Vivek Polshettiwar – Catalyst for change

Professor Polshettiwar is based at the Prestigious Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) (https://www.tifr.res.in). Prof Polshettiwar was educated at a number of institutions across India, before he moved to France, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. In 2013 he joined the TIFR.

Prof Vivek is a Leading researcher in a nanotechnology. He runs a nano-catalysis Laboratory in TIFR, integrated into the Division of Chemical Sciences (DCS). He uses principles of nanochemistry to make new materials which have widespread applications.

Prof Vivek has published many papers in international journals. His NANOCAT group (https://www.nanocat.co.in/ ) works on CO2 capture and conversion to tackle climate change through the development of novel nanomaterials for catalysis and solar energy harvesting

Prof. Vivek is a Fellow of the royal society of chemistry, UK. He has been rewarded an “Asian Rising Stars” at 15th Asian Chemical Congress (ACC), Singapore, by Nobel Laureate Professor Ei-ichi Negish . He has been recently awarded the 2022 IUPAC-CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Green Chemistry in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of green chemistry.

Terms used

If you’re not familiar with some of the terms used in this discussion – some key ones are described here for your reference:

• Artificial photosynthesis – A human-designed process that creates energy from Co2, water and sunlight, mimicking the same process which occurs naturally in plants.
• Catalysis – Increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a catalyst.
• CO2 – Carbon Dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases, and one of the molecules used by plants to create energy from photosynthesis.
• Nano chemistry – Chemical process that rely on one or more component in a particle between 1 to 100 nm in diameter.
• Solar photons – Particles of light emitted from the Sun.
• Green Hydrogen – Hydrogen (H2) gener by renewable energy sources, or using low-carbon power.
• Electrochemical water splitting – Splitting water molecules into component Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2) molecules by passing an electric current through the water.
• Silica support – A (largely) non-reactive physical support medium for less robust chemically active compounds.
• Urea – A chemical compound with the formula CO(NH2)2. Although useful in a wide range of industrial processes, 90% of global urea production goes into fertilizers.

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at 

www.helgroup.com

 online,

on LinkedIn at 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/

on Twitter, we're @hel_group, 

https://twitter.com/hel_group

or search for us on Facebook

Terms used

If you’re not familiar with some of the terms used in this discussion – some key ones are described here for your reference:

• C rate – the charge and discharge rates of a battery. This varies by battery, but a 1C rate will be a defined current over a particular period of time. 
• Cell – The smallest form of a battery – best considered in consumer terms as a single AA or AAA, etc battery.
• Module – A number of individual cells connected together. Multiple modules will be used in a pack.
• Pack – A collection of battery cells, OR battery modules connected together to form the full power source for a device – for example the pack that would be connected to a power tool.
• Thermal runaway – Due to misuse, damage or aging, the process where a battery starts to self-heat. As the battery heats, it causes more damage, reading to greater heating, often resulting in fire, explosion or release of gases. An internal short-circuit is often the intermediate cause of the runaway. The runaway will continue until all the chemicals causing the runaway reaction have been consumed. These are very difficult reactions to stop once they have started.
• Arcing – Current passing through a gas, which causes the electrical breakdown of that gas, often accompanied by production of plasma and visible light.
• Series connection – connecting two or more batteries positive-to-negative. This provides a system that delivers the sum of the battery voltages, without adjust the amp hour output.  For example, two 4-volt 3 amp-hour, batteries in series would provide 8 volts and 3 amp hours. 
• Parallel connection – connecting two or more batteries together positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative. This provides a system with increased amp hour ratings, without adjusting the current. For example, two 4-volt 3 amp-hour, batteries in parallel would provide 4 volts and 6 amp hours.
• Burst disk – a single use pressure relief system, which is a surface that bursts when a certain pressure is exceeded.

