nti-nicotine antibody may one day help smokers to kick the drug from reaching the brain and activating pleasure receptors, une. The group, from Cornell University and Scripps Research c sequence of the antibody into a gene therapy carrier or vector -dependent mice (Sci. Transl. Med., 2012, 4, 140ra87). Animals usly made antibodies to mop up any circulating nicotine before it ains were claimed to have only 15% of the level of nicotine seen oach may be an alternative to an anti-nicotine vaccine, which has nicotine is too small to be recognised by the immune system.
A cracking answer M
aterials cracking or fracture is a phenomenon that is generally best avoided. But in May 2012, researchers at Ewha Womens University in Seoul, Korea, demonstrated how cracks may be controlled and potentially put to good use in nanofabrication (Nature, doi: 10.1038/nature11002). The group described producing straight, oscillating and stitch-like cracks in a thin brittle film deposited on a silicon wafer. They were even able to control the
direction of the cracks and bend them around corners – and terminate the fracture process at special stop structures engineered into the silicon structure. The researchers were able to control crack formation by etching notches on the silicon wafer that produce stress points in the overlying brittle film, and by choosing the appropriate crystal orientation of the underlying silicon.
The method could lead to the development of a cheaper and quicker route to produce nano-patterns for lab-on-a- chip type applications, such as single-molecule sensing, and can be easily scaled-up without affecting the cost and processing time, they say.
cockroach, they reported in early 2012 (JACS, doi: 10.1021/ja210794c). The scientists, from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, US, inserted a pair of electrodes into the insect’s circulatory system, which carries nutrients including the sugar trehalose around the insect’s body. One of these electrodes, the anode, was impregnated with two enzymes that break down trehalose, while the other electrode, the cathode, contained an oxidase enzyme. Electrons released at the anode after the breakdown of trehalose travelled to the cathode where they combined with oxygen from the atmosphere to generate water. The resulting biofuel cell was able to generate a current density of up to 460µA/cm2
Biofuel cells from roaches I
t sounds like something that surrealist writer Franz Kafka might have dreamed up, but researchers have created a living biofuel system by generating electricity from a live
, with potential applications including rechargeable insect sensors for detecting atmospheric pollutants.
World’s toughest material W
onder material graphene got even more wonderful this year with the development in February of a new graphene composite claimed as the world’s toughest fibre –
tougher even than Kevlar or spider silk (Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/ncomms1661). Produced by a team of international researchers, the fibre comprises sheets of graphene interlocked by carbon nanotubes and surrounded by chains of polyvinyl alcohol polymer. While the polymer chains allow for elongation of the material, the nanosheets and graphene provide a stiffening effect and help to stop the growth of cracks. As well as being useful for reinforcing advanced composites as in aircraft, the researchers speculated that they may be woven into vehicle safety belts where they could potentially absorb ‘enormous’ amounts of energy during a collision.
Chemistry&Industry • November 2012 33
012 eview
year l cells from aches, a vaccine for
ver, a drug grown rots and the world’s est material are just of the stories making ines in 2012, Cath scoll reports