Scientists aim to decode the genetic roots of mental illness on a large scale

International Society for Stem Cell Research

 

image: 

Researchers join forces in a consortium called SSPsyGene with the joint goal of characterizing the genetic origins of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (NPD) focusing on 250 selected high-risk genes. In the initial phase of the project, the teams tested 23 NPD risk genes. The resulting stem cell lines will be made available to other researchers worldwide to facilitate research on those risk genes and their contribution to NPD.

view more 

Credit: MiNND group

Neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (NPD) including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, and depression are detrimental to individuals, their families and society as a whole, and in many cases still lack effective treatments. It’s becoming more and more clear that genetic mutations in certain genes can increase the likelihood of developing NPD, and several hundreds of those “risk genes” have been identified to date, but their role related to NPD remains a mystery. “Very little is known about the basic function of most of these genes, and what we do know often comes from work in cancer cell lines rather than brain cell types,” says David Panchision, Chief of the Developmental and Genomic Neuroscience Research Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), who spearheaded the SSPsyGene program aiming to tackle this challenge. “As such, we still don’t have a clear understanding of how alterations in these genes may work individually or in combination to contribute to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.”

To get to the bottom of this, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) initiated a consortium called SSPsyGene (sspsygene.ucsc.edu) in 2023, uniting research teams from renowned US universities with the joint goal of characterizing the genetic origins of NPD, focusing on 250 selected high-risk genes. Among the contributors are Jubao Duan, Endeavor Health (formerly NorthShore University Health System) and University of Chicago, USA and Zhiping Pang, Rutgers University, USA with their teams, who developed a method for mutating NPD risk genes in human stem cells at large scale. In the modified cells, a selected NPD risk gene is mutated so that it no longer makes a functional protein. The modified stem cells can subsequently be turned into neurons and other brain cells to model the consequences of risk gene mutations in a simplified, lab-based version of the human brain.  In the initial phase of the project, the teams tested 23 NPD risk genes, reported in work published in a recent article in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The resulting stem cell lines will be made available to other researchers worldwide to facilitate research on those risk genes and their contribution to NPD. In future works, Pang, Duan and the other members of the consortium will join forces to generate mutated stem cell lines for a much larger number of risk genes, with the ultimate goal of understanding the genetic causes for NPD and for generating better treatments. “The hope is that this collaborative work will generate a highly impactful resource for the neuroscience and psychiatric research community,” Panchision says. 

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. X: @StemCellReports

###

---

Journal

Stem Cell Reports

DOI

10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.08.003 

Article Title

Scaled and Efficient Derivation of Loss of Function Alleles in Risk Genes for Neurodevelopmental and Psychiatric Disorders in Human iPSC

 

Zebrafish “taste” oxygen: A breakthrough in respiratory biology

University of Ottawa

 

image: 

“We've uncovered a fascinating connection between taste and breathing in fish”

Steve Perry

— Emeritus Professor in the department of biology

view more 

Credit: University of Ottawa

A recent study conducted at the University of Ottawa reveals that some fish use their tastebuds to measure oxygen levels in water. Specifically, zebrafish larvae (a freshwater fish that belongs to the minnow family) can taste oxygen levels in the water using the same cells they use to taste their food. Those same cells also function as oxygen sensors, playing a crucial role in regulating the fish’s breathing response to low oxygen conditions. This dual functionality of taste bud cells was previously unknown and challenges our existing understanding of sensory systems in aquatic animals.

"We've uncovered a fascinating connection between taste and breathing in fish," says Steve Perry, an Emeritus Professor in the department of biology at the University of Ottawa. "Our research provides the first direct evidence of oxygen-sensing cells linked to the control of breathing in these animals, and surprisingly, these cells are located within their taste buds."

To arrive at these conclusions, the research team employed innovative techniques, including intracellular calcium imaging in live fish. 

