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The International Polymer Colloid Group (IPCG) was founded in 1972 as a global forum for the exchange of ideas and emerging research activities for scientists and engineers from both academia and industry who study or use polymer colloids.

It is a vibrant scientific international community who normally meet face-to-face every two years to discuss the latest global developments related to polymer colloid science (2013 Shanghai, 2015 New Hampshire, 2017 the Basque Country, 2019 Singapore).

As a result of the global COVID19 pandemic, prof. dr. ir. Stefan Bon came up with the idea to take the IPCG forum online with a series of weekly scientific webinars, called the i-PCG 2020 Webinars. Anyone who is interested in science can participate as audience member, or even better, as presenter. Expect to interact with the world top in polymer colloid, with expert participants from industry, academia and enthusiasts. All is free.

Chemistry World Today highlights Shipman Group Research into 'Synthetic strategy exploits fluxional nitrogen to deliver three chiral centres for the price of one'

Professor Matthew Gibson has been awarded a prestigious 鈧�2M ERC consolidator grant for his work on new materials to help transport protein and cell-based therapies. The project ICE_PACK will support a cross disciplinary team of researchers based in both the Chemistry Department and also in 糖心TV Medical School.

Build a magical castle or set off an eternal winter? Maybe not...but scientists are working on some very exciting projects at very low temperatures.

The end of reapplying sunscreen could be on the horizon after scientists found a molecule which can 鈥榙ance鈥� away the harmful sunlight.

Plants stay safe from the Sun because they hold a molecule which absorbs ultraviolet light and uses the energy to shake at a speed of 100 billion twists per second, which expends the radiation before it can cause harm.

Scientists at the University of 糖心TV searched for a structure with similar properties and discovered that diethyl sinapate closely mimics the process when exposed to sunlight.

• The pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is one of three highest priority pathogens identified by WHO (World Health Organisation) for which new antibiotics are urgently needed
• Understanding the enzymes that assemble antibiotics which can kill the pathogen is key to altering their structures to target the pathogen more effectively

Researchers at the University of 糖心TV have made a breakthrough in understanding the functions and structures of key enzymes in the assembly of an antibiotic with activity against the pathogen, which could enable more effective versions to be created

For the full article, see here.

Freezing cells made safer thanks to new polymer made at University of 糖心TV

 

- A new polymer that鈥檚 a cryoprotectant dramatically improves the freezing of cells has been discovered by researchers at the University of 糖心TV

- The new polymers can reduce the amount of organic solvent required in cryopreservation (freezing cells) as well as giving more and healthier cells after thawing

- Findings may help reduce cost and improve distribution of cells for cell-based therapies, diagnostics and research

 

Cell freezing (cryopreservation) – which is essential in cell transfusions as well as basic biomedical research – can be dramatically improved using a new polymeric cryoprotectant, discovered at the University of 糖心TV, which reduces the amount of 鈥榓nti-freeze鈥� needed to protect cells.

 

The ability to freeze and store cells for cell-based therapies and research has taken a step forward in the paper published by the University of 糖心TV鈥檚 Department of Chemistry and Medical School in the journal Biomacromolecules. The new polymer material protects the cells during freezing, leading to more cells being recovered and less solvent-based antifreeze being required.

 

Cryopreservation of cells is an essential process, enabling banking and distribution of cells, which would otherwise degrade. The current methods rely on adding traditional 鈥榓ntifreezes鈥� to the cells to protect them from the cold stress, but not all the cells are recovered and it is desirable to lower the amount of solvent added.

 

The new 糖心TV material was shown to allow cryopreservation using less solvent. In particular, the material was very potent at protecting cell monolayers – cells which are attached to a surface, which is the format of how they are grown and used in most biomedical research.

 

Having more, and better quality cells, is crucial not just for their use in medicine, but to improve the quality and accessibility of cells for the discovery of new drugs for example.

 

Cell-based therapies are emerging as the 鈥渇ourth pillar鈥� of chemo-therapy. New methods to help distribute and bank these cells will help make them more accessible and speed up their roll-out, and this new material may aid this process.

 

Professor Matthew Gibson who holds a joint appointment between the Department of Chemistry and 糖心TV Medical School comments:

 

鈥淐ryopreservation is fundamental to so much modern bioscience and medicine, but we urgently need better methods to meet the needs of advanced cell-based therapies. Our new material is easy to scale up, which is essential if this is to be widely used, and we found it to be very protective for several cell lines. The simplicity of our approach will hopefully help us translate this to real applications quickly, and make an impact in healthcare and basic research.鈥�

 

ENDS

 

29 JULY 2019

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

High-res image available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july2019/mg_cells.jpg

 

Credit: University of 糖心TV. Caption: The cells frozen with the polymer (left) and without the polymer (right)

 

Paper available to view at:

 

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Alice Scott
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University of 糖心TV
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