American Chemical Society News

Main Category: Bio-terrorism / Terrorism
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry;  Genetics;  Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 20 Sep 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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New technology for tracking down builders of homemade bombs
Analytical Chemistry

Researchers in Australia are reporting development of a portable device to help track down builders of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- those homemade fertilizer bombs that have wreaked such havoc in terrorist attacks around the world. Their study appears in the ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.

Paul R. Haddad and colleagues point out that IEDs have become a mainstay weapon for terrorists, resulting in an urgent need for new technology to identify and eliminate the sources of the explosives. However, quickly and reliably identifying the chemicals used in these crude but deadly bombs remains a major challenge to investigators. IEDs are often made with a diverse array of conventional, easy-to-obtain materials that require slow and painstaking analysis in the laboratory following an explosion.

The new technology streamlines that process, quickly and accurately identifying the chemical composition of blast residues from IEDs in the field. It consists of an instrument, about the size of a briefcase, based on a modified form of capillary electrophoresis, a mainstay technology for separating components in a mixture. In the study, researchers used it to identify major components of blast residues in less than 10 minutes.

Article: "Identification of Inorganic Improvised Explosive Devices by Analysis of Postblast Residues Using Portable Capillary Electrophoresis Instrumentation and Indirect Photometric Detection with a Light-Emitting Diode"

Contact:
Paul R. Haddad, Ph.D.
University of Tasmania
Tasmania, Australia

New way to watch the lipid flip -- flippases, flopases, and scramblases
Bioconjugate Chemistry

The "lipid flip" may sound like a rock and roll dance craze from the 1960s. However, it actually is a key biochemical process in which fatty materials termed lipids move into cells -- movements that are pointing toward improvements in gene therapy, new medications for preventing the complications of Alzheimer's disease, and other health boons.

In an article scheduled for the Sept. 19 issue of ACS' Bioconjugate Chemistry, a bi-monthly journal, Vladimir Sidorov and colleagues report development of a new non-invasive method for monitoring the activity of lipid-flipping enzymes. Colorfully named flippases, flopases, and scramblases, these enzymes control the process in which lipid molecules literally summersault from the outer layer of a cell membrane to the inner layer where they can move into the cell itself. The actions of those enzymes can influence blood clotting, whether a cell lives or programs itself for death, and other processes.

In their study, the researchers describe drawbacks in existing methods for monitoring lipid. Their new laboratory method overcomes those problems, and permits monitoring of the lipid flip in actual cell membranes in real time, as the process unfolds.

Article: "New Noninvasive Methodology for Real-Time Monitoring of Lipid Flip"

Contact:
Vladimir Sidorov, Ph.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA 23298

The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Source: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society

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