Showing posts with label University of Southern Denmark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University of Southern Denmark. Show all posts

Friday, September 22

Tougher Than Kevlar


Numerous scientists aspire to unlock the remarkable capability of spiders to spin silk threads that are immensely strong, lightweight, and flexible. In fact, pound for pound, spider silk is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar. However, no one has been able to replicate the spiders’ work yet.

If we ever manage to develop a synthetic equivalent with these characteristics, a whole new world of possibilities may open: Artificial spider silk could replace materials like Kevlar, polyester, and carbon fiber in industries and be used, for example, to make lightweight and flexible bulletproof vests.

Postdoc and biophysicist Irina Iachina from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), is involved in this race to uncover the recipe for super silk.

She has been fascinated by spider silk since her time as a master’s student at SDU, and currently, she is researching the topic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston with support from the Villum Foundation.

As part of her research, she is collaborating with associate professor and biophysicist Jonathan Brewer at SDU, who is an expert in using various types of microscopes to peer into biological structures.

Together, they have now, for the first time, studied the internal parts of spider silk using an optical microscope without cutting or opening the silk in any way. This work has now been published in the journals Scientific Reports and Scanning.

“We have used several advanced microscopy techniques, and we have also developed a new kind of optical microscope that allows us to look all the way into a piece of fiber and see what’s inside,” explains Jonathan Brewer.  READ MORE...

Tuesday, May 3

When Parents Take Antibiotics


Summary: Zebrafish study finds antibiotics can have detrimental effects on the descendants of those exposed to them, including weaker immune systems.

Source: University of Southern Denmark

Antibiotics have once proclaimed the salvation of the world. Today, researchers fear that antibiotics could become a threat to public health and the natural environment.

Since its invention, we have used antibiotics in such large doses and so often that more and more of us become resistant, and thus otherwise common and harmless infections can become life-threatening for us.

In recent years, research has also shown that just being exposed to antibiotics can have a negative effect; both on the organism being exposed and on the offspring of the organism.

Always in our water

And we are many, both humans and animals, who are exposed to antibiotics. Antibiotics are often found in wastewater, groundwater, surface water, and even bottled water and are thus difficult not to come into contact with.

“The half-life of antibiotics is quite short – it is out of the water again after hours or days – but since large amounts are continuously released into our water, we consider antibiotics as pseudo persistent water pollution,” says Elvis Genbo Xu, who is an expert in ecotoxicology and assistant professor at the Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark.

He is the co-corresponding author of a new study on the undesirable effects of antibiotics, published in Environmental Science & Technology.  READ MORE...