Nigel also mentions the Munro Tesla teardown – you can find that video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeZzEg3GIcg

As well as www.batterydesign.net, Nigel is online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-taylor-2131964/ 

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter, we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

If you’re not familiar with some of the terms used in this discussion – some key ones are described here for your reference:

• Bio-inorganic chemistry – the study of the role of metals in biological processes. This includes naturally occurring molecules and artificially introduced proteins.
• Metal center (active site) – the active metal in a larger molecule that reacts in (or catalyzes) a reaction
• Catalysis – increasing the rate of a reaction by introducing a substance to the reaction know as a catalyst. Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction.
• Functionalization of Carbon-Hydrogen bonds – converting a (Carbon-Hydrogen) C-H bond to a C-R bond. R represents a functional group that enables the final molecule to perform a specific reaction.
• Activation of Carbon-Hydrogen bonds – Reading (or breaking) the C-H bond so that the desired functional group can replace the Hydrogen.
• Enzyme – An organic catalyst, often found in nature and active in living cells. Enzymes are typically protein molecules.
• Organic molecule/organic substrate – A compound containing Carbon.
• Hydrogen bonding – An electrostatic force of interaction between a Hydrogen atom and another electronegative atom. The most common Hydrogen bonds occur between Hydrogen and either Nitrogen, Oxygen, or Fluorine.
• Reoxidize (oxidize) – during a reaction, a catalyst may accept electrons from the primary reactants or otherwise become reduced. Removing those electrons, or otherwise oxidizing the catalyst enables it to once more catalyze the reaction.
• Stoichiometric amount – Calculating the number of molecules (usually in moles) required for a given reaction.
• Photochemistry – Chemical reactions which are influenced by the presence or absence of light, often at specific wavelengths. Photochemistry is used to closely control reactions – i.e. the reaction will not take place if the correct light isn’t present.
• Motif – A specific part of a molecule – often found in a number of molecules.

Prof Maiti is contactable on social media, and you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/debabrata-maiti-54ab622a/

 

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter, we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

Episode 18 of the Modern Chemistry podcast features Dr. Sebastian Gross. Sebastian is a consultant at Wega IT, (https://www.wega-it.com/en/). Where he supports clients, using his advanced experience in biotechnology methods, bioprocess development, lab & assay automation and kinetic modelling. Sebastian has strong experience in tools like Liquid Handling station, SiLA, Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, SQL, and Data modelling.

Prior to Wega, Sebastian was head of process development at TUB (Technische Universität Berlin), where he also did his PhD.

Sebastian is contactable on social media, and you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-hans/
You can also connect with Sebastian via the Wega website link above.

Sebastian’s web link

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter, we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

Amanda has a BS degree in Chemistry from Penn State University, and PhD in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University and conducted post-doctoral research at Princeton University prior to her tenure at Virginia Tech.

Amanda’s research focuses on how to convert solar power into usable energy, or fuel, and useful materials or chemicals

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• MOFs / Metalo-organic frameworks – Compounds made of metal ions, or clusters, connected to organic ligands, creating specific structures.  They are often poruous materials
• Artificial photosynthesis – A human-designed process that creates energy from Co2, water and sunlight, mimicking the same process which occurs naturally in plants.
• Catalysis – Increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a catalyst.
• CO2 – Carbon Dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases, and one of the molecules used by plants to create energy from photosynthesis.
• Reducing / reduction – the gain of electrons, or a decrease in the oxidation state of an ion (or at specific sites in a molecule).
• Oxidation / oxidizing - the loss of electrons, or an increase in the oxidation state of an ion (or at specific sites in a molecule).
• Redox – A chemical reaction where the oxiadtaion states of atoms are changed. Typically the transfer of electrons leads to oxidation of one chemical component in the reaction, and the reduction of other chemical components.
• Heterogenous surface – A non-uniform surface, which allows different chemical reactions to occur at different points.
• Turnover number – The number of moles of substrate (a measure of the total number of molecules) that a catalyst can convert before becoming inactivated.
• Nano particles – A particle of matter in the range of 1 to 100 nm in diameter.
• Protons – A sub-atomic particle with a positive electric charge of +1e, present in the nucleus of every atom.
• Electron - A sub-atomic particle with a negative electric charge of -1e, which display properties of both particles and waves.
• Solar photons – Particles of light emitted from the Sun.
• Chlorophyll – A word to describe any one of a number of related green pigments found in plants, algae and bacteria. Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight and, along with other molecules, uses that sunlight to provide energy for plant cells, ultimately through the oxidation of water.
• Chromophore – The part of a molecule that is responsible for its color.

