CFD Simulation in Chemical Reaction Engineering — The goal of reaction engineering is to optimize transport processes (heat transfer, mass transfer and mixing) in order to improve yield/conversion of desired products whilst ensuring the safe operation of the reactor. CFD simulation can help maximizing yield while minimizing costs.

In a new study, Velia Fowler, PhD, and her lab at The Scripps Research Institute report that a protein called myosin IIA contracts to give red blood cells their distinctive shape. The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could shed light on sickle cell diseases and other disorders where red blood cells are deformed.

Scientists at the University of Portsmouth have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics. The discovery could result in a recycling solution for millions of tonnes of plastic bottles, made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which currently persists for hundreds of years in the environment.

Ultimately, every analysis relies on detection, and in most cases one of the many spectroscopic procedures is used for this. What is happening in this extremely wide-ranging field, and what trends are hot right now?

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 is awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which both simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules.

High-attrition rates during clinical development of new cancer therapies still persist. A new 3D ex vivo microfluidics platform shall now enhance cancer drug screening and early development process by creating cancer models which predict clinical outcomes with significantly increased reliability.

From morning rush-hour urban air-pollution to ship diesel emissions — organic particulate matter directly affects air quality and health while its analysis is still challenging. A new technological solution for PTR-TOFMS shall now find a remedy.

Food is both a basic need and a valuable asset. In Germany, food manufacturers must meet high requirements in terms of safety and product quality. Read about the important contribution microscopic techniques make in quality control and R&D.

Understanding how tissues properly form and grow during the development of an organism is an important question in biology. Researchers were now able to show that elongated cells are the key to maintain the shape of the retinal tissue during growth of a zebrafish. This concept could also apply to other organisms.