"We observed that these sensory cells are activated by low oxygen levels, or hypoxia," explains co-author Yihang Kevin Pan, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Perry’s lab. "When we ablated – or removed- these cells, it disrupted the fish's breathing patterns under hypoxic conditions. Conversely, activating the nerves emanating from the taste buds stimulated breathing."

This discovery has far-reaching implications for understanding how fish adapt to changing environmental conditions. It suggests that the ability to "taste" oxygen levels in the water may be a crucial survival mechanism for aquatic organisms, allowing them to detect and respond to potentially dangerous low-oxygen situations quickly.

The research also highlights the remarkable adaptability of sensory systems in nature. "It's a prime example of how the same biological structure can serve multiple function," Pan notes. "In this case, taste buds in addition to the well-known function of sensing taste cues also serve a vital respiratory function."

As we face increasing environmental challenges, including climate change-induced alterations in aquatic ecosystems, understanding how fish perceive and respond to changes in their environment becomes ever more critical. Beyond scientific understanding, this discovery may have practical implications for protecting and cultivating aquatic life.

The study, titled “Developing zebrafish utilize taste-signaling pathways for oxygen chemoreception”, was published in the journal Current Biology. 

---

Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.015 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Developing zebrafish utilize taste-signaling pathways for oxygen chemoreception

 

Killer yeasts may help remedy a craft beer brewing bother

American Society for Microbiology

Highlights:

• Diastatic yeasts can spoil craft beer through hyperattenuation, which boosts the alcohol content and causes bottles to explode.
• Killer toxins, which are produced by other yeast strains, hint at a remedy.
• In a proof-of-concept study, researchers found that killer toxins inhibited up to 95% of diastatic yeasts.
• More work is needed to fine tune the recipe, but killer yeasts may help brewers remedy potentially contaminated beers.

• 
  

Washington, D.C. — Sept. 12, 2024 — When diastatic strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or brewer’s yeast, land in the wrong place, they can become a craft beer brewer’s nightmare. Diastatic yeasts are variant strains of yeasts that secrete glucoamylase, an enzyme that can break down dextrins into simple sugars, which can spoil fresh beer by augmenting the alcohol content, changing the flavor and in worst-case scenarios, making bottles explode.

One way to remedy the problem before bottles start to break might be hiding in plain sight. This week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a group of brewers and microbiologists report the solution to this yeast problem may be other yeasts. The researchers found that proteins called killer toxins, which are produced naturally by many strains of S. cerevisiae, suppress diastatic strains and may help curb the issue.

“If you’ve got a diastatic contamination, most of the time you just throw away the beer, and that’s expensive,” said microbiologist and senior author Paul Rowley, Ph.D., at the University of Idaho. “What we show in the paper is that we can add the killer yeast at the point of contamination. It’s a remediation procedure to prevent the diastatic strains from taking off.”

Diastatic strains of S. cerevisiae play an important role in brewing Belgian-style saison beers, which typically have a higher alcohol content than other styles. The problem arises, Rowley said, when those strains end up in the mix for pale ales and other types and set off a secondary fermentation. Although many breweries have robust surveillance methods to prevent contamination, the strains can slip by.

“If you were to look at these strains on an agar plate, you couldn’t morphologically tell the difference,” he said. The only difference, he said, is that diastatic yeasts have a genetic change that gives them an extra ability to degrade residual starches. “Yeast looks like yeast.”

Large breweries avoid the problem by pasteurizing beer, but the process is expensive, and some small brewers worry that pasteurization changes the taste, said Nicholas Ketchum, a microbiologist who works at the Rhinegeist brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio and co-author on the new study. One of his responsibilities at Rhinegeist is to keep an eye out for diastatic contamination.

The research began a few years ago when Ketchum was teaching an applied microbiology and brewing class at a community college in Cincinnati. As he prepared a lecture on wild yeasts and killer toxins, he realized that those proteins might offer an inexpensive way to remedy diastatic contamination. He ran a few experiments, presented preliminary findings at the World Brewing Congress in 2020, and discussed the work on a beer brewer’s podcast—where the mention of killer yeasts caught Rowley’s attention.  