Amanda is contactable on social media, and you can find them via on 
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-morris-1a11b621/
Amanda is @amorri28 on Twitter - https://twitter.com/amorri28

Amanda’s lab page at Virginia Tech is https://chem.vt.edu/people/faculty/teaching-and-research/amorris.html – a great starting point for more information.

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter, we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

Episode 16 of the Modern Chemistry podcast dives back into glycobiology and its practical application with Benjamin Schumann. Ben is a chemical biologist who studies the biology of carbohydrates (glycans). After completing his undergraduate biochemistry studies in Tübingen, Germany, he was trained in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry in the lab of Peter H. Seeberger at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Potsdam and the FU Berlin. Developing vaccines against pathogenic bacteria based on synthetic glycans, Ben learned to apply his compounds in biological settings in vivo and in vitro. For his achievements, he received the Award for Excellence in Glycosciences and, in 2017, the prestigious Otto Hahn Medal by the Max Planck Society. 

During his postdoctoral work in the lab of Carolyn R. Bertozzi at Stanford University as an Alexander von Humboldt foundation Feodor Lynen fellow, Ben developed an interest in "precision tools" to study glycosylation of human cells in great detail. He started as a Group Leader at the Crick and Imperial College London in 2018.

Towards the end of the show, Ben mentions a prize. Ben and colleagues from Imperial College and Stanford University were awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry's new Chemistry Biology Interface Division Horizon Prize, the Rita and John Cornforth Award. For more details, please check out this link on the Francis Crick Institute's website - https://www.crick.ac.uk/news/2021-06-08_research-prize-for-chemical-toolbox-to-study-the-role-of-cell-surface-sugars.

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• Glycobiology - the study of complex sugar molecules in biological systems and cells.
• Glycobiome/glycoproteome – the total glycan make-up of a cell or organism
• Glycosylation – the addition of sugar molecules to other substances, often proteins.
• Glycans – complex sugar molecules composed of single sugar sub-units linked by chemical bonds
• Chemical biology – the application of chemical techniques, and often small molecules produced by chemistry to study biological processes.
• Biochemistry – the study of biomolecules and pathways in living systems
• Lectins – highly specific carbohydrate-binding proteins
• Antibody – a 'Y’-shaped protein produced by the immune system which identifies and binds to a specific substance
• Monosaccharide – a single sugar subunit
• Bioorthogonal chemistry – a chemical reaction that occurs in a living system without interfering with natural biochemistry
• Glycosyl transferase – enzymes which add a sugar (simple or complex) to an acceptor molecule
• Chemoenzymatic synthesis – producing chemical using biochemical pathways within cells
• CRISPR - CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, a family of specific DNA sequences in prokaryotes. Enzymes, such as 'Cas9' can modify DNA at these CRISPR sequences, editing in or out new DNA sequences. Although this technique is known correctly as CRISPR-Cas9, the discovery and development of a range of CRISPR-associated enzymes has led to the term 'CRISPR' being used as a generic term for this suite of gene editing technologies.
• Isoenzymes – enzymes that catalyse the same reaction, but have different amino acid sequences
• Proteolytic digest – breaking up a protein, or peptide, chain into smaller fragments
• Fluorophore – a fluorescent molecule (in this case, used as a reporter molecule)
• Biotin tag – a chemical molecule used as a reporter for other biomolecules
• Bio-organic chemistry – scientific studies combining organic chemistry and biochemistry, which studies biological processes using chemical methods.

Monica Is a group leader at ICIQ (Institut Català d’Investigació Química / Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia), Tarragona, Spain. Her group focuses on the ‘Development of new chemical transformations: From organometallic mechanistic studies to catalysis’. Prior to her current position, Monica conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, which followed awarding of her Ph.D. from the University of Valladolid, Spain – where she also earnt her B.Sc. and M.Sc.
In 2018, Monica was selected as one of the ‘Talented 12’ by Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS). She is also involved in outreach activities to increase the visibility of women in Science.

