modern chemistry-prague media works set

8/6/2019 Modern Chemistry-Prague Media Works Set

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The Stubborn Life of PCBs

Tania Rabesandratana

What is the link between hermaphrodite polar bears in Norway, mass poisoning in Japan, and

GM tobacco in Prague? PCBs, a family of ubiquitous toxic molecules that have been banned long time ago, but still cause silent damage.

In the late 1990s, scientists discovered hermaphrodite polar bears near the island of Svalbard, Norway. Genetically, they were female, but had little penises in front of their vagina. Somescientists put the blame on a family of man-made pollutants called Polychlorinated BiphenylsPCBs. These molecules could mimic sexual hormones, hence messing with the bears sexualorgans.

PCBs have been manufactured and used since 1929 in many countries, e.g. under the marketname Apirolio in Italy. Because of their isolating properties, they became common ingrediein many products, such as electrical transformers or paint. Unfortunately, PCBs are highly toxIn 1968 in Japan, kilos of rice bran oil were contaminated by the oil factorys machines, causia PCB mass poisoning; thousands of people suffered from skin problems, menstrual troubles oweak immune system. Three decades later, in Belgium, poultry and pigs contaminated withdioxin caused a memorable outcry. The public generally remembers this food crisis as thedioxin scandal but toxic PCBs were added to the feed mix, too. Animal studies confirmed PCBs are highly toxic for the liver and can cause cancer, or damage the reproductive andimmune systems. Most countries stopped producing them in the 1970s.

What does that have to do with hermaphrodite polar bears? Well, PCBs are very resistant andcan travel through water or air across thousands of kilometres, far away from polluting fabricsand decades after PCBs disappeared from the market. The water that reaches the Arctic hasaccumulated PCBs along its way and the plankton is contaminated, too. Fish eat plankton, seaeat fish, and polar bears eat seals At every step of this simple food chain, PCBs accumulatethe fat tissues to reach disruptive levels.

In 2001, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants blacklisted PCBs foreveThis international treaty requires that signatories do their best to prevent further damage.Chemists and biologists are busy trying to clean up the mess, but PCBs are tough to get rid of

Searching the hideoutPCBs have no particular smell or taste, and are too small to see with the naked eye. So how dowe know that they are here at all? Enter Kamila Kalachova, PhD student at the Institute of Chemical Technology Prague. Kalachova is part of a sprawling EU-funded research projectcalled CONffIDENCE. Researchers in 10 countries are joining forces to establish cheap, reliamethods to track contaminants in various types of food.


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Kalachova hunts down PCBs in fish, such as smoked trout. From the initial fish sample, sheextracts a clear liquid and finds out if it contains PCBs, and how much. Part of her bench worlooks like kitchen experiments adding a bit more of this solvent? Shaking the mixture a bitlonger? After about six months of trial and errors, Kalachova perfected a protocol that can now be used routinely in her lab or in another. Her fast-track method can detect several types of tomolecules in one go and in a few hours, whilst the conventional method needed a few days.

Benches and corridors are bustling with dozens of young chemists searching fish, breakfastcereal or beer for dozens of harmful contaminants. Yet, working in food safety research has noaffected Kalachovas diet and habits. I look at the ingredients, but I eat everything, she saysconfidently. Organic chemistry will keep inventing new contaminants, and analytical methodscan only do their best to keep pace. If they do something that is free (of one contaminant), onor two years later theyll find something else. Everything is contaminated, anyway, Kalachovasserts. She does not seem worried, though: the key is to eat small amounts of everything.

Killing the villainsThree blocks down from Kalachovas office, at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jan Rezek strives to eliminate PCBs from the surface of the Earth. The brutal, traditional method is burnat around 1000C, PCBs are destroyed. Unfortunately, burning is unpractical and the by-produthemselves can be toxic. The newer trend is bioremediation, i.e. finding plants and microbes tcould do the job. It would be cheaper than digging out tons of earth to set them on fire, but mdelicate.

Rezek cultivated tobacco in the lab to confirm that plant tissues can take up PCBs and use the

for their own growth. He also exposes himself to toxic PCBs in dumpsites, looking for real-lif plants who can grow on contaminated soil, and searching for the best cleaning species. Of course its dangerous, but someone has to do it, Rezek says simply. Then comes meticulousdetective work to reconstruct the chain of chemical reactions: understand how plants degradePCBs and what they turn them into.

Scientists hunt not only for plants who can degrade PCBs, but also for micro-organisms who lcomfortably in symbiosis around those plants roots. We know various micro-organisms whocan (grow on PCB) in the lab, but under most natural conditions, they dont survive well, Reexplains. The metagenomic approach allows biologists to screen all genes of all bacteria livin

around a plants roots at once. The big idea is to identify the genes responsible for thedegradation, and use them to create transgenic plants. Both transgenic plants and microbes wowork together to clean up the soil.

