Spectroscopy News and Research

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Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between radiation (electromagnetic radiation, or light, as well as particle radiation) and matter.

People with manic depression have a distinct chemical signature in their brains

People with manic depression have a distinct chemical signature in their brains, according to a new study. The research, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may also indicate how the mood stabilisers used to treat the disorder counteract the changes in the brain that it appears to cause.

5 Feb 2008

Chemists track how amantadine drug changes, blocks flu virus

An anti-virus drug attacks influenza A by changing the motion and structure of a proton channel necessary for the virus to infect healthy cells, according to a recently published research paper by two Iowa State University chemists.

5 Feb 2008

Direct sequencing of single RNA strands with tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The genetic alphabet contains four letters. Although our cells can readily decipher our genetic molecules, it isn't so easy for us to read a DNA sequence in the laboratory. Scientists require complex, highly sophisticated analytical techniques to crack individual DNA codes.

28 Jan 2008

New diagnostic technique using bioimpedance spectroscopy to diagnose cervical and skin cancers

A non-invasive diagnostic tool to detect surface cancers quickly and painlessly using technology currently employed by gyms to calculate body composition has been developed by a QUT PhD medical physics researcher.

21 Jan 2008

Table-top device prevents potential errors in children's medications

A device designed to eliminate mistakes made while mixing compounds at a hospital pharmacy was 100 percent accurate in identifying the proper formulations of seven intravenous drugs.

9 Jan 2008

MRI techniques evolving towards better assessment of liver fibrosis

MRI imagery is emerging as a non-invasive way to determine the existence and extent of hepatic fibrosis.

3 Jan 2008

Researchers report protein interactions of MAP kinase signaling pathway

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab, in collaboration with the Institute's Imaging Center, has achieved a quantitative in vivo measurement of the dynamic protein-protein interactions in the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade signaling pathway, which is critical to growth and differentiation decisions in all eukaryotic cells.

14 Dec 2007

New prototype colour 3D X-ray system

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed a new x-ray technique that could be used to detect hidden explosives, drugs and human cancers more effectively.

From The University of Manchester 3 Dec 2007

New technique enables the detection of biomolecules' dynamic reactions in a single living cell

By taking advantage of the signature frequency by which organic and inorganic molecules absorb light, the team of researchers, led by Luke Lee, professor of bioengineering and director of UC Berkeley's Biomolecular Nanotechnology Center, can determine in real time whether specific enzymes are activated or particular genes are expressed, all with unprecedented resolution within a single living cell.

19 Nov 2007

Researchers image a biomarker of neurogenesis

Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, M.D., Ph.D, and co-investigators from Stony Brook University Medical Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a way to image a biomarker of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) in the living human brain.

13 Nov 2007

Discovery of new hemoglobin function

A team of researchers from Wake Forest University, the National Institutes of Health and other institutions has discovered a previously undetected chemical process within the oxygen-carrying molecule hemoglobin that could have far-reaching implications for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

6 Nov 2007

Significant improvement over current test for human papillomavirus

Iowa State University researchers have developed a technology that detects a single molecule of the virus associated with cervical cancer in women.

31 Oct 2007

Purer medicines

Dutch researcher Roelof Mol has investigated possibilities for more accurately determining the composition of medicines.

24 Oct 2007

Researchers unlock hydrogen's secrets to spot polymorphism in pharmaceuticals

Researchers at the University of Warwick and Astra Zeneca have found a new way to use solid-state NMR equipment to crack the secrets of hydrogen atoms and thus spot unwanted polymorphs in pharmaceuticals.

18 Oct 2007

Proteins that underlie cancer

A University of Arkansas scientist who studies constructs of a protein that are associated with the cell transformation that causes cancer has received a five-year, $661,018 grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand his research.

17 Oct 2007

New insight into glutaric acidemia type I

Glutaric acidemia type I (GA-I) is an inherited disorder similar to Huntington disease. Individuals with GA-I are unable to breakdown completely the amino acids lysine and tryptophan and the intermediates of lysine and tryptophan breakdown accumulate in the brain.

12 Oct 2007

Brookhaven microgrid allows simultaneous study of multiple variables

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a method for correlating the results of microscopic imaging techniques in a way that could lead to improved understanding, diagnosis, and possibly treatment of a variety of disease conditions, including Alzheimer's disease. The Laboratory has filed a U.S. provisional patent application for the invention.

10 Oct 2007

Carbon nanotubes show great potential for use as cellular probes

As "nanopipes" they can be used to transport liquids to or from cells and inject solutions or drugs directly into individual cells and individual organelles within the cells.

8 Oct 2007

Radical research results on the oxidation of vitamin E

Recent research results have challenged conventional understanding of the oxidation of the "radical scavenger", vitamin E. Cutting-edge analysis methods have revealed that the intermediates commonly believed to be involved in the process do not occur.

24 Sep 2007

Solid state NMR spectroscopy reveals the workings of 'Mother Nature's Blowtorch'

Using atom-level imaging techniques, University of Michigan researchers have revealed important structural details of an enzyme system known as "Mother Nature's blowtorch" for its role in helping the body efficiently break down many drugs and toxins.

17 Sep 2007