NEWSROOM

Scientists have developed “glycan atlassing,” a breakthrough super-resolution technique that maps the precise nanoscale architecture of sugars on cell surfaces. Published in Nature Nanotechnology, the method reveals that the spatial organization of glycans encodes critical information about cell state — opening powerful new possibilities for cancer diagnostics, stem cell research, and precision nanomedicine.

The study serves as a benchmark for quantum chemical methods in modeling phosphate-containing clusters, opening new pathways for designing more efficient proton-conducting materials and understanding biological proton transfer.

Over the decades, many strains of disease-causing bacteria have evolved defenses to even the most potent antibiotics, setting off a growing health crisis. The rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” has also set off an arms race. As germs find new ways to withstand drugs, researchers are looking for new ways to break down their defenses. In a significant step forward, a research team led by Yan Yu, the Art Krieg Professor of Chemistry, in Arts & Sciences, and of biomedical e

Visible light can be used to create electrodes from conductive plastics completely without hazardous chemicals. This is shown in a new study carried out by researchers at Linköping and Lund universities, Sweden. The electrodes can be created on different types of surfaces, which opens up for a new type of electronics and medical sensors.

Using proteins from a common tobacco plant virus, McGill chemistry researchers have developed a simple, eco-friendly way to arrange gold nanoparticles into ultrathin sheets, strengthening the particles’ optical properties. The result: cheaper, safer materials for solar panels, sensors and advanced optical devices. Gold nanoparticles are only effective in strengthening optical signals when the nanoparticles are arranged on a surface and spaced at exact distances. Until now, cr

One of the enigmas of life is emergence, when the whole becomes more than its parts. Flocks of birds can instantly change direction when a predator appears, guided not by a lead bird but by a collective intelligence that no single bird can possess on its own. Multitudes of molecules skitter chaotically in a cell, but certain ones find each other, interact, and give rise to sophisticated cellular structures and functions that could not have been predicted by studying the molec