However, in the EU, strict regulations mean that GM plants hardly ever leave the lab. Suchtransgenic tobacco could only be planted in the wild after a major change of policy. A fortiori,we wouldnt ever be able to sow such cleaning plants on the Norwegian ice floes, in an attempto save the next generations of polar bears from weird sexual symptoms.


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Bohemian quest for bio remedy

Grayna Zawada

How to harness bacteria and plants to work for people? Bohemian scientists are workingimproving cheap and ecological method of bacterial and plant degradation of toxic compoucalled polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

- Our research can bring revolution in knowledge of total connections between microorganisalthough its main task is bioremediation, achieved especially by cooperation between plants microorganisms says Prof. Tomas Macek from Institute of Chemical Technology (VSCHT)Prague, Czech Republic. He and his team are working in a project called METAGENOM tryto develop an easy and cheap way to degrade pollutants, mainly polychlorinated biphen(PCBs).

These are organic compounds invented in late 1920s and used widely in industry, especiallydielectric fluids and coolants. Since their invention, ca. 1.5 million tons of PCBs have be produced all over the world, even though they were known to be somewhat toxic. It was wemaciated seabird corpses with very high PCB body burdens were washed up on beaches in1970s, that PCB toxicity was ultimately noticed. Further research showed that in highcontaminated areas, both humans and animals were suffering mostly from skin conditiomainly cloracne, liver damage and deterioration of overall immune response. In additialthough carcinogenic effects have not been explicitly confirmed, they are also suspected. PCwere officially banned from production in 1970s in most Western countries, however due to rule of the communist regime members of the Eastern Block member states, such as formCzechoslovakia or Poland, did not stop PCB production and usage until several years later. Inmeantime ca. one third of PCBs had penetrated the environment by fires or leaks from faultyimproperly stored equipment.- PCBs volatilize very easily and migrate through the atmosphere along with air mass

condensing in cold areas of the world, especially in North and South Poles. In animals, PCBsstored in fatty tissues and can accumulate in the food chain. The level of PCB in systemincrease matches the food chain dependence, with predators and people being most contamina Ondrej Uhlik, PhD, adding that there even might be a correlation between PCB concentratand some polar bears being born hermaphroditic.- Since fats are the most representative for PCB concentration a test was carried out using bufrom each country of the world, as a representative for a large environment area says PrMacek. - New Zealand turned out to have least amounts of PCBs and Czech Republic hadhighest. Even our agriculture ministers blood was shown to have the highest level of PCBs orespective EU officials says Macek.Traditional method of destroying PCBs is e.g. burning, but the process is costly and sometim brings more environmental disturbance than the pollution itself. There is however another wa


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- Using plants that are able to survive toxicity from soil is a cheap, solar driven phytoremediatechnique says Jan Rezek, PhD, responsible for research on PCB metabolites in plants.Plants have earned a name of green liver of the Earth, as they take in pollutants with water, thdetoxify them and use the compounds for storage or building their tissues. Soil reclamation be done by cutting the plants, drying them and sending to be burned, which is much cheaper tother methods.- The point is to select plants that deal well with PCBs says Rezek. My research is focus

on searching for plant species that take in as much PCB as possible, and done by extractmetabolism compounds by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. I select potencandidates from plants growing in PCB dumpsites says Rezek.Another way of neutralizing PCBs is using bacteria that metabolize biphenyl. The end resulthis chemical process is just water and CO2 in case of biphenyl, structural analogue of PCBs. if so, why is there so much of it still in the environment? Some more complex PCBs requlong lasting processes to degrade, and degradation of the more simple ones is not as effici

under natural conditions as it is in the laboratory, as in most cases if efficiently degradi bacteria are added to contaminated environment they die, being pushed out by original bacteMy part of research is to identify natural working microflora and find proper conditions indigenous bacteria to work says Uhlik, PhD, responsible for bacteria research fMETAGENOM project.Finding really active microorganisms is done by stable isotope probing, a technique used onlya few laboratories all over the world apart from VSCHT in Prague. Bacteria in PCcontaminated soil are provided labeled or heavy carbon biphenyl and then observe how thutilize it and also integrate the label in their DNA when they multiply. After due time tmetagenome, meaning all DNA sets of whole bacteria population from certain samplecentrifuged from the sample and Dr. Uhlik and his team can isolate heavy DNA of organisthat have utilized biphenyl, clone it and thus, by multigenomic sequencing identify their naand specific properties in degrading particular PCB types. No more than 5 years ago scientists could work with identifiable, laboratory cultivable bactonly, knowing only ca. 30 percent of bacterial DNA, but not being able to recognize function particular genes. - By this method we are able to recognize the role of every gene, contribualso to the study of all bacterial metagenome of the Earth and of terragenome, genome set ofliving organisms on Earth. It is a tremendous task, but it will slowly contribute to identifyingexisting genes and can be further used in biotechnology says Prof. Macek.


