Science Highlights

The bacterium Clostridium difficile (often called C. diff) can cause severe intestinal infections, responsible for about 500,000 cases and 29,000 deaths in the United States per year. While infections are more often found in ill and elderly people, infection rates are increasing in young and healthy people. The bacterium makes and secretes two related toxins, TcdA and TcdB.

The field of superconductivity was surprised by the discovery of a manganese-based superconductor, published in 2015.  Because the electrons in manganese do not form couplets called Cooper pairs, it was not thought possible that manganese could have traits of superconductivity. This discovery necessitates a revised explanation for superconductivity, one not requiring Cooper pairing.

The development of better rechargeable batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles is difficult due to the complex interplay of many chemical, spatial, and temporal factors.

Radioisotope therapies improve on traditional chemotherapies by being finely targeted to only the diseased cells and leaving surrounding healthy cells unharmed. A promising radioisotope for therapeutic uses is ¹¹⁹Sb, which releases low energy Auger electrons that can kill cancer cells.

Every year the flu vaccine contains a different formulation, due to multiple influenza virus strains and their ability to mutate. Scientists are working toward the universal flu vaccine, which would target conserved regions of the virus. Such a vaccine would be effective regardless of virus strain or genetic drift due to mutation, requiring no yearly updates.

The expanded use of renewable energies instead of fossil fuels depends on developing better batteries. Researchers are finding ways to make batteries store more energy, have more efficient output, and last longer at lower cost.

Our genetic information is stored in DNA using just four nucleotide bases: A, C, G, and T.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive malignancy of the bone marrow that currently stands as the most common form of cancer in children. DNA sequencing studies comparing diagnostic and relapse patient samples have identified relapse-driving mutations in the cytosolic 5’-nucleotidase II (NT5C2) gene.

General anesthetics like alphaxalone (5α-pregnan-3α-ol-11,20 dione) bind to type A γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABA_ARs), which are gated ion channels that reduce the potential of neurons to fire. Experimental evidence points to GABA_AR’s transmembrane domain (TMD) as the allosteric site of drug binding.

While a small amount of copper is essential for living organisms, too much copper contaminating our soils can be toxic and pose a serious problem. Copper has an affinity for organic matter in soils, where it mainly exists in the two redox states Cu(I) and Cu(II). In soils that fluctuate in redox conditions, the mobility of copper through the environment can be hard to predict.