About 30 years ago, before the term “chemical biology” was part of our lexicon, a small number of organic chemists recognized that they could apply their skills in synthesis, molecular design and physical characterization to the field of nucleic acid chemistry. Much of this was made easier by Marv Caruther's development of phosphoramidites, which meant that oligonucleotides of DNA and RNA could be

1 INTRODUCTION During a long and extremely productive scientific life Michael Waring made substantial contributions to the understanding of certain fundamental physical properties of the DNA double helix. In this review I summarize his early studies on DNA supercoiling and his later conclusions on the role of natural DNA base analogues in determining DNA stiffness and nucleosome positioning. The latter

Probing amyloid formation of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) in aqueous solutions with ionic liquids (ILs) could help identify the IL–IDP interactions causing the process in this media. Takekiyo et al. report that ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) initiates the formation of intermolecular β‐sheet structure – amyloid‐like aggregates – of α‐synuclein. The cations and anions of EAN function as charges

Human calcitonin (hCT) is a 32‐residue peptide hormone that is produced in the thyroid where it regulates blood calcium levels and promotes bone formation. While hCT was previously used to treat bone disorders, this has ceased because hCT has been shown to aggregate when elevated levels of the peptide are either produced naturally or injected, and the resulting amyloid fibrils toxic. Deguo Du and his

Hydrogel dressings have significant advantages such as absorption of tissue exudate, maintenance of proper moist environment, and promotion of cell proliferation. However, facile preparation method and high‐efficient antibacterial hydrogel dressings are still a great challenge. In this study, a facile approach to prepare antibacterial nanocomposite hydrogel dressing to accelerate healing was explored

Recently, the use of hybrid double network (DN) hydrogels has become prominent due to their enhanced mechanical properties, which has opened the door for new applications of these soft materials. Only a few of these gels have demonstrated both injectable and moldable capabilities. In this work, we report the mechanical properties, gauge factor (GF) values and demonstrate both the injectability and

Solubilization of poorly water–soluble bioactive molecules in neutral aqueous media is a challenge in the development of functional foods and pharmaceuticals. Kodama et al. fabricated renatured β‐1,3‐1,6‐glucan (r‐glucan) nanoparticles (NPs) by neutralization of alkali‐denatured β‐1,3‐1,6‐glucan then centrifugation. Inclusion complexes were subsequently prepared by simply mixing host and guest solutions

We use video particle tracking microrheology (VPTMR) in order to investigate the viscoelasticity of salmon DNA and correlate it to its steady‐flow shear‐thinning viscosity. Aqueous solutions of DNA are tested in a wide concentration range from the dilute to the semidilute unentangled concentration regime. The observed mean squared displacement shows power‐law scaling with lag‐time which is equivalent

Modelling energy and charge transfer in DNA is a challenging problem because of the many conformations it can take. Belobo Belobo and Dang Koko use a discrete variational approach to study the charge transfer mechanism in DNA based on the Holstein‐Su‐Schrieffer‐Heeger model. By considering transversal and longitudinal motions in DNA, they show that the charge transfer mechanism may be explained as

The effect of adding ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), which is an ionic liquid (IL), on the aggregate formation of α‐synuclein (α‐Syn) in aqueous solution has been investigated. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate changes in the secondary structure of α‐Syn and in the states of water molecules and EAN. The results presented here show that the addition of EAN to α‐Syn causes the formation

Chitin displays a highly rigid structure due to the vast intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, thus hindering its dissolution and deacetylation using most solvents. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are special and environmentally friendly solvents composed of a hydrogen bond acceptor and a hydrogen bond donor. This allows them to dissolve chitin by disturbing its natural hydrogen bonding while establishing