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Well, why becoming a scientist then?Ive always been attracted to nature, and when I was a child my father would always explainthings to me as both of my parents are teachers. I guess this combination was what shaped myfuture career. When you are a scientist you in a way always remain a child, because youconstantly learn something new and discover things.What do you plan to do in next ten years?There are basically two options: Im here in Czech Republic or Im in Colombia, as Alba and want to stay close to one of our grandparents who would help us with babysitting (smiles).Currently, if my wife decides on a place to complete her specialization in medicine I will try tfollow her and find an appropriate place for a PostDoc there. The research Im doing now is akind of a second line fight, as PCBs do not kill you instantly. Perhaps in the future Ill move tothe front line of combat.What do you mean?In Colombia I worked in a lab connected to tropical diseases, where I worked e.g. with multi-

resistant tuberculosis. In that type of research you have to work fast to determinate specific bacteria or viruses, and if not, the infected men will die in several days. Perhaps in the future would like to do something similar, even complementing my wife in her medical work. Thatsfirst line combat.


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Revealing a person, revealing a dream

Elena Vulpe

When was last time you helped your mother/grandmother prepare Christmas Dinner? Spend

few days in the Chobotix Laboratory I felt like a child that did some magic in Grannys kitchthe only difference was that the final product wasnt for eating, at least not at this stage. But fwhat is Chobotix and who is the Chef?

The Man : A Young Czech Scientist that leads an enthusiastic team to the chemical robots erDr. Frantisek Stepanek has gained respect from his colleagues due to his multitasking ability.is Senior Lecturer at the Imperial College of London since 2006, has received several awaincluding the prestigious Junior Moulton Medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineerithe Philip Leverhulme Prize for Engineering and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award. He four children and likes to spend his free time with his team and to go skiing with family. As

of his colleagues said, he seems to have discovered a way to make the day 36 hours long becahe manages to be everywhere where he is needed.

The Dream: Chobotix is the acronym for Chemical Processing by Swarm Robotics and its maidea is to create chemical systems that will be able to target a specific region in an environmand selectively fix problems in that specific region. It should be a micrometer scale chemilaboratory that will work independently and act locally in response to some external factors. Ia FP7 project that will be financed from 2008 until 2013.

How did they meet?: It all started with Science Fiction and Dr. Stepaneks post-doctoralexperience at Unilevers R&D Center. There he was working with solid particles that were rigid and didnt leave much room for creativity. So he thought about some particles that cchange their shape in response to different parameters such as: temperature, concentration, (acidity or alkalinity). More than that, he thought that it would be interesting if particles cotransport some active substances and deliver them where they are needed.

And here starts the magic!

As visitors in the ICT Prague laboratories we followed the same steps that were made by scientists. First of all they wanted to obtain solid particles which could act as carriers. For twe used a Teflon glass that we filled with few milliliters of octylamine and stirred it on a spe

magnetic hotplate at normal temperature. After few minutes we added a few milliliterstetraethyl silicate and stirred it for another few minutes. As spices we added a fluorescent d(FITC*) which permits the visualization of the particles under a microscope. Then we addnitric acid which acts as a catalyst. We left the mixture for 10 minutes on the plate and obserthe formation of a turbid solution. We washed this solution with water and watched tdeposition of some little particles. When it is ready (you have the turbid solution with so precipitate) you put it in oven for few hours at 550 C. When this step is done you can obse


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your particles on a microscope so you can describe their surface properties. The particles wlook like the ones in the images below.

SEM images of silica particles Particles on optical microscope

The second step is to fill silica particles with a substance that will be able to change th properties under the influence of external factors. For this scientists have chosen a polymerencapsulation, the most suitable were alginate and N -isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM). Both arehydrogels with interesting properties, alginate is widely distributed in cell walls of brown al

and is used for detoxifying from heavy metal poisoning. PNIPAM has a beautiful propertyshrinking at higher temperatures and expanding back when the temperature is reduced. Tquestion was whether the particles filled with polymer could be preserved in a dry state awithout losing their ability to change volume in response to temperature variationExperimentally it was shown that particles preserve their properties and after re-dispersion thinternal structure and properties were restored.