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• NMR – Nuclear Magnetic Resonance subjects samples to a strong magnetic fields and measures the resonance pattern of the nuclei. It is widely used to study the structure and dynamics of organic molecules.
• Palladium – A chemical element with atomic number 46. It is a rare metal and over 50% of palladium supply is used in catalytic processes, most commonly catalytic converters attached to automobile exhausts.
• Cobalt A chemical element with atomic number 27. Most commonly produced as a by-product of Copper and Nickel production, the main use for colbalt is in Li-ion batteries, and the production of certain high-strength metal alloys.
• Transition metal – in chemistry, the term transition metal is defined in one of three ways:
• Many scientists describe a "transition metal" as any element in the d-block of the periodic table, which includes groups 3 to 12 on the periodic table. In practice, the f-block lanthanide and actinide series are also considered transition metals and are called "inner transition metals".
• The IUPAC definition defines a transition metal as "an element whose atom has a partially filled d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell".
• The expanded IUPAC definition specifies which elements are included. As well as the elements of groups 4 to 11, scandium and yttrium are included Lanthanum and actinium, which are considered group 3 elements, are however classified as lanthanides and actinides respectively
• Nucleophile – A chemical species that forms bonds with electrophiles by donating an electron pair.
• Oxidant – A substance that has the ability to oxidize another substance. In chemical reactions this refers to the oxidant accepting electrons.
• Intermediate – A chemical entity that is formed during a reaction, but that is typically converted to another form when the reaction completes.

During the discussion, Monica mentions a number of the publications that her groups have produced. Links to her publications are available from the group website.

Monica is contactable on social media, and you can find her on 
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-h-perez-temprano-3659ab3b/ 
The group website is https://www.iciq.org/research/research_group/dr-monica-h-perez-temprano/ 
On Twitter, the group is @Perez_Temprano

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter, we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

Elisa Fadda obtained her PhD in 2004 from the Department of Chemistry at the Université de Montréal under Professor Dennis R. Salahub. From May 2004 to May 2008, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in Dr Régis Pomès group in Molecular Structure and Function at the Hospital for Sick Children (Sickkids) Research Institute in Toronto. From June 2008 until May 2013, Elisa worked as a research associate and honorary research lecturer in Prof Robert J. Woods group in the School of Chemistry at NUI Galway. In 2013 she was awarded a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CELT) at NUI Galway. In August 2013, Elisa became an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Maynooth University, taking on a Lecturer position since 2014.

