Latest Chitin Stories
FARMINGTON, Conn., Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Chitin and Chitosan are natural biopolymers. Fatty esters are the non-greasy and non-ionic derivatives of oleochemicals. So what do they have in common? These three compounds have become the materials of choice in a broad spectrum of industries, ranging from agriculture, food, pharmaceutical, metal and water treatment, to personal care and cosmetics, and plastics. For example, chitosan are important compounds for applications such as...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Engineers at the University of California, Riverside are looking to nature for inspiration in creating stronger vehicle frames and body armor. They may have found a key structure in the club-like claw of the sea floor-dwelling mantis shrimp, according to a report published online this week in the journal Science. The 4-inch crustacean, also known as a stomatopod, uses its claw with the deadly speed of a 22-caliber bullet to crack open everything from crab...
Shrimp shell nanotech for wound healing and anti-aging face cream Nanoparticles containing chitosan have been shown to have effective antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Escherichia coli. The materials could be used as a protective wound-healing material to avoid opportunistic infection as well as working to facilitate wound healing. Chitosan is a natural, non-toxic and biodegradable, polysaccharide readily obtained from chitin, the main component of the...
Fungi with additional foreign genes have been created at the Vienna University of Technology - They can now turn chitin into pharmaceuticals Usually, mould fungi are nothing to cheer about – but now they can be used as "chemical factories". Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology have succeeded in introducing bacterial genes into the fungus Trichoderma, so that the fungus can now produce important chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry. The raw material used by the fungus is...
"Shrilk" could one day replace plastic in consumer products, be used to suture wounds, and serve as scaffolding for tissue regeneration Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a new material that replicates the exceptional strength, toughness, and versatility of one of nature's more extraordinary substances -- insect cuticle. Also low-cost, biodegradable, and biocompatible, the new material, called "Shrilk," could one day...
Discovery in insects' skin could lead to improved pest control, new bioplastics technology Scientists may soon be able to make pest insects buzz off for good or even turn them into models for new technologies, all thanks to a tiny finding with enormous potential. Sujata Chaudhari, a Kansas State University doctoral candidate in biochemistry, Pune, India, is the senior author of a study that was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also called PNAS....
Surprising new research shows that, contrary to conventional belief, remains of chitin-protein complex"”structural materials containing protein and polysaccharide"”are present in abundance in fossils of arthropods from the Paleozoic era. Previously the oldest molecular signature of chitin-protein complex was discovered in 25 million year old Cenozoic fossils and remnants of structural protein have also been discovered in 80 million-year-old Mesozoic fossils. Carnegie's George Cody and an...
Exposure to high levels of fungus may increase the risk of severe asthma attacks among people with certain chitinase gene variants, according to a study from Harvard Medical School, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital.The research was published online on the American Thoracic Society's journal Web site ahead of the print edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine."We found that the interaction between environmental mold...
Richard Borgens and his colleagues from the Center for Paralysis Research at the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine have a strong record of inventing therapies for treating nerve damage. From Ampyra, which improves walking in multiple sclerosis patients to a spinal cord simulator for spinal injury victims, Borgens has had a hand in developing therapies that directly impact patients and their quality of life. Another therapy that is currently undergoing testing is the use of polyethylene...
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new use for the drug closantel, currently the standard treatment for sheep and cattle infected with liver fluke. The new research suggests that the drug may be useful in combating river blindness, a tropical disease that is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness for humans.The study is scheduled for publication in an advance, online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of...
