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Pure Water: The Unsung Hero Of The Lab

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  Pure water plays a pivotal role in almost every life science experiment, diagnostic test or chemical reaction. It’s so important, there’s even a  high impact journal  dedicated to reporting on new water-based research and purification methods. Sadly, lab water still rarely gets the attention it deserves.  Without pure water, very few experiments, tests or reactions would be possible. Thanks to its favorable chemical and physical properties, water is often considered the ‘universal solvent’ as it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Perhaps even more importantly, many biochemical reactions will only take place within aqueous solutions. One potential limitation of water is that it is a weak eluent and a poor solvent of most organic compounds, due to it being highly polar at ambient temperatures. However, superheated water at 200°C has similar properties to typical organic solvents such as methanol, so it can be used to dissolve many organic compounds. This adds even more c

Scientists identify antibody 'SC27' to counter all Covid-19 variants | sciencefather.com

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  Researchers have discovered an antibody that could counter all known variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and also distantly related ones that infect other animals. SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing COVID-19,  ScienceFather  uses its spike protein to invade and infect another individual, or the host. Antibodies, produced by the host in response, bind to the spike protein to block its action and prevent infection. The researchers, led by those at The University of Texas in Austin, US, isolated the antibody 'SC27' from the plasma donated by four patients.  ScienceFather  These patients had breakthrough infections, which occur when a vaccinated individual gets infected. The research has been published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Over the more than four years since the first case of COVID-19 emerged, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to acquire certain characteristics which make the virus resistant to vaccines and treatments. ScienceFather The authors said the 'S

Iranian Scientist’s Invention Prevents Water Wastage, Breakage of Containers in Labs.

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  “Due to the lack of control in the electrical measurement of pressure and temperature in the laboratory environment and using laboratory glassware, the laboratory containers are broken sometimes and also a lot of water is used to cool the glasses during the experiment,” Medisa Kamari, a Ph.D. student of Analytical Chemistry at Islamic Azad University’s Ilam Branch, told ANA. “Therefore, we decided to create a system to increase the safety level of tests that are performed at high temperature and pressure, and completely omitted water to cool and control the test until reaching the product. Some features of other devices in the laboratory to this device, which causes simultaneous use, increases the speed of the experiment, and eliminates the need for laboratories to use several devices,” she added. Kamari described full elimination of water for cooling, preventing water wastage, temperature measurement and control, system pressure measurement and control, the possibility for emergency

How to Become a Research Scientist | #Sciencefather #researcher | sciencefather.com

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  Professionals with a background in biotechnology can choose to pursue many lucrative  careers . ScienceFather One of the most common choices is to become a research scientist. These individuals work in drug and process development, consistently conducting research and performing experiments to help move the biotechnology industry forward.  “At the highest level, a research scientist is somebody who can design and execute experiments to prove or disprove a hypothesis,” says  Jared Auclair , director of the  biotechnology  and  bioinformatics  programs at Northeastern. ScienceFather “Within the world of biotechnology, that can mean a number of different things, from creating new drugs to improving the process of how we make a drug.” Professionals in this industry are often drawn to the wide array of applications of this work, as well as the consistently positive career outlook. The average salary of a biotechnology research scientist is  $85,907  per year, with plenty of opportunities

Will 2025 be a turning point for Open Access?

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With a number of deadlines for open access (OA) coming up in 2025 and beyond, the race is on for many publishers to make the transition to OA. Simon Linacre asks, are these targets achievable? Traditionally, September and October have always been one of the busiest – and most interesting – times to be in the publishing industry. Back in the day, September would be the deadline for the first of the following year’s issues to be collated by editors, while in more recent times big events like the ALPSP Conference, the Frankfurt Book Fair and Open Access Week have set the agenda for the remainder of the year and beyond. In 2024, this period has perhaps more intrigue than most given a number of deadlines and political events occurring in the next 12 months or so, many of them revolving around open access (OA) and its further adoption. But will things pan out the way people anticipate, and are there solutions that can be used to help forge a path through so many uncertainties about the f

Embracing Lived Experience: A Data-Driven Look at Autistic Involvement in Autism Research

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People with lived experience of a condition bring unique and valuable insights when planning research into that condition. Using data from Dimensions, Emily Alagha examines the evolution of autistic people’s involvement in autism research over the past two decades. Author’s note about identify-first language In this post, I am using identity-first language (e.g., ‘autistic person’) to honor the preference of many in the autism community who embrace their identity as an integral part of who they are. This approach reflects the values of empowerment and self-identification. The Rise of Participatory Research There’s a growing recognition in the research community that individuals with lived experience of a condition or phenomenon can offer unique and valuable insights to the design of scientific studies. This collaborative approach is often referred to as participatory research and actively involves individuals with lived experience in all stages of the research process. Dimensions