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• Quantum chemistry -The branch of chemistry that apply quantum mechanics to chemical systems, including electronic structure, molecular dynamics and Schrödinger equations.
• Biophysics – And approach to science that applies methods typically used in physics to study biology and biological systems.
• Glycoproteins – Proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains (glycans), attached to amino acid side-chains via a covalent bond.
• Carbohydrates – Molecules (typically biological) composed of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen, typically with a 2:1 Hydrogen:Oxygen atom ratio.
• Glycan (or polysaccharide) – Compounds made of many monosaccharide subunits, linked via a glycoside bond.
• N-Glycans – Glycans attached to a protein at an Asparagine residue via an N-glycosidic bond.
• Sequon – A sequence of amino acids in a protein that serve as a carbohydrate binding site.The carbohydrate is often an N-linked-Glycan.
• Asparagine, proline, serine, threonine. – Amino acids found naturally in biological proteins. Asparagine, serine and threonine are required in specific combinations to form a sequon, proline must be absent from a sequon.
• Glycosaminoglycans or mucopolysaccharides- Long, linear glucans consisting of repeating disaccharide units – most commonly uronic acid and an amino sugar.
• Glycosylation – A reaction in which a carbohydrate molecule is attached to a functional group of another molecule (such as a hydroxyl).  In biology the term typically refers to the carbohydrate being attached to a protein molecule.
• Folded protein – Proteins have several levels of structure, secondary, tertiary (and arguably quaternary) levels of structure describe how the polypeptide chain forms into specific structures that typically confer functional properties.
• Cryo-EM – Cryogenic Electron Microscopy studies samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures (-153 oC or lower), while embedded in vitreous water.
• X-Ray crystallography – A technique which uses X-rays to determine crystal structures, but studying the X-ray diffraction patterns.
• NMR – Nuclear Magnetic Resonance subjects samples to a strong magnetic fields and measures the resonance pattern of the nuclei. It is widely used to study the structure and dynamics of organic molecules.
• Spike proteins – More properly ‘Peplomers’, spike proteins are glycoproteins that project from the surface of a virus particle lipid bilayer and play an important part in viral infectivity.
• Coronavirus – One of a group of related RNA viruses that cause respiratory tract infections in birds and mammals. These infections lead to diseases that can have mild effects, or be lethal. The Covid-19 pandemic was caused by a coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The 2002/4 SARS outbreak was caused by the SARS-CoV-1 virus.
• HIV – The Human Immunoseficiency Virus is two species of lentivirus that if left untreated cause Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in humans.
• Receptor – A protein embedded in a cell membrane which binds to a specific molecule, or class of molecules.  Once the target molecule is bound, there is typically and effect within the cell to trigger some form of biological process.
• (viral) Pathogensis – The process by which a disease progresses. Viral pathogensis is specific to a disease caused by a virus.
• Computer node – Each computer in a connected cluster that are working together.
• GPUs – Graphics Processing Units are specific electronic circuits that rapidly address memory in order to output images to a display device. Their highly parallel structure makes them efficient at processing algorithms that process large data blocks in parallel.
• Glycoanalytics – Scientific study of glycosylated molecules, often biological in nature.
• Neuraminidase, or Sialidase – Are enzymes that cut the glycosidic bonds of neuraminic acids. This action helps viruses move through the respiratory tract mucus and infect host cells.

The publication we refer to early on in the discussion is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128194751000560?via%3Dihub.  A full list of Elisa’s publications is available at her group website.

Elisa is contactable on social media, and you can find her on 
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-fadda-a012b194/ (although, Elisa admits, she's rarely on LinkedIn)
On Twitter, search @ElisaTelisa
The group website is https://efadda73.wixsite.com/elisafadda

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at 

www.helgroup.com

 online,

on LinkedIn at 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/

on Twitter, we're @hel_group, 

https://twitter.com/hel_group

or search for us on Facebook

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• Chirality – Chirality is a feature where an object can be distinguished from a mirror-image version of itself (for instance left and right gloves, or shoes). In chemistry, chirality is often due to the presence of an asymmetrical carbon atom. Chiral isomers are identified as either L-type or D-type, based on how polarized light is rotated when passing through a molecule.
• Superstructure – In the context of this discussion “When the structures become way, way bigger than the building blocks, you can call the superstructures.” They represent massive polymers of the base construction molecules
• Nanomaterials / Nanoparticles – A term used to describe substances where the base unit is small – between 1 nm - 100 nm along one or more dimensions
• Amyloid beta-peptide (also known as Abeta, or Aβ) – Peptides between 36-43 amino acids long that form insoluble amyloid plaques in the brains of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Although the specific role of Amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease is not fully understood, it is widely accepted that they are responsible for the pathology of the disease.
• Peptide – A short chain of 2-50 amino acids, linked by a peptide bond. A dipeptide has two amino acids in the chain, a tripeptide has three amino acids, and so on.
• Hydrophobic pockets – When folded into a functional configuration, the amino acids of a protein can be brought into physical proximity. When the majority of amino acids surrounding an ‘opening’ in the surface of the protein are hydrophobic, it creates a region that is unattractive to hydrophilic molecules. As the majority of biological systems are water-based, this hydrophobic region stimulates other hydrophobic regions of suitable molecules to bind. This then typically leads to downstream activation or effect
• Catalytic triads - a set of three coordinated amino acids that can be found in the active site of some enzymes. Catalytic triads are most commonly found in hydrolase and transferase enzymes.
• Antimicrobial resistance – This is an evolutionary process where bacteria become immune to the effects of antimicrobial agents (such as antibiotics). Typically this is caused by exposure are designed to kill bacteria. To do this, the bacteria need to be exposed to the agents at sub-lethal levels. As antimicrobial agents accumulate in the environment, it is believed that this provides an opportunity for bacteria to be exposed at sub-lethal levels, which accelerates the rate at which the bacteria develops resistance to the antimicrobial.

