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Category: chemistry – Page 34

Conversational agent can create executable quantum chemistry workflows

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents and large-language models (LLMs), such as the model underpinning OpenAI’s conversational platform ChatGPT, are now widely used by people worldwide, both in informal and professional settings. Over the past decade or so, some of these models have also been adapted to tackle complex research problems rooted in various fields, including biology, physics, medical sciences and chemistry.

Existing computational tools employed by chemists are often highly sophisticated and complex. Their complexity makes them inaccessible to non-expert users and often even difficult for expert chemists to use.

Researchers at Matter Lab at the University of Toronto and NVIDIA have developed El Agente Q, a new LLM-based system that could allow chemists, particularly those specialized in , to easily generate and execute quantum chemistry workflows, sequences of computational tasks required to study specific chemical systems at the quantum mechanical level.

A new complexity in protein chemistry: Algorithm uncovers overlooked chemical linkages

Proteins are among the most studied molecules in biology, yet new research from the University of Göttingen shows they can still hold surprising secrets. Researchers have discovered previously undetected chemical bonds within archived protein structures, revealing an unexpected complexity in protein chemistry.

These newly identified nitrogen-oxygen-sulfur (NOS) linkages broaden our understanding of how proteins respond to , a condition where harmful oxygen-based molecules build up and can damage proteins, DNA, and other essential parts of the cell. The new findings are published in Communications Chemistry.

The research team systematically re-analyzed over 86,000 high-resolution protein structures from the Protein Data Bank, a global public repository of protein structures, using a new algorithm that they developed inhouse called SimplifiedBondfinder. This pipeline combines , quantum mechanical modeling, and structural refinement methods to reveal subtle that were missed by conventional analyses.

Lightweight plastic mirrors drop cost of solar thermal energy by 40%

Researchers in Australia are working on a way to lower the cost of producing solar thermal energy by as much as 40% with the help of shatterproof rear-view mirrors originally designed for cars.

That could be huge for agriculture and industrial facilities which need large amounts of heat for large-scale processes at temperatures between 212 — 754 °F (100 — 400 °C). That addresses food production, drying crops, grain and pulse drying, sterilizing soil and treating wastewater on farms; industrial applications include producing chemicals, making paper, desalinating water, and dyeing textiles.

A quick refresher in case you’re out of the loop: solar thermal energy and conventional solar energy (photovoltaic) systems both harvest sunlight, but they work in fundamentally different ways. Solar thermal setups capture the Sun’s heat rather than its light, use reflectors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, and convert solar radiation directly into heat energy. This heat can be used directly for heating buildings, water, or the aforementioned industrial processes.

Australian researchers use a quantum computer to simulate how real molecules behave

When a molecule absorbs light, it undergoes a whirlwind of quantum-mechanical transformations. Electrons jump between energy levels, atoms vibrate, and chemical bonds shift—all within millionths of a billionth of a second.

These processes underpin everything from photosynthesis in plants and DNA damage from sunlight, to the operation of solar cells and light-powered cancer therapies.

Yet despite their importance, chemical processes driven by light are difficult to simulate accurately. Traditional computers struggle, because it takes vast computational power to simulate this quantum behavior.

New Clues to Alien Life: Researchers Revive 4-Billion-Year-Old Metabolic Process

The earliest cells harnessed energy through geochemical reactions, a process that LMU researchers have now successfully replicated in the lab. The earliest ancestor of all life on Earth likely thrived in warm environments, relied on hydrogen for energy, and produced methane as a byproduct. Resear

Cerium Glows Yellow: Chemists Teach Rare Earth Elements New Tricks

Scientists have developed a method to alter the color and brightness of rare earth element luminescence by changing their chemical environment, enabling the design of advanced light-emitting materials. Researchers at HSE University and the Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Acade

Evidence for fungi and gold redox interaction under Earth surface conditions

The role of fungi in the biogeochemical cycling of gold remains unclear. Here the authors show that fungi can initiate gold oxidation under supergene conditions, thereby impacting gold mobilisation and secondary deposit formation in terrestrial environments.

Quantum simulation captures light-driven chemical changes in real molecules for the first time

Researchers at the University of Sydney have successfully performed a quantum simulation of chemical dynamics with real molecules for the first time, marking a significant milestone in the application of quantum computing to chemistry and medicine.

Understanding in real time how atoms interact to form new compounds or interact with light has long been expected as a potential application of quantum technology. Now, quantum chemist Professor Ivan Kassal and Physics Horizon Fellow Dr. Tingrei Tan have shown it is possible using a quantum machine at the University of Sydney.

The innovative work leverages a novel, highly resource-efficient encoding scheme implemented on a trapped-ion quantum computer in the University of Sydney Nanoscience Hub, with implications that could help transform medicine, energy and materials science.

Functional Biomaterials for Drug Delivery

Gene therapy is a technique that rectifies defective or abnormal genes by introducing exogenous genes into target cells to cure the disease. Although gene therapy has gained some accomplishment for the diagnosis and therapy of inherited or acquired cardiovascular diseases, how to efficiently and specifically deliver targeted genes to the lesion sites without being cleared by the blood system remains challenging. Based on nanotechnology development, the non-viral vectors provide a promising strategy for overcoming the difficulties in gene therapy. At present, according to the physicochemical properties, nanotechnology-based non-viral vectors include polymers, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and inorganic nanoparticles. Non-viral vectors have an advantage in safety, efficiency, and easy production, possessing potential clinical application value when compared with viral vectors. Therefore, we summarized recent research progress of gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases based on commonly used non-viral vectors, hopefully providing guidance and orientation for future relevant research.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) leads to almost a third of all deaths worldwide, resulting from atherosclerotic plaque leading to hemadostenosis and blood flow restriction (Park et al., 2020; Tsao et al., 2022). Despite progress in medical technology, CVD is still a major cause of death (Yang et al., 2023). Conventional treatment strategies for CVD include anticoagulation, antiplatelet, thrombolytics, hypolipidemic drugs, and invasive therapies like vascular bypass grafting and stent transplantation (Zhu et al., 2021). However, small molecule drug therapy in conventional treatment strategies is characterized by short half-life and low bioavailability, and long-term use of certain drugs may also lead to side effects such as drug resistance and potential hematological toxicity (Missri, 1979; Fu et al., 2014). Surgical treatment, on the other hand, is more pro-traumatic, requires a longer recovery time, and has a high risk of postoperative complications.

Artificial blood

Depending on the type of artificial blood that is made, various raw materials are used. Hemoglobin-based products can use either isolated hemoglobin or synthetically produced hemoglobin.

To produce hemoglobin synthetically, manufacturers use compounds known as amino acids. These are chemicals that plants and animals use to create the proteins that are essential for life. There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids that may be used to produce hemoglobin. All of the amino acid molecules share certain chemical characteristics. They are made up of an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a side chain. The nature of the side chain differentiates the various amino acids. Hemoglobin synthesis also requires a specific type of bacteria and all of the materials needed to incubate it. This includes warm water, molasses, glucose, acetic acid, alcohols, urea, and liquid ammonia.

For other types of hemoglobin-based artificial blood products, the hemoglobin is isolated from human blood. It is typically obtained from donated blood that has expired before it is used. Other sources of hemoglobin come from spent animal blood. This hemoglobin is slightly different from human hemoglobin and must be modified before being used.

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