Proteins are at the heart of modern biotechnology, driving innovations across various fields. However, the scalable production of large numbers of protein candidates remains a major bottleneck for synthetic biologists.

A KAIST and Georgia Tech team has developed a polymer membrane that separates crude oil at room temperature, significantly reducing the need for energy-intensive heating in conventional refining.

New membrane process cuts refining energy use by 31.6% and could reshape the century-old distillation process.

Crude oil effectively creates its own molecular sieving pathways, enabling precise separation without a specially engineered selective layer.

Research by a PhD student at the University of Sydney shows how plate tectonics offers framework for finding copper, zinc and lead deposits.

Agricultural scientists are rethinking their battle plans against plant parasites that cause billions of dollars in annual yield losses for American farmers. 

Chemical nematicides, soil treatments and biological controls have had mixed success against the soybean cyst nematode, and many potential solutions carry environmental or economic limitations.

Host resistance — breeding soybean varieties that can withstand infection — has been the most effective and environmentally friendly management tool, but its usefulness is declining. Asia Kud, an assistant professor of nematology in the department of entomology and plant pathology for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Kud was awarded a $298,913 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to continue researching a strategy to stop these pest nematodes from feeding and reproducing by interfering feeding sites they create with proteins called effectors.

In a new perspective paper, Qin Huang, of Arizona State University, and colleagues, propose that the worst damage from extreme weather events could be prevented through Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a  theory-based approach to “nudge” weather systems away from harmful trajectories. The paper publishes June 24 in the open-access journal PLOS Water.