Sim shows how COVID virus infects cells
A simulation shows the complicated mechanism by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus may infect cells, leading to COVID-19.
Rice lab dives deep for DNA’s secrets
Structural biologist Yang Gao receives a five-year National Institutes of Health grant to detail how complex protein chains replicate DNA and fix errors on the fly. What they find could help treat genomic disease, including cancer.
Physicists find room-temperature, 2D-to-1D topological transition
Physicists have discovered a room-temperature transition between 1D and 2D electrical conduction states in the topological insulator bismuth iodide.
CPRIT grant establishes Genetic Design and Engineering Center
Rice faculty members led by bioengineer Gang Bao have been awarded a $4 million CPRIT grant to establish the Genetic Design and Engineering Center.
Woven nanotube fibers turn heat into power
Carbon nanotubes woven into thread-like fibers and sewn into fabrics become a thermoelectric generator that can turn heat from the sun or other sources into energy.
People, papers and presentations for Aug. 16, 2021
The Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Kelsey Norman, fellow for the Middle East and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program, has been awarded the 2021 Emerging Scholars Policy Prize
'Cool' kids in the cosmos may not be so unique
Rice University scientists show that "cool" stars like the sun share dynamic surface behaviors that influence their energetic and magnetic environments. Stellar magnetic activity is key to whether a given star can host planets that support life.
NSF grant kicks off Center for Adapting Flaws into Features
Rice University has won a Phase I National Science Foundation grant to establish the NSF Center for Adapting Flaws into Features to investigate nanoscale chemical phenomena and optimize the structures and electronic properties of materials.
Programmed bacteria have something extra
Rice chemists expand genetic code of E. coli to produce 21st amino acid, giving it new abilities.
Biochar helps hold water, saves money
Biochar’s benefits for long-term storage of carbon and nitrogen on American farms are clear, but new research from Rice University shows it can help farmers save money on irrigation as well.
Odds are good for unique 2D compound
Rice University engineers make 2D materials for valleytronics, a platform for information processing and storage that relies on the manipulation of electrons’ positions in energetic “valleys.”
Targeted tumors attack not-innocent bystanders
Antibody-drug conjugates developed are found to attack not only targeted tumor cells but also nontargeted “bystanders.”
Drug doubles down on bone cancer, metastasis
Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine develop an antibody conjugate called BonTarg that delivers drugs to bone tumors and inhibits metastasis.
Rice, Rutgers developing inhalable COVID-19 vaccine spray
Scientists at Rice and Rutgers developing two COVID-19 vaccine strategies that do not require cold storage, one of which can be inhaled.
NIH grant will help streamline chemical synthesis
Rice University chemist Julian West has won a five-year, $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant to advance his lab’s efforts to simplify the synthesis of organic chemicals.