- KAIST–Stanford University collaborative study reveals how ethane alters core metabolism in obligate methanotrophs

- Ethane addition suppresses cell growth, reduces methane consumption, and boosts PHB synthesis

- Offers a new understanding of methanotrophic metabolism in mixed-gas environments and its potential for sustainable biopolymer production

KAIST announced that a research team led by Professor Jaewook Myung from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in collaboration with Stanford University, has identified how ethane (C₂H₆)—a major constituent of natural gas—affects the core metabolic pathways of the obligate methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b.

Targeted drug delivery to tumors is crucial for effective and safe treatment of cancer. In a recent breakthrough, researchers from Okayama University have developed a pH-responsive nanomaterial using graphene oxide and polyglycerol for cancer drug delivery. The surface of the developed nanomaterial changes its charge in an acidic tumor environment and enables uptake of drugs by cancer cells while avoiding immune clearance. This innovative approach opens doors to precision-driven and more efficient cancer therapies.

A machine learning method developed by researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, and other institutions accurately predicts liquid crystallinity of polymers with 96% accuracy. They screened over 115,000 polyimides and selected six candidates with a high probability of exhibiting liquid crystallinity. Upon successful synthesis and experimental analyses, these liquid crystalline polyimides demonstrated thermal conductivities up to 1.26 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, accelerating the discovery of efficient thermal materials for next-generation electronics.

Recently, Professor Yanyan Jiang's research team at Shandong University has developed an innovative "carbon precursor pre-coordination" strategy for precisely regulate the single-atom coordination environments in carbon-supported nanozymes. By using carbon dots as carriers and mimicking the active sites of natural CuZn-SOD and Mn-SOD enzymes, they successfully synthesized highly antioxidative CuMn-CDs using only a household microwave oven. The team conducted a systematic investigation into the antioxidant mechanisms of CuMn-CDs, demonstrating their capability to effectively scavenge free radicals present in cigarette smoke and alleviate lung tissue damage in smoking mouse models. Furthermore, the successful syntheis of various other bimetallic single-atom nanozymes confirmed the universal applicability of this strategy.