Book review: Fevered Planet
This book contends that infectious diseases first began to be problematic for humans when the ecological damage wrought by the twin practices of farming and organised agriculture became appreciable.
Review - Insulin: A Hundred-Year History
The author of this book, Stuart Bradwel, is an honorary research fellow working at the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare in the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. At age 18 Bradwel was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, requiring regular daily usually self-administered injections of the hormone insulin. Bradwel turns his experience to good account by delving into the now 100-year-old history of the discovery of insulin, generally considered the most important medical breakthrough of the 20th century.
Letting robots into the lab could speed up science. Here's how
Introducing robots and artificial intelligence (AI) into chemistry labs could help speed up the pace of scientific discovery by allowing experiments to be done faster and more consistently.
These liquid nanoparticles deliver mRNA to the brain
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have been designed to cross into the brain of mice to deliver mRNA. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania relied on LNPs fitted with special targeting peptides to successfully ferry mRNA into neurons.
Mini-brain organoids sent into space on ISS
Mini-brain organoids sent to space remained healthy until their return one month later but had matured faster than identical organoids on Earth. These surprising results came after the tiny clumps of brain cells were sent to the International Space Station (ISS).
Fighting fatbergs, with science
Engineers have designed a protective coating for concrete pipes that could significantly reduce the formation of ‘fatbergs’ in sewers.
Organic chemistry
Read the organic chemistry highlights for January 2025 written by G. Richard Stephenson, University of East Anglia, UK.
Bacteria helps fix nitrogen from the air in plants
A microbial product that fixes nitrogen from the air for maize crops has been evaluated in field trials in the US. The company, Pivot Bio from Berkeley, California, also investigated the mechanism whereby two of their bacterial strains deliver nitrogen to crops.
Meat alternatives, upsides and downsides
Plant-based meat alternatives could come with an unfavourable health effect, according to a new study. Specifically, vegetarians who reported eating plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) had a 42% increased risk of depression over those who did not.
Using emissions gases for scalable R&D
The emissions gases that are accelerating climate change can also be viewed in a different light. Rather than just damaging by-products, CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and other gases are now viable raw materials for fuel precursors, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), plastics and more.