We discussed the drawing of Alice going through the looking glass during our discussion, you can see it at https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/995913/view/through-the-looking-glass-alice-pushes-through-the-mirror.
Silvia also mentions an article in the journal ACS Nano, you can find that at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c09386#

Silvia is contactable on social media, you can find her on 
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-marchesan-2590712/
On Twitter, search @MarchesanLab
The group website is www.marchesanlab.com

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Music from https://filmmusic.io
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at www.helgroup.com online,
on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/ 
on Twitter we're @hel_group, https://twitter.com/hel_group
or search for us on Facebook

 

You will hear the following terms used during the interview. I've included some descriptions here. 

• PCR - The Polymerase Chain Reaction is a technique for amplifying DNA sequences using a thermostable DNA polymerase enzyme and a cycling reaction temperature profile of heating and cooling. Dedicated instruments typically provide the temperature cycling mechanism.
• LAMP reaction – The Loop-mediated isothermal AMPlification reaction is also used to amplify DNA sequences. Unlike PCR, LAMP reactions occur at a single temperature (typically ~60 oC – 65 oC). Therefore, they do not require dedicated instruments to provide thermal cycling but can be conducted in simple water baths or heating blocks. LAMP also uses a DNA polymerase enzyme, although a different one from PCR. LAMP typically produces higher DNA yields than PCR
• CRISPR – CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, a family of specific DNA sequences in prokaryotes. Enzymes, such as 'Cas9' can modify DNA at these CRISPR sequences, editing in or out new DNA sequences. Although this technique is known correctly as CRISPR-Cas9, the discovery and development of a range of CRISPR-associated enzymes has led to the term 'CRISPR' being used as a generic term for this suite of gene editing technologies.
• PDMS – PolyDiMethylSiloxane is the most widely used silicon-based organic polymer. It is optically clear, usually considered inert, non-toxic, and non-flammable. It is used in a wide range of medical, food, and industrial processes.

As we mentioned during the podcast, Vittorio has several videos and public announcements explaining his research areas.  These include:

LAMP SARS-Cov-2 assay in a Nespresso capsule

• https://chemrxiv.org/articles/preprint/CoroNaspresso_A_Cheap_Rapid_and_Simple_Home_Test_for_Nucleic_Acid_Amplification/14224481

Microfluidics

• https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=41556.php
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8I7awRYY4

3D printing dichroic nanocomposites (Lycurgus cup)

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6761173/3D-printed-goblet-changes-colour-deepening-direction-light-hits-it.html
• https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=54410.php
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhetC8Yd44g
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysxq4akBIVU

Standard 3D printers for microfabrication

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/admt.202000344
• https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/dutch-researchers-3d-print-velcro-like-mushroom-inspired-fastening-material-183135/

And some Arduino

• https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132213-500-handheld-device-could-detect-crispr-bioweapons-before-they-spread/

Vittorio's publications are all at

• https://scholar.google.nl/citations?hl=en&user=AlppnJ4AAAAJ

Vittorio (and his research) is very present on social media, you can find him on 
LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vittorio-saggiomo-42920617b/, 
On Twitter, search @V_Saggiomo
Vittorio's publications are all at https://scholar.google.nl/citations?hl=en&user=AlppnJ4AAAAJ

Our theme music is "Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Music from https://filmmusic.io

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Connect with me (Paul) at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulorange/

H.E.L. group can be found at 

www.helgroup.com

 online,

on LinkedIn at 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hel-group/

on Twitter we're @hel_group, 

https://twitter.com/hel_group

or search for us on Facebook