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It is these extreme confinement effects that ‘enables us to do chemistry that we can’t do in traditional ways’, says Angela Grommet from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel who recently wrote a review
2 on the topic. After 35 years of research, chemists are now starting to unlock the potential of confinement by designing molecular cages that fold up long molecules into huge macrocycles, or creating cavities that can separate deuterium from hydrogen. In the future, confined spaces could rival enzymes in their ability to catalyse reactions or protect unstable species, turning them into useful reagents.
It all started with the discovery of carcerands more than three decades ago. Donald Cram wanted to take the chemistry of crown ethers – flat, circular molecules that can capture individual metal atoms on their inside – into the third dimension. In 1985, he functionalised big cyclic molecules so pairs of them could be brought together to form a capsule. Cram called the
Prof. Ron Diskin is an expert on deadly viruses at the Department of Structural Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the winner of the 2020 Scientific Council Prize for Chemistry. One of the research projects that is being conducted in his lab at the moment is an attempt to develop a drug to treat those who have already been infected by Covid-19 (coronavirus) by creating a synthetic molecule that can bind to the virus, prevent it from infiltrating human cells, and can signal to the immune system that it must be attacked.
Over the past few weeks, scientists uncovered two new strains of the Covid-19 virus, the “British” mutation and the “South African” one, are there others out there?
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How circadian clock regulates liver genes in time and space
EPFL scientists have carried out the first comprehensive study of how genes in the liver perform their metabolic functions in both space and time of day. Monitoring almost 5000 genes at the level of the individual cell across a 24-hour period, the researchers have modelled how the circadian clock and liver functions crosstalk throughout the day in sync with the feeding-fasting cycle.
Nothing in biology is static. Biological processes fluctuate over time, and if we are to put together an accurate picture of cells, tissues, organs etc., we have to take into account their temporal patterns. In fact, this effort has given rise to an entire field of study known as “chronobiology”.
Monitoring almost 5000 genes at the level of the individual cell across a 24-hour period, the researchers have modeled how the circadian clock and liver functions crosstalk throughout the day in sync with the feeding-fasting cycle.