Researchers in Rowley’s lab—including then-undergraduates Victor Zhong and Ximena Garcia—subjected 34 diastatic strains of yeast to Saccharomyces strains producing 8 known killer toxins. The most effective toxin, K1, prevented the growth of more than 91% of diastatic strains tested.

The next step is to better understand the mechanism, said Ketchum, and find a way to make it broadly useful to craft brewers. “There are more unknowns than there are knowns” about the process, he said. The efficacy of the toxins, for example, seems to depend on the amount of total yeast in the mix, and not just diastatic strains. Rowley is also currently investigating how widespread the problem is among small brewers.

Rowley continues to investigate killer toxins, which haven’t been well studied. “Yeasts are a lot more complicated than we might think,” he said.

 

###

 

The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of over 32,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

 

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.

 

---

Journal

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

 

Catalyzing environmental cleanup: A highly active and selective molecular catalyst and electrified membrane

Innovative electrochemical catalyst breaks down trichloroethylene pollutants at unprecedented rate

Tsinghua University Press

 

image: 

The CoPc/CNT catalyst decomposes TCE with nearly 100% Faradaic efficiency while the filtration device achieves a 95% removal rate in simulated water samples.

view more 

Credit: Hailiang Wang, Yale University

Connecticut, U.S.A -- Some chemicals create environmental problems; others, fortunately, can help clean them up.

 

Chemists from Yale University and their colleagues have developed an electrochemical catalyst and membrane that offers an efficient and sustainable way to treat water contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a common and persistent environmental pollutant. Their findings highlight the potential for advanced electrochemical treatments in environmental remediation and open the door for further innovations in the field.

 

Their results were published in Carbon Future on September 5.

 

TCE is a common industrial solvent or cleaning agent used in refrigerants, dry cleaning, and metal and electronic degreasing. However, TCE’s toxic properties can cause harm to multiple organs and induce cancer. Water contamination by TCE is not uncommon.

 

While bioremediation was one of the first methods used to tackle TCE pollution, it is often slow and generates byproducts that are even more toxic. Chemical remediation is faster and more efficient but often requires strong chemicals and does not completely decompose TCE. Consequently, electrochemical treatment, which uses electrical currents to decompose contaminants, is emerging as a more effective and sustainable solution for TCE remediation.

 

“Electrochemical methods have shown promise for treating water contaminated by chlorinated volatile organic compounds, but efficiently removing and repurposing TCE has been a challenge due to the lack of effective catalysts,” said Hailiang Wang, a professor at Yale University’s Department of Chemistry and Energy Sciences Institute and the lead corresponding author of this study.

 

Responding to this need, the research team developed a catalyst composed of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules mounted on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). This catalyst breaks down TCE at record rates, turning it into ethylene and chloride ions with nearly 100% Faradaic efficiency. This means that almost all the electrical current is used to convert TCE into harmless products without generating harmful byproducts, making it promising for practical applications.

 

“The key to our success is the first electron transfer step, which doesn’t involve protons, and the single site nature of our catalyst” said Yuanzuo Gao, a graduate student in Wang’s group and the first author of this study. “These helped us avoid the hydrogen evolution reaction and thereby promote TCE dechlorination.”

 

The hydrogen evolution reaction is a side reaction that consumes electrons that could otherwise be used to break down pollutants, diminishing the current efficiency of the process.

 

To enhance the practical application of this catalyst, the team incorporated CoPc molecules into an electrified membrane made from reduced graphene oxide (rGO), a modified form of graphene known for its strength, lightweight nature and high conductivity. This membrane filtration device achieved 95% removal of TCE from simulated water samples that mimic actual water treatment conditions, marking a significant advancement in the technology’s practical use.