Shrinking / swelling behavior of PNIPAM capsules coated with silica nanoparticles

Simultaneously iron nanoparticles were synthesized in the laboratory. They can induce loheating under the influence of external factors. This property of iron nanoparticles will be ufor transferring the heat to the hydrogel and under this effect chobots will release actisubstances or drugs preserved inside capsule only at the injured parts, organs or tissues. Otexperiments have to be done for solving all the problems that could appear during the procThe mobility problem is the next concern. When looking for some models Dr. Stepaneks tefound the answer in nature. It was observed that some bacteria under lack of nutrients form pluricellular body. The mechanism of this process is not precisely known but there microbiology research centers which are trying to establish it.That is a brief presentation of the steps the team made until this moment, during these two yearticles were published in materials science journals about their work and important stepscreating a prototype of chemical robots were made. As Dr. Stepanek said, they are at t beginning and its important that the European Council and ICT Prague finance su


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A new weapon in the fight against MRSA

Elles Lalieu

Czech researchers are developing special layers as a weapon in the fight against the hosp bug MRSA. These layers are now being tested in the laboratory. In the future the layers m prevent the spread of harmful bacteria in both stables and hospitals.

Have you ever heard of MRSA? This bacterium is causing major health problems in hospitthroughout Europe. And there was no way to fight it, until now. Czech researchers adeveloping solutions that can destroy harmful bacteria in no time. You just have to spray itthe walls and turn on ultraviolet (UV) light. Two of the researchers show us exactly howworks.

Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium frequently found in your nose and on your skin. can grow fast on surfaces like tiles, floors and windows. When your immune system is weak, example when you are sick or just had surgery, this bacterium can cause nasty infections. Aonce you are infected it is hard to find a good cure. Since the introduction of penicillin in 1almost all strains of Staphylococcus aureus became resistant to widely used antibiotics. MRSA,also known as the hospital bug, is the most common form of these resistant bacteria.

In 2005 researchers discovered an animal derived clone of MRSA that causes disease in pigs piglets, but also in humans. This clone is used in the European FP7 research project PILGRIMstudy MRSA both in veterinary settings and in public health. Josef Krsa and Ji Zita from Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague (ICT Prague) are participating in PILGRIM. In battle against MRSA they are developing surfaces coated with the mineral titanium diox(TiO2). Their hope is that, in the future, walls and floors of hospitals can be cleaned withsolution of TiO2 that destroys harmful bacteria in no time when illuminated with UV-light.

Preparing layers with the dipping deviceTiO2 is a photocatalyst, which means it uses UV-light to speed up a chemical reaction betwewater and oxygen. Zita explains. Reactive particles, or free radicals, are produced as a resThese particles can attack bacteria by first destroying their cell wall and later also their cmembrane. Several different solutions, containing TiO2 particles, are prepared and tested in thelaboratory of ICT Prague at this moment. Zita shows two of them: an orange solution that ha be heated before it can be used and a transparent solution that can be used directly on surfaThe transparent solution would be ideal to use, but it is in our laboratory for only a few monnow. So it still needs extensive testing.


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The reactivity of solutions is tested under UV-light (behind), but also under visible light (at the forefront). The range of visible light in the solar spectrum is much greater than that of UV-light. Therefore, a TiO 2 layer that reacts under visiblelight is more practical.

With a mechanical dipping device, the solutions are put on small glass slides. In this way T2layers of different thickness are produced. Zita already discovered that a thin layer of Ti2solution is the most stable: It is difficult to make scratches on a thin layer or remove compl parts of it from the glass slide. But on the other hand, the chemical reaction of a thick layemuch stronger because it absorbs a higher amount of light. In other words, the activity of a thlayer is higher. Finding of an optimal layer thickness is necessary.

The activity of the layers is tested by dipping the glass slide coated with TiO2 into blue ink.Zita continues. Under UV-light produced reactive particles attack the color pigment of the iWhen the layer is active the ink will become transparent after just a few minutes of Uradiation. The ink of layers that are not active will stay blue, even after more than several hounder UV-light. Layers that pass the test of activity are transferred to the microbiololaboratory of ICT Prague. Here it is investigated if those layers are really useful for tdestruction of living bacteria.

Dont be concerned about reactive particlesZita: Our microbiology laboratory is not equipped to work with MRSA so the layers are teson Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), another bacterium. E. coli grows really well on glass plates whenthe right culture medium is provided. You can measure this growth by counting the bactecolonies from time to time. At ICT Prague we build a special testing chamber to irradiate E.coli bacteria, placed on TiO2 layers, with UV-light. If a layer is working well the number of bacterial colonies should go down. TiO2 layers that are successful in these test will be send tothe Royal Veterinary College in London. Here the layers are tested on living strains of MRSA


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The testing chamber at ICT Prague where E.coli bacteria, placed on TiO 2 layers, can be irradiated with UV-light.

