Analytical Methods Blog

Animal soft tissues feature regularly in cultural artefacts but it can be difficult to pinpoint their origin. Visual identification of these tissues relies on the skill of the examiner and the condition of the material. Analytical techniques, like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, can detect and broadly classify proteins but give no answers as to their source. Precise identification of the sinews used for stitching is often impossible. Now, researchers in the US and UK have shown that peptide mass fingerprinting can be used to determine the animal species of collagen-based materials in a diverse range of museum objects.

Peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) uses enzymes to digest proteins to produce a mixture of peptides. The mass spectrum of this mixture will have characteristic marker ions – called a peptide mass fingerprint – which are compared to a database of species-specific markers to identify the proteins.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, #69-30-10/1619 © President and Fellows of Harvard College, US

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Identification of collagen-based materials in cultural heritage
Daniel P. Kirby, Michael Buckley, Ellen Promise, Sunia A. Traugerd and T. Rose Holdcraft  
Analyst, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AN00925D

A cheaper and safer to produce breath test for diabetes has been developed by scientists in Canada. The titanium nanoparticle-based sensor detects acetone, a biomarker of type 1 diabetes, even at 90% relative humidity.

Diabetes is a chronic condition which requires life-long treatment and monitoring. Untreated diabetes can lead to dangerous complications, such as ketoacidosis. Diagnosing diabetes quickly can be life-saving.

Commonly, diabetes is diagnosed and monitored through blood sample analysis. Acetone levels in breath can be measured by time-consuming and difficult-to-access gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Other non-invasive breath sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors, whose conductivity changes upon acetone adsorption, are fabricated via unsafe and expensive flame pyrolysis. To be useful for diagnosis, breath sensors must be able to detect parts-per-billion levels of acetone from a complex mixture of breath components including water vapour.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Low cost acetone sensor with selectivity over water vapor based on screen printed TiO2 nanoparticles
Lucy Lulu Deng, Cindy Xinxin Zhao, Yiqun Ma, Sean Shangzhi Chen and Gu Xu  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40373D

HIV RNA has been successfully extracted from human blood using a portable device that does not need electrical power to work. The system, developed by researchers in the US, is another link in the chain to enable the accurate monitoring of Aids treatment in countries with limited resources.

The availability of antiretroviral therapy has expanded rapidly in recent years, but the ability to monitor the progress of treatment has not kept up with the pace. Although cheap, qualitative assays are available for the initial detection of HIV infection, quantitative viral load measurements are needed to check if treatment is working. Effective, inexpensive sample preparation that works at ambient temperature and without the need for cold storage is one of the current stumbling blocks in achieving this goal.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

A portable, pressure driven, room temperature nucleic acid extraction and storage system for point of care molecular diagnostics
Samantha Byrnes, Andy Fan, Jacob Trueb, Francis Jareczek, Mark Mazzochette, Andre Sharon, Alexis F. Sauer-Budge and Catherine M. Klapperich  
Anal. Methods, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3AY40162F

Do you know how chemical scientists can tackle global challenges in Human Health? If so, the RSC is running a one minute video competition this summer for young researchers such as PhD and Post-doc students; get involved and innovate the way scientists share their research. Your video should communicate your own personal research or an area of research that interests you, highlighting its significance and impact to Human Health.

Five videos will be shortlisted by our judging panel and the winner will be selected during the ‘How does chemistry keep us healthy?’ themed National Chemistry Week taking place 16-23 November.

A £500 prize and a fantastic opportunity to shadow the award winning video Journalist, Brady Harran, is up for grabs for the winner.

The judging panel will include the makers of The Periodic Tale of Videos, Martyn Poliakoff and Brady Harran, and RSC Division representatives.

Check out our webpage for further details of the competition and an example video.

The competition will open 02 April 2013 and the closing date for entries is 01 July 2013. Please submit your entries to rsc.li/take-1-video-competition.

Any questions please contact science@rsc.org.