Molecules

Implants and tiny machines could eventually help treat disease or monitor activity, but communication is tricky. Now scientists at EPFL have developed a system whereby devices can communicate by releasing molecules into a patient’s bloodstream.

After screening 27 million compounds, researchers have found a small-molecule drug that performed as well as a common painkiller with no side effects in rodent tests. The hope is that the finding could lead to better pain management for humans.

You can tell a lot about what's going on in undersea environments simply by seeing which compounds are being released into the water by marine organisms. An experimental new device could soon make that process quicker and easier than ever before.

Researchers have combined two microscopic imaging techniques in one microscope, providing scientists with a high-resolution method of tracking single molecules in a cellular context, letting them visualize, in minute detail, what’s happening inside cells.

Researchers have developed a molecule that inhibits the enzyme that spreads the cold sore-causing herpes virus. Their discovery could lead to a new virus treatments, as well as treating diseases that rely on this enzyme to spread, such as cancer.

Scientists in Australia have used quantum computers to observe something usually too fast for the eye to see. The team managed to slow down a molecular interaction by 100 billion times to see what’s really going on in a common chemical reaction.

Researchers have created a molecule that, when added to polymers, increases the material’s durability by making it more able to withstand temperature fluctuations. They say it could be used in everything from plastic phone cases to missiles.

Scientists have detected the first evidence of a phenomenon called “quantum superchemistry.” Long predicted but never confirmed, this effect could speed up chemical reactions, give scientists more control over them, and inform quantum computing.

A new study into the molecular mechanisms underlying hair growth has found that aging cells may be key. Their findings potentially open the door to developing new hair loss treatments that harness the innate abilities of these often-maligned cells.

Scientists have discovered evidence of a “lost world” of previously unknown lifeforms that inhabited Earth about a billion years ago. Fossilized steroids were identified in rocks all over the world, produced by a group called the "Protosterol Biota."

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted complex organic molecules, which usually form in smoke, in the very distant universe. With help from a galactic gravitational anomaly, the telescope could see the molecules from 12 billion light-years away.

A gene called MYC is implicated in the majority of cancers, but unfortunately it’s often considered “undruggable.” In a new study scientists have developed a molecule that chops up the RNA of this gene, effectively clearing cancer in mice.