While all these laboratory tests are still in progress Krsa and Zita already thought of t practical implications of their cleaning method. Is it safe to clean hospitals using UV-light reactive particles? According to Zita it is. To start the chemical reaction we use UVA-light wa wavelength of 330 to 400 nanometers. That kind of UV-light is part of the sunlight that reacyour skin every time you take a walk outside. It is no problem to turn on the UV-light, for shalf an hour, to clean a hospital room full of patients. Some people are concerned about the of reactive particles, but there is no need to be. These particles have a very short life time. Othey have killed a bacterium, they are gone.Before we can benefit from the effects of TiO2, pigs will. In collaboration with Danishresearchers, the ICT Prague will develop specially equipped stable boxes. The air in these stabis constantly cleaned. Walls and floors will be covered with white paint containing sufficiamounts of TiO2. During half of the day UV-lights will be on to remove MRSA out of the pigenvironment. If this works Krsa and Zita have developed a method that can not only keMRSA out of the stables, but also away from the farmers and even far from the hospitals.


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WELTEMP Project helps to protect the environment

Elmas Ik Yenerer

Hydrogen as a 21st century cheap and reliable source of energy carrier can be producedelectrolysis of water. This was a challenge but expensive way since 1927s. WELTEMP opthe gate of producing cheap hydrogen and gives a hope in terms of protecting the environmen

Hydrogen is a good energy carrier in order to provide a reliable, and clean source of power.It be produced from conventional fossil fuels, from biomass, and by electrolysis of waElectrolysis has been used for approximately 100 years for hydrogen production as a cleanway. The first large hydrogen production installation was founded by Norsk Hydro in 1927 Norway..There is an experiments about water electrolysis in Instute Chemical Technology Prague

(ICTP) laboratories which I was invited for the workshop. I had an oportunity to work wProf.Karel Bouzeks team. Bouzek is the head of the Departmant of Inorganic Tecnology at Instute of ICTP and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Chemical technology.His areas of interest full cells,water electrolysis,technical electrochemistry and electrochemical engineegiring w particular focus on the treatment of waste drinking water.His team is ICTPs representive on research group of the Joint Technology Initiative(JTI)on fuel cells and hydrogen(FCH) This teis working on WELTEMPT (WATER ELECTROLYSIS AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURESHydrogen by means of water electrolysers can be produced in several ways. When renewaenergy sources such as hydropower, windmills, solar cells, etc. are considered, electrolysis is practical way of converting the surplus electrical energy into chemical energy to be used wthe power is needed.This way is the more secure and clean way of using hydrogen production.But the biggest barto the hydrogen economy is the challenge of getting hydrogen economically to the point of like process of production, storage and transportationThe WELTEMP project funded by the European Union is a collaborative project under tSeventh Framework Programme (FP7). The project involves partners Denmark, Norway, CzRepublic, Switzerland and Italy and has started in 2008 and will go on till the end of 2010.PEM (PEM electrolyser-membrane electrolysis (acidic pH))process is more cheap than alkal processThey are making a research on production of cheap hydrogen by water electryolsis.. Everythis available in the future with hydrogen. For example In recent years some car companies hreleased the passenger vehicles use hydrogen power. BMW (LH2), Renault (LH2) and ZEV(CGH2); van-type vehicles of Daimler-Benz (CGH2), Hamburg Hydrogen Association (CGHPSA (CGH2) and ZEVCO (CGH2) and city buses; Ansaldo (LH2 ), Daimler-Benz(CGHThese university researches are going to light our future with clean energy sources for indusareas of daily needs.


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Basta un poco di zucchero

Irene Gabrielli

Molti cuochi italiani si trasferiscono allestero per esportare le tipicit nostrane, dai canederlmalloreddus. Altri, un po speciali, emigrano per preparare piatti altrettanto speciali. ZucchChe cucinati a dovere, possono prevenire infezioni da parte di alcuni dei virus pi aggressiviluomo come Ebola, hiv o tbc. il caso di Benedetta Bertolotti, trentenne cremonese, che dla laurea in chimica industriale allUniversit di Milano ha scelto un dottorato allIstitutoTecnologie Chimiche di Praga (ITC) per lavorare al progetto Carmusys.

Cosa significa la parola Carmusys e quali sono le finalit di questo progetto?Bertolotti: Carmusys un progetto che riunisce enti di ricerca operanti in diversi ambiti e diversi paesi europei. Il nome un acronimo inglese che in italiano suona pi o meno com

sistema di carboidrati polivalenti per studiare interazioni patogene con dc-sign. Il nome pspaventare ma, in realt, nasconde un concetto piuttosto semplice: si tratta di studiareinterazioni della proteina dc-sign, solitamente presente in tutti gli esseri umani, con alcuni ag portatori di malattie, principalmente virus. Sappiamo che questa proteina si trova sulla paret particolari cellule del sistema immunitario: quando un virus penetra nellorganismo, si attaccaessa e la sfrutta per veicolare linfezione dentro alla cellula, e da l a tutto il resto del corpo progetto Carmusys cerca di costruire chimicamente delle molecole, nella fattispecie zucchche siano in grado di legarsi alla proteina prima e meglio di quanto non faccia il virus, in mda impedirne lattacco e quindi linfezione.

