News from ACS Spring 2022 Meeting

Public News from American Chemical Society

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-Jul-2025 05:10 ET (8-Jul-2025 09:10 GMT/UTC)

23-Mar-2022

Sustainable leather, yarn and paper — from bread-eating fungi

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Your next trendy handbag could be fashioned from “leather” made from a fungus. Researchers have harnessed this organism to convert food waste into sustainable faux leather, as well as cotton substitutes and paper products, with properties comparable to the traditional materials. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

23-Mar-2022

Growing extremely tiny, uniformly sized diamonds — without explosives

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Diamonds aren’t just glittery, sparkly gems for jewelry. Those that are only a few nanometers wide are crucial for drug delivery, sensors and quantum computer processors. A new method can grow ultra-uniform nanodiamonds, which is important to make these technologies successful, and without the need for explosives. This technique could be used to add beneficial single-atom defects in otherwise perfect crystals. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

23-Mar-2022

High schoolers develop an inexpensive filter to remove lead from tap water

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

A group of high school students and their instructor have developed a solution to lead contamination in drinking water — an inexpensive faucet attachment that removes this toxic metal. Unlike conventional filters currently on the market, theirs includes a cartridge made with biodegradable plastic and indicates when it’s “used up” by turning the tap water yellow. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

23-Mar-2022

A non-hormonal pill could soon expand men’s birth control options

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Women have many choices for birth control, ranging from pills to patches to intrauterine devices, and partly as a result, they bear most of the burden of preventing pregnancy. But men’s birth control options — and, therefore, responsibilities — could soon be expanding. Now, scientists report a non-hormonal male contraceptive that effectively prevents pregnancy in mice, without obvious side effects. They will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

22-Mar-2022

An improved ink for colon tattoos

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

The colon might be the last place people would consider getting a tattoo, but endoscopic tattooing is an important medical technique for marking colorectal lesions for surgery or follow-up. Today, scientists report a next-generation ink for these markings that diffuses less and is more biocompatible than existing inks. That could make it easier to identify and remove colon polyps and tumors, the researchers say. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

22-Mar-2022

A psychedelic drug, combined with intense therapy, improves PTSD symptoms

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects millions of people each year who witness terrifying or shocking events. Now, scientists report data from a phase 3 clinical trial of a psychedelic drug, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), known on the street as “ecstasy,” combined with psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD. Their preliminary data suggest that the therapy works even in patients with drug or alcohol use disorders. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

22-Mar-2022

Space-grown lettuce could help astronauts avoid bone loss

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

NASA is preparing to send humans to Mars sometime in the 2030s. The 3-year mission will expose astronauts to a long period of microgravity, which will cause them to lose bone mass. Now, scientists report transgenic lettuce that produces a bone-stimulating hormone. Someday, astronauts (and people on Earth) might be able to guard against bone loss simply by eating a big bowl of salad. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

22-Mar-2022

Making wooden construction materials fire-resistant with an eco-friendly coating (video)

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Devastating residential blazes and wildfires take a terrible toll. Today, researchers will report on a new type of coating that could limit the flammability of wood used in construction, potentially providing more time to escape fires and also curbing their spread. The environmentally friendly flame retardant could also be used for other flammable materials, such as textiles, polyurethane foam and 3D-printed parts. The researchers will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

22-Mar-2022

Cooking up a way to remove microplastics from wastewater — with okra, aloe

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

In many cuisines, okra serves as a master thickener of stews and soups. The goo from that fruit and other plants, such as aloe, cactus and psyllium, can also clean water and wastewater of some types of solid pollutants, as well as some that are dissolved. Now, researchers have demonstrated that combinations of these food-grade plant extracts can remove microplastics from wastewater. They will present their results today at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022

20-Mar-2022

Sponges, not just their microbes, make biologically potent compounds

American Chemical Society
Reports and Proceedings

Sea sponges are rich with chemistry. From them, scientists have uncovered plenty of biologically active compounds, some of which have gone on to become medications. All of these small molecules, however, actually originate from bacteria living within these animals. Now, new research has uncovered an exception. Today, scientists report that sponges themselves, not their resident microbes, produce at least one promising group of compounds. The researchers will present their results at ACS Spring 2022.

Meeting: ACS Spring 2022