Elevate Research

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.

Daphnia, a species of plankton, were exposed to molecular machines developed at Rice University in lab experiments to determine the effects of the microscopic drills on tissue. At left is a healthy plankton with all of its appendages. At right, the daphnia has only two of its appendages after 10 minutes of exposure to light-activated nanomachines. The drills are intended to target drug-resistant bacteria, cancer and other disease-causing cells and destroy them without damaging adjacent healthy cells. (Credi

Tissue-digging nanodrills do just enough damage

Scientists at Rice and their collaborators show light-activated molecular drills effectively kill cells in whole eukaryotic organisms.

Atoms of boron and nitride align on a copper substrate to create a large-scale, ordered crystal of hexagonal boron nitride. The wafer-sized material could become a key insulator in future two-dimensional electronics. (Credit: Tse-An Chen/Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.)

A small step for atoms, a giant leap for microelectronics

Rice materials scientist Boris Yakobson and colleagues in Taiwan and China report in Nature on making large single-crystal sheets of hexagonal boron nitride, touted as a key insulator in future two-dimensional electronics.

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.

Houston Skyline

Best Boards Conference helps nonprofits maximize impact

HOUSTON – (Feb. 24, 2020) – Nonprofit board members and executives are invited to attend Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies annual Best Boards Conference.

Nitrogen B

Rice scientists simplify access to drug building block

Rice University chemists further simplify their process to make essential precursor molecules for drug discovery and manufacture. The method to modify unactivated olefins for use as building blocks could save the pharmaceutical industry millions.

Satish

Nagarajaiah wins ASCE’s Newmark Medal

Rice engineer Satish Nagarajaiah has been awarded the 2020 Nathan M. Newmark Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

CPRIT

CPRIT grant draws cell imaging specialist to Rice

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awards a $2 million grant to Rice to recruit physical chemist Anna-Karin Gustavsson, who will study the dynamics and distributions of single molecules in living cells through her development of sophisticated imaging systems.

Mikos

Mikos receives Controlled Release Society’s 2020 Founders Award

Antonios Mikos, the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has received the 2020 Founders Award of the Controlled Release Society

kids running

Heavy backpack? Good for you

Rice kinesiologists found specific health deficits in home-schooled adolescents compared to their peers in public schools.

Rice University geologist Melodie French has earned a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her investigation of the tectonic roots of earthquakes and tsunamis. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Fed grant backs Rice earthquake research

Rice University Earth scientist Melodie French earns a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her investigation of the tectonic roots of earthquakes and tsunamis.

Models by Rice University chemists calculate the chemical and mechanical energies involved in “bursty” RNA production in cells. Their models show how RNA polymerases create supercoils of DNA that allow production of RNA that goes on to produce proteins.

Cells’ springy coils pump bursts of RNA

Models by Rice chemists calculate the chemical and mechanical energies involved in “bursty” RNA production in cells.

Illustration by Ilenne Del Valle/Rice University

Ordering in? Plants are way ahead of you

Dissolved carbon in soil can quench plants' ability to communicate with soil microbes, allowing plants to fine-tune their relationships with symbionts. Experiments show how synthetic biology tools developed at Rice University can help understand environmental controls on agricultural productivity.

Jesse Chan. (Credit: Mike Andrick/Rice University)

Rice fluids researcher earns solid federal support

Rice University engineer Jesse Chan wins a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop reliable simulations of fluid flow.

A transportation hub with high-rises and multiuse structures, all surrounded by fire-retarding vineyards, is one vision for the future of Santa Rosa, California, as envisioned by Rice architecture student Vivian Schwab. Her graduate thesis was prompted by fires that have devastated the community in recent years and the need for strategies to protect against future disasters as a result of global warming. (Credit: Illustration by Vivian Schwab)

Fear of wildfires inspires forward-thinking communities

A Rice architecture student is thinking hard about the problem humans have with fire and how future dwellers at risk could consolidate resources for their own protection while retaining a sense of community.