Qual il suo ruolo allinterno del gruppo di ricerca?Una volta che i colleghi del modelling hanno progettato al computer la struttura che sembr pi adatta a legarsi a dc-sign, entro in gioco io per cercare di riprodurla nella realt. Il mio lav parte da uno zucchero, il mannosio, che in natura si trova abitualmente nelle palme o necarrube e che gi di per s mostra unalta affinit con dc-sign: attraverso una serie di reazioni possono essere anche venti o quaranta, ognuna delle quali pu richiedere dai cinque minut


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cinque giorni, io cerco di dare allo zucchero la forma pi adatta per renderlo ancora pappetibile, irresistibile, per la nostra proteina. Nellimpostare queste reazioni mi affidoesperienze note, riportate in letteratura, ma come succede in cucina, a volte le ricette devoessere un po modificate a seconda di quello che uno ha a disposizione e di quello che vuottenere. Capita che per una sequenza di quaranta reazioni mi trovi a dover consultare sessaricettari diversi. Una volta riuscita a sintetizzare uno zucchero della struttura che cerchiamtoccher ai laboratori di biologia e virologia testarne lefficacia. Ad oggi il nostro gruppo ha trovato, per alcuni di questi zuccheri modificati, un buon effetto antivirale contro i virdellHIV e quello dellEbola.Quali sono gli enti coinvolti nel progetto Carmusys?Si tratta di un consorzio di ricerca finanziato dalla Comunit Europea nellambito del VProgramma Quadro, che coinvolge dieci centri di ricerca universitari e due privati provenientsette paesi diversi: Spagna, Francia, Italia, Germania, Olanda, Regno Unito e, ovviamenRepubblica Ceca. Oltre a me ci sono altri quattro italiani: una Anna Bernardi dellUniversit

Milano; gli altri sono due dottorandi e un PostDoc, anchessi emigrati, in Olanda e in Spagnaun progetto triennale che si concluder nel 2012, per il quale la Comunit Europea ha gi erogi fondi, stabilito la tempistica e ora monitora sui risultati richiedendo frequenti questionarrapporti sullo stato di avanzamento della ricerca. Per questo ogni sei mesi ci ritroviamo tuttgita in uno dei laboratori coinvolti per discutere i progressi del lavoro, vedere cosa funzionaeventualmente correggere il tiro.Cercare un dottorato allestero: pi un desiderio o una necessit?Direi entrambi: gi durante la tesi di laurea mi ero scontrata con i ben noti probledellUniversit italiana. La mancanza di finanziamenti, i tagli , il precariato Lalternativa orientarsi al settore privato ma in questi anni anche le grandi multinazionali tendono a chiudmolte delle loro sedi, ad accorpare tutto in pochi centri di ricerca grandi e a trasferirli in padove hanno maggiori sgravi fiscali e incentivi. Diciamo che costretta a cercare qualcosasono orientata verso un dottorato, perch rimane un titolo molto appetibile per un ricercatore, di fuori dellItalia dove spesso pi semplice trovare spazio o comunque ci sono maggi possibilit. Tra le tante domande inviate, mi hanno risposto dallITC di Praga per lavorarCarmusys: mi sembrato subito molto interessante, il paese mi ispirava, e mi sono detta, perno?Lei che ha lavorato in entrambi, quali differenze nota tra un laboratorio italiano e unoceco?Per quella che la mia esperienza direi che rispetto allItalia, i miei attuali colleghi hannogenerale, unet media pi bassa; e questo vale sia per i ricercatori che per i professori. Pquanto riguarda il laboratorio chimico, invece, non ci sono grandi differenze di strumentazion base. Per qui in Repubblica Ceca la ricerca gode di maggiori finanziamenti e quindi ci someno problemi per ordinare gli ingredienti per le reazioni, si investe nellacquisto di nuoapparecchi, Questo importante per un laboratorio perch consente di avere analisi pi rape pi precise. Ma senza andare sulle grandi spese, basti pensare che quando lavoravo in Italia


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sono dovuta comprare da sola il camice di laboratorio, mentre qui considerano equipaggiame base, non solo camice e pantaloni, ma anche le chiavette USB!