 

This study underscores the potential of advanced electrochemical methods to address complex environmental challenges and drive progress in water treatment and industrial pollution control.

 

“By combining CoPc molecules with CNT and rGO supports, we have created highly selective and active electrocatalysts for the treatment of TCE in water,” Gao said.

 

---

About Carbon Future

Carbon Future is an open access, peer-reviewed and international interdisciplinary journal, published by Tsinghua University Press and exclusively available via SciOpen. Carbon Future reports carbon-related materials and processes, including catalysis, energy conversion and storage, as well as low carbon emission process and engineering. Carbon Future will publish Research Articles, Reviews, Minireviews, Highlights, Perspectives, and News and Views from all aspects concerned with carbon. Carbon Future will publish articles that focus on, but not limited to, the following areas: carbon-related or -derived materials, carbon-related catalysis and fundamentals, low carbon-related energy conversion and storage, low carbon emission chemical processes.

About SciOpen 

SciOpen is an open access resource of scientific and technical content published by Tsinghua University Press and its publishing partners. SciOpen provides end-to-end services across manuscript submission, peer review, content hosting, analytics, identity management, and expert advice to ensure each journal’s development. By digitalizing the publishing process, SciOpen widens the reach, deepens the impact, and accelerates the exchange of ideas.

---

Journal

Carbon Future

DOI

10.26599/CF.2024.9200015 

Article Title

Effective electrochemical trichloroethylene removal from water enabled by selective molecular catalysis

Texas Tech earns $1.6 million Environmental Protection Agency grant

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University’s Department of Civil, Environmental, & Construction Engineering has earned a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate sources and mitigation of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) sources in farming operations.

This project is part of over $15 million in total grant funding the EPA hopes will enable 10 institutions to discover methods of reducing PFAS in food, farmland and farming communities. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals most people in the U.S. have been exposed to through soil, air, water and food. PFAS have been widely used in industry and consumer products (such as food packaging and stain-repellent coatings) since the 1940s and are resistant to environmental and metabolic degradation. This can lead to accumulation in the environment and organisms including humans.

In the case of humans, some PFAS are associated with health impacts such as increased risks of cancers. These environmental and human health risks are why Jennifer Guelfo, associate professor of environmental engineering in the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, aims to develop strategies that will prevent PFAS impacts from happening at agricultural facilities and mitigate effects that already have occurred.

“PFAS are a growing challenge for those who own and operate agricultural facilities,” Guelfo explained. “PFAS impacts have caused issues, including sick livestock, PFAS-impacted products (meat, dairy and produce) and loss of property value. Farmers have experienced health impacts, and if impacted products are inadvertently sold to the public, there is also a broader public health risk.”

There are numerous ways PFAS are introduced to agricultural operations, including contaminated fertilizer, groundwater wells used for irrigation and drinking water, and impacted feed. Given the persistence and health hazard of PFAS, it is important to understand how these chemicals accumulate in agricultural plants and animals, potentially contaminating the food supply.

Guelfo is the principal investigator of Texas Tech’s community-engaged project titled “Evaluating and Mitigating Bioaccumulation of PFAS in Plant, Mammalian, and Aquaculture Systems.” She is joined by Todd Anderson, professor of environmental chemistry; Jordan Crago, associate professor of aquatic toxicology; Evan Gray, assistant professor of environmental engineering; W. Andrew Jackson, department chair of environmental engineering; and Shane Walker, director of the Water and the Environment Research (WATER) Center.

During the next four years, these researchers will:

• Conduct a detailed survey and characterization of the impacts of manure and biosolid pre-application treatment or processing through lab and modeling studies
• Use plant cultivation studies to measure PFAS partitioning and bioavailability as a function of soil type and biosolid amendment
• Observe fish cultivation to measure PFAS uptake, partitioning, and elimination due to exposure to water and dietary sources among other potential PFAS sources
• Analyze data from lab studies to form PFAS management strategies in agricultural settings

“Once a facility is impacted there are few options to help resume normal operation, which has led to extreme scenarios such as euthanizing entire herds of livestock, loss of property, and loss of livelihood,” Guelfo said. “As an urban area in the middle of a very agricultural region, this project is a unique opportunity for Texas Tech to pursue research that will be beneficial at local, national and international levels.

