An article in the Journal of Clinical Investigation outlines how a new antimicrobial approach kills bacteria in laboratory experiments and eliminate life-threatening infections in mice by interfering with a key bacterial nutrient. Iron is critical for the growth of bacteria and for their ability to form biofilms, slime-encased colonies of microbes that cause many chronic infections. "Gallium acts as a Trojan horse to iron-seeking bacteria," said Pradeep Singh (senior author). "Because gallium looks like iron, invading bacteria are tricked, in a way, into taking it up.

Brazil nuts have been promoted as a supplement to a healthy diet since the late 1970’s. This is due to their unusually high selenium content, an essential trace element known to be a powerful antioxidant and to reduce the likelihood of conditions such as heart disease and prostate cancer.

Recent research by Ryszard Lobinski and colleagues at the University of Pau and the Adour (France) has shown that the selenium compounds contained in Brazil nuts are seleno-peptides, and have developed a new method for their extraction, purification and characterisation. This has led to the discovery of 15 new seleno-peptides. Their research should help us to understand why Brazil nuts are so good at accumulating selenium.

Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (USA) have announced that hydrogen sulfide (sulphide) gas, H₂S, can induce a state of suspended animation in mice while maintaining normal blood pressure. It is hoped that this result eventually will help in the treatment critically-ill patients. This result was presented at the American Physiological Society conference, "Comparative Physiology 2006: Integrating Diversity," in Virginia Beach, Virginai, USA, October 2006.

Hydrogen sulfide (sulphide) gas, sometimes called sewer gas, produces a noxious odour often described as a rotten egg smell. This highly toxic gas occurs naturally in swamps, some springs, and volcanoes.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2006 to Prof Roger D. Kornberg of Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA) "for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription".

In order for our bodies to make use of the information stored in the genes, a copy must first be made and transferred to the outer parts of the cells. There it is used as an instruction for protein production – it is the proteins that in their turn actually construct the organism and its function. The copying process is called transcription. Roger Kornberg was the first to create an actual picture of how transcription works at a molecular level in the important group of organisms called eukaryotes (organisms whose cells have a well-defined nucleus). Mammals like ourselves are included in this group, as is ordinary yeast.

The US FDA and national food agencies around the globe are reinvestigating the safety of the food and drinks preservative sodium benzoate after a fifteen year hiatus. Soluble benzoates are converted into an antimicrobial form, benzoic acid, in acid conditions and as such are used as preservatives in soft drinks and various foodstuffs. Read the full story and add your own comments at the Sciencebase Science Blog.

Acetaldehyde may be the main culprit behind hangovers, according to new research from Japan.

Alcohol consumption is an integral part of many cultures, but many East Asians suffer the mother of all hangovers every time they drink because they have a mutant of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2). The mutant cannot metabolise acetaldhyde and so this toxic compound hangs around cause the worst morning after the night before for many East Asians almost every time. Read the full story in David Bradley's Reactive Reports chemistry news.

Cooking with highly unsaturated oils and especially re-using oils can lead to high levels of a toxic compound hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE) in the food, according to US researchers. David Bradley reports on this and more in the latest issue of the chemistry webzine Reactive Reports.

Slimming down the electronics industry with molecular systems based on protein fragments rather than silicon chips is the aim of an Israeli research team. Their novel approach could lead to lighter, cheaper and completely flexible electronic devices within the next two to three years, they say. More on this and more physical science News from David Bradley Science Writer.

This Cassini-Huygens article ponders the abundance of methane on Titan. Titan's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen but there are also methane and many other organic compounds. On Earth, life refreshes the methane supply as it is a by-product of metabolism. This is not likely to be the source of methane on Titan but if, as on Earth, sunlight is continuously destroying methane, how is methane getting into Titan's atmosphere?

Newly discovered sulfur-containing scent molecules in sweat produced by a bacterial enzyme point to our smelly past and could lead to an odor-free future, writes David Bradley in Issue 41 of the chemistry webzine Reactive Reports.