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PER SCINDERE I GAS CI VUOLE IL FISICO. ANZI, IL CHIMICO

Sara Ficocelli

Il dottor Karel Friess parla un buon italiano e ci accoglie con gentilezza, scortandoci finolaboratorio n.137 dell'ICT un po' preoccupato che al ritorno non si riesca a trovare la via d'usc"Ho lavorato al Cnr di Reggio Calabria per tre anni - spiega - l c' l'Institute on MembraTechnology. Ricordo con nostalgia il mare e soprattutto il cibo, mi manca molto l'Italia"ricercatore del dipartimento di Physical Chemistry dell'Institute of Chemical TechnologyPraga un anno fa tornato nella capitale ceca per portare avanti il progetto DoubleNanoMe per il quale la UE ha stanziato pi di 4 milioni di euro e che entro il 2011 dovrebbe portarcapire come fare a scindere i gas, controllando il potere di assorbimento delle membrane fanno da filtro. La cucina calabrese non riuscito a tenerlo lontano da un lavoro che racchiudconclusioni di dieci anni di studi, e che potrebbe ad esempio aiutare gli ospedali a purific

l'aria dalle sostanze nocive invisibili, quelle che finora i normali sistemi di filtraggio nriescono a bloccare. "Il nostro compito quello di testare il potere di assorbimento demembrane ai polimeri, versatili per definizione ma proprio per questo aperte ad ogni possibreazione fisico-chimica. Una volta capito il margine di resistenza, potremo sviluppare umembrana capace di intrappolare le microparticelle nocive presenti nell'aria, lasciando andaraltre". Detta cos sembra facile ma dando un'occhiata al laboratorio gestito da Friess e d professor Milan pek ci si accorge subito che in questo progetto di ricerca non c' nullasemplice. A cominciare dal funzionamento dei macchinari, tutti progettati dagli stessi ricercae da loro assemblati, dei capolavori del fai-da-te che dietro ad ogni bullone nascondonomondo di equilibri incomprensibili, per lo meno per noi digiuni della materia. Il ricercatore, ha da poco avuto il secondo figlio, ci mostra al pc le immagini dell'ultimo arrivato con briciolo di emozione, e poi ci spiega che la realizzazione di questo progetto costituita da momenti fondamentali, uno di creazione delle membrane e uno di test di resistenza sulle steTutto comincia la mattina alle 9 con una serie di esperimenti a catena che si ripetono per tuttgiorno, conservando i dati prima a penna, su un registro tenuto con precisione, e poi su database elettronico. Per sperimentare la capacit di assorbimento delle membrane ai polimericercatori hanno sviluppato un sistema di lavorazione dell'acqua attraverso il nitrogeno, un liquido che la trasforma in ghiaccio in pochi secondi. Questo passaggio permette di lavorsull'aria privandola dell'ossigeno e dell'ossido di carbonio, e di capire fino a che puntomembrane sono capaci di assorbire le sostanze che restano. "Per il momento i risultati so promettenti, tutto sta andando nel verso giusto - continua Friess - ma nel nostro lavoro tuun'incognita, i dati possono riservare sorprese inaspettate. Personalmente, amo questo lav perch mi permette di mettere alla prova i limiti della materia ogni giorno". Con lui lavora anKristoff, un ragazzo di 23 anni che maneggia le apparecchiature del laboratorio con la destredi un veterano, e Angelika, che si occupa della preparazione delle membrane. Il professor ha ormai una certa et e supervisiona il lavoro con il sorriso bonario di un nonno con i nip"Ho dedicato la mia vita a questo tipo di ricerca - racconta - Se il progetto dovesse conclud


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con successo si potrebbe passare alla fase due, quella della trasformazione dei dati teoriciqualcosa di pratico". La fase tre quella pi interessante dal punto di vista economico, per permetterebbe all'Universit di Praga di ricevere altri fondi per ricerche pi specifiche, magsulla base delle esigenze di mercato. Ospedali, scuole, industrie automobilistiche, altri laboradi ricerca: il panorama delle realt che potrebbero essere interessate ad un sistema di filtragdei gas ad altissimi precisione infinito. Un po' come infinite sono le possibilit sperimentazione della materia, per dei chimici in gamba come quelli dell'ICT.


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Watch out: dangerous pollutant lurks on our lives!

Zuzanna Kaczmarska

Dr Jan Rezek from Czech Republic warns that polar bears are exposed to a threat of giving bto offspring having both female and male sexual organs (also known as hermaphroditism). Tcause of this phenomenon is certain toxic chemical compounds, which accumulate in the anifat tissue, e.g. tissue of bears or fish. These animals, just like people, are the final link of the fchain, therefore, they are subject to assimilation of dangerous compounds contained in food both animal and plant origins.How have I come across dr Rezek? When I first saw this well-built guy with a characteristic ecatching hairstyle and with piercings in his ears, who was staring at workshops participants i bizarre manner, I couldnt stop wondering who on earth he was, and what he was doing ichemical laboratory. This freshly defended PhD student of biochemistry at the Institute

Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Prague, Czech Republic was one of our lecturers wwas supposed to introduce us to the world of modern chemistry and biology, which he focuon in his everyday work. He began our session by introducing himself. I was not surprisedhear that in his free time he trained martial arts such as musalo. Moreover, he loves travellingwas when he was on an internship in Colombia that he met his wife Alba.For a few years now dr Rezek has been engaged in scientific research whose purpose isidentify the plants having capacity to decompose PCBs (PolyChlorinated Biphenyls),dangerous pollutant which can cause serious hazard to human health.Commercial production of PCBs was firstly commenced in late 1920s in the US. Due to its pflammability they are good insulation material. They have been used widely as coolanlubricants in transformers and in other electrical equipment. With increasing knowledge of thtoxicity and ability to transfer to food chains and accumulate in living organisms, th production ended in most countries in the 1970s and in 1984 in the former Czechslovakia (Reet al. Chemosphere, 2007, 69, 1221-1227) . In particular, it was shown that people exposedthese chemical substances had skin conditions problems, liver damage, lower immune respoand poor cognitive development. Additionally, babies born to women who ate PCcontaminated fish had problems with motor skills, short-term memory and also their immusystem was affected. Finally, the studies have shown that PCBs contribute to reproducti problems, such as hermaphroditism.PCBs are very stable compounds and do not degrade readily, therefore they need be annihilated with the use of special methods. Their destruction by chemical, thermal a biochemical processes is extremely difficult and presents the risk of generating exceptionatoxic derivatives. Intentional degradation as a treatment of unwanted PCBs generally requivery high temperatures or catalysis (Mackova et al. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2009, 16, 8829).Volatile PCBs evaporate and contaminate vast areas, even at very distant parts of the world, instance polar regions. In the environment they mainly accumulate in the hydrosphere. Des


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their hydrophobicity, the great amount of water in oceans can dissolve a fair amount of PC but they are also found in the organic fraction of soil and in living organisms.Small organisms absorb PCBs in the water and are then eaten by small fish. Large fish esmaller fish, and in this way, the contaminants accumulate and become transferred up the fchain. The top level predators such us walleyes, polar bears or humans can absorb great amouof these dangerous chemicals. Since PCBs are stored in fat, they are not easily digested acannot be removed from the body. Accumulated PCBs can cause many health probleincluding, as mentioned above, hermaphroditism or failure in sexual organ development. these reasons, PCBs represent a global threat.At present, the main method of PCB removal from contaminated environment is an expansincineration in high temperatures. With the aim of finding effective alternative approachesJan Rezek is studying biological methods for PCBs removal from the soil. In his research he uthe soil from dumpsite in South Bohemia, Czech Republic and tries to investigate the meffective plants, which are able to absorb or/and transform the PCBs to the non toxic compoun

This method is called phytoremediation dr Rezek explains.First step is to pick up the plants which grow on the contaminated area says dr Rezek twe extract all the compounds from them and analyze them by gas chromatography (GC) amass spectrometry (MS). The GC facility which dr Rezek employs in the research allows himseparate the chemicals extracted from the plant. It can be compared to the race in a tube whare lined with the proper chemical compounds with special properties allowing them to catch slow down the competitors dr Rezek sums up. It means than the compounds can finish race in different time according to their properties. In other words, they can be separated. Tsecond step is to identify the participants of the race. In order to do this, dr Rezek analyzes thmasses by use of mass spectrometry method. I am mainly interested in PCBs and thmetabolites. Each PCB has its own fragmentation pattern by which can be identified. Tfragmentation pattern is like a fingerprint of a molecule. You cannot mistake it for another." Rezek clarifies. The presence of the PCBs and their derivatives in a plant suggests that t particular plant can be used for the detoxification of the contaminated soil. Moreover, th plants support microorganisms which can also have the ability to degrade toxins.However, at this very moment dr Rezek cannot be sure whether he will continue the research.and his Columbian wife are planning to move to Spain to live there. Time will show us who wsolve the problem of PCBs in the Czech Republic assumed it actually can be done whatsoeve


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Destruction of the plant cells by the liguid nitrogen.

Extraction of the compounds in the separator. How the gas chromatography looks like insid


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Here we have samples ready to be ananlysed by (gas chromatography) GC and MS (massspectrometry).

Preparation for the experiment.Let's pour a little bit of liguid nitrogen.


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Let's see if the compound have been extracted!It is really important to destroy allthe plant cells to release all the compounds.

This machine allow us to separate and analyse the compounds from the plant.

modern chemistry-prague media works set

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