Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

A coating developed at Rice University made primarily with protein from eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used to extend the freshness of produce. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Egg-based coating preserves fresh produce

Eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used as the base of an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables, according to Rice University researchers.

NASA Flight Surgeon Dr. Rob Mulcahy '08 in Johnson Space Center's mission control room.

Meet the Rice alum in charge of NASA's prelaunch quarantine program

NASA flight surgeon Rob Mulcahy '08 was in charge of the prelaunch quarantine -- a precaution doubly important during the COVID-19 pandemic -- for the space agency's first manned mission to launch from the U.S. in almost a decade.

Rice University scientists analyzed the motion of single boron nitride nanotubes. The nanotubes are stable semiconductors and excellent conductors of heat. They could be useful as building blocks for composite materials or in biomedical studies. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Exotic nanotubes move in less mysterious ways

Rice University researchers capture the first video of boron nitride nanotubes in motion to prove their potential for materials and medical applications.

Mask transposed over a model fo the corona virus

Rice's COVID-19 research fund awards final grants

The Rice University COVID-19 Research Fund Oversight and Review Committee funds nine more faculty teams working to mitigate the effects of the new coronavirus.

Rice University scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling, photosynthetic bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon. When the virus (pink) infects the bacteria, it produces a ferredoxin protein that hooks into the bacteria’s existing electrical structure and alters its metabolism. (Credit: Illustration by Ian Campbell/Rice University)

Ocean virus hijacks carbon-storing bacteria

Rice scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon.

Superfund team

Rice faculty part of Baylor Superfund program

A $10 million federal grant establishes a center to study how toxic chemicals from Superfund sites impact preterm births.

Anatoly Kolomeisky and Oleg Igoshin

Hidden symmetry found in chemical kinetic equations

Rice University researchers have discovered a hidden symmetry in the chemical kinetic equations scientists have long used to model and study many of the chemical processes essential for life.

A schematic representation of the hybrid water supply system developed by engineers at Rice University. The researchers suggest that delivering water to city dwellers can become far more efficient, and that it should involve a healthy level of recycled wastewater. (Credit: Lu Liu/Rice University)

Rice engineers: Make wastewater drinkable again

Delivering water to city dwellers can become far more efficient, according to Rice University researchers who say it should involve a healthy level of recycled wastewater.

oil rig

Rice U. experts share insights on 10th anniversary of Deepwater Horizon oil spill

n-heptane molecules

Tight spaces tip presence of petrochemicals

A schematic shows the three-step method to produce molecular-imprinted graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets. The process developed by Rice University researchers could help catch and kill free-floating antibiotic resistant genes found in secondary effluent produced by wastewater plants. (Credit: Illustration by Danning Zhang/Rice University)

New nano strategy fights superbugs

Rice researchers imprint carbon nitride nanosheets to catch and kill free-floating antibiotic resistant genes found in secondary effluent produced by wastewater treatment plants. The strategy would prevent the DNA molecules from making downstream bacteria more resistant to drugs.

The gene signal amplifier developed by bioscientists at Rice University excels at detecting the expression of target genes and can also be used to detect potentially any cellular gene. The amplifier is linked to a cell’s chromosome and directly reports on the activity of a gene by expressing fluorescent proteins (GFP). When the gene is not active, the amplifier expresses negative regulators that quench GFP by operating at different hierarchical levels of cellular information flow. EKRAB is a transcriptional

Strong signals show how proteins come and go

Rice University bioscientists develop a versatile gene signal amplifier that can not only do a better job of detecting the expression of chromosomal genes than current methods but can potentially be used to detect any cellular gene.

Heart nanotube fiber graphic

Heart nanofibers make STAT Madness Round 2

The Rice/Texas Heart Institute project to use nanotube fibers to repair damaged hearts makes Round 2 of STAT Madness.

Low-salinity brine injected into crude oil forms nanoscale droplets that help separate oil from rock in reservoirs, according to Rice University engineers. The black ring around the droplets, seen in a cryogenic electron microscope image, is asphaltene. (Credit: Wenhua Guo/Rice University)

‘Smart water’ may aid oil recovery

Rice University engineers study the mechanism that would allow “smart water" to aid oil recovery from reservoirs.

Heart nanotube fiber graphic

Heart nanofiber breakthrough awaits your STAT Madness vote

Joint Texas Heart Institute/Rice University research into using carbon nanotube fibers to bridge damaged areas of hearts is part of this year's STAT Madness, a competition to choose the year's best university-based bioscience project.