“We are excited to work with local agricultural stakeholders who will review our strategies to help ensure they are realistic for implementation in real-world facilities.”

More details about Texas Tech’s contribution to this EPA initiative can be found here.

 

Kids in families with too much screen time struggle with language skills

Scientists find that children whose families use screens a lot have weaker vocabulary skills — and videogames have the biggest negative effect

Frontiers

Screens have become ubiquitous in our daily lives — which means they’ve also become part of children’s lives too. So what effect does this have on children’s developing brains, especially critical language skills? To understand this, scientists in Estonia surveyed the parents of more than 400 children about their screen use, their children’s screen use, and their children’s language skills. They found that parents who use screens a lot also have children who use screens a lot, and that children’s higher screen time is associated with poorer language skills. 

“Our study reveals that children’s screen use patterns are similar to those of their parents,” said Dr Tiia Tulviste of the University of Tartu, lead author of the study in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology. “Child language researchers emphasize the importance of everyday interactions with adults in early language development, where children are actively involved. At the same time, we know that all family members tend to their screen devices. Because time is finite, we need to find out how this fierce competition between face-to-face interaction and screen time affects child language development.” 

Talking or technology 

In many cultures, most of children’s language development occurs because they talk to adults: having conversations exposes them to more vocabulary and grammatical structures. The presence of screens can disrupt this, especially if an adult is being interrupted by texts or notifications. But understanding how this affects children’s development requires accounting for the different types of screen children may be using and what they’re using them for, as well as the screens that adults around them use.  

Tulviste and co-investigator Dr Jaan Tulviste surveyed a representative sample of Estonian families, including 421 children aged between two and a half and four years old. The survey asked parents to estimate how long each member of the family would spend using different screen devices for different purposes on a typical weekend day. It also asked how much of this time would be spent using a screen as a family, for example watching a film together. Finally, parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire evaluating their children’s language ability.  

The researchers sorted both children and adults into three screen use groups — high, low, and moderate. They then analyzed this data to see if there was a link between parental screen use and children’s screen use. They found that parents and children generally belonged to the same groups: parents who used screens a lot had children who also used screens a lot. Controlling for age, they looked at the language development of these children, and found that children who used screens less scored higher for both grammar and vocabulary. No form of screen use had a positive effect on children’s language skills.  

“While reading ebooks and playing some educational games may offer language learning opportunities, especially for older children, research shows that during the first years of life, the most influential factor is everyday dyadic face-to-face parent-child verbal interaction,” said Tulviste.  

Fun and games? 

Using screens for videogames had a notable negative effect on children’s language skills, regardless of whether parents or children were gaming. Tulviste explained cultural factors could be involved in this result: “For Estonian children, few developmentally appropriate computer games exist for this age group. Games in a foreign language with limited interactivity or visual-only content likely do not provide rich opportunities for learning oral language and communication skills.” 

The authors pointed out that more research will need to be done to understand how the pandemic has affected these patterns: they originally collected their data in 2019. It would also be important to learn how these whole-family profiles change over time, using longitudinal studies that follow families as children grow up.  

“The study has a cross-sectional design — we studied each participant only once and did not follow their developmental trajectory over a longer time period,” cautioned Tulviste. “Also, the data were collected before the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be interesting to look at future research findings addressing language development and the impact of screen use during the pandemic.” 

---

Journal

Frontiers in Developmental Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fdpys.2024.1404235 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Weekend screen use of parents and children associates with child language skills

 SPACE/COSMOLOGY

Combination and summary of ATLAS dark matter searches in 2