blood samples. The accurate results suggests that NIR might one day be developed as a non-invasive test that can be carried out without piercing the skin for a blood sample. Some observers are already suggesting this is yet another step towards a Tricorder type device for medical diagnostics.

Finally, NIR spectroscopy is also being investigated as a new approach to detecting the microscopic calcium salt crystals that form in tissue during the early stages of breast cancer. A Harvard medical team is developing the novel scanning technique and has invented an easy to make compound that latches on to the microcalcifications and lights up in the near-infrared region of the spectrum. Presumably, the same observers heralding a medical Tricorder type device for blood diseases will see this as another example of so NIR and yet so far.

In this week’s SpectroscopyNOW column, I cover a wide range of subjects with the usual hint of spectroscopy, informatics, and crystallography. First up is a study on a unique protein, MitoNEET.

The protein was previously identified as a putative site for the activity of diabetes drugs known as thiazolidinediones, or which Actos is an example. The determination of the protein’s three-dimensional crystal structure coupled with bioinformatics information demonstrates that it is a clear target for small molecules. The mode of action was previously linked to an entirely different protein, according to biophysical chemist Patricia Jennings and physicist Mark Paddock, and their colleagues at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

“This is the first time that a protein like this has ever been found,” explains Paddock, “It is a brand new structure, a unique beast, which makes it an exciting target for structure-based drug design.” The structure shows two protomers intertwined to form a unique dimeric structure, explain the researchers, this constitutes a new fold not only among the 650 known Fe-S proteins structures but also among all known proteins.

Given that there is at least one clinically tested drug in this area it shouldn’t be too long before other novel compounds that can moderate insulin by interacting with MitoNEET are being investigated. However, it does highlight once again just how hit and miss the drug discovery process can be if the thiazolidinediones are not actually targeting the protein with which they were initially thought to interact.

Also in this week’s issue, more on the crab metabolite story from last week, copper blues and the toxic mouse, and Rod of Titania, the new superhero that could improve energy technologies and sunscreen simultaneously.

My latest science news round-up for SpectroscopyNOW.com is now live:

The problem of the core – Understanding how the bulk iron at the earth’s core is packed together and with what other lighter elements is critical to revealing the origins and evolution of the earth and precisely how it generates its magnetic field.

Fluorinated agents at the ready Intrusive biopsies for people with cancer could be sidestepped thanks to the development of fluorine-containing contrast agents by David Parker and colleagues at Durham University.

Baby light – Near-infrared light could allow researchers to see activity within the infant brain even while the tot wriggles and giggles.

High-field NMR morphs caffeine structure – High-field NMR has overcome the problem of spectral ambiguity in nitrogen-rich compounds, thanks to efforts by Canadian scientists. The team has studied two anhydrous polymorphs of the stimulant, caffeine, and has found that, despite extensive disorder, both caffeine polymorphs reveal the characteristic structural signatures of crystalline compounds.

Diamonds out of Hades – Raman spectroscopy could turn the history of the early Earth upside down and hint that conditions were suitable for life as little as 250 million years after its formation, pushing back the so-called Hadean era several hundred million years.

Sweet nanoreactor – A one-pot chemical reaction system based on nanoscopic capsules embedded in a polymer membrane has been devised by researchers in The Netherlands. The nanoreactor system allows cascade reactions to be carried out that would otherwise require multiple distinct reaction steps with time-consuming and wasteful separation and purification stages.