Who trusts gene-edited foods?

New study gauges public acceptance

01-Jul-2022 - Through CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies, researchers and developers are poised to bring dozens – if not hundreds – of new products to grocery stores: mushrooms with longer shelf lives, drought-resistant corn and bananas impervious to a fungus threatening the global supply. A few, ...

Researchers engineer hardier microbes to improve bioproduction of fuels, chemicals

20-Oct-2021 - Busy, productive microbes use enzymes to break down leaves, stalks and other biomass and then convert that material into renewable fuels and chemicals. But some of those enzymes can’t function at the high temperatures or acidity that maintain low operating costs for fermentation processes. A ...

Progress toward Personalized Medicine

Microfluidic chip for analysis of single cells

21-Aug-2018 - A few little cells that are different from the rest can have a big effect. For example, individual cancer cells may be resistant to a specific chemotherapy—causing a relapse in a patient who would otherwise be cured. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have now introduced a ...

Graphene and electricity to change stem cells for nerve regrowth

12-Apr-2017 - Schwann cells are an example. They form sheaths around axons, the tail-like parts of nerve cells that carry electrical impulses. They promote regeneration of those axons. And they secrete substances that promote the health of nerve cells. In other words, they're very useful to researchers hoping ...

3-D paper-based microbial fuel cell operating under continuous flow condition

05-Jul-2016 - A team of researchers from the Iowa State University in Ames, IA has demonstrated a proof-of-concept three-dimensional paper-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) that could take advantage of capillary action to guide the liquids through the MFC system and to eliminate the need for external power. The ...

Iowa State researchers describe copper-induced misfolding of prion proteins

05-Jul-2016 - Iowa State University researchers have described with single-molecule precision how copper ions cause prion proteins to misfold and seed the misfolding and clumping of nearby prion proteins. The researchers also found the copper-induced misfolding and clumping is associated with inflammation and ...

Binding site of protein that allows plant growth

26-Sep-2013 - Using a new and super-sensitive instrument, researchers have discovered where a protein binds to plant cell walls, a process that loosens the cell walls and makes it possible for plants to grow. Researchers say the discovery could one day lead to bigger harvests of biomass for renewable ...

Iowa State, Ames Lab chemists aid study of mutated plants that may be better for biofuels

01-Mar-2012 - Genetic mutations to cellulose in plants could improve the conversion of cellulosic biomass into biofuels, according to a research team that included two Iowa State University chemists.The team recently published its findings in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

Iowa State, Ames Lab chemists discover how antiviral drugs bind to and block flu virus

05-Feb-2010 - Antiviral drugs block influenza A viruses from reproducing and spreading by attaching to a site within a proton channel necessary for the virus to infect healthy cells, according to a research project led by Iowa State University's Mei Hong and published in Nature. Hong, Iowa State's John D. ...

Iowa State University researcher discovers Ebola's deadly secret

22-Jan-2010 - Research at Iowa State University has led scientists to uncover how the deadly Zaire Ebola virus decoys cells and eventually kills them. A research team led by Gaya Amarasinghe, an assistant professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, had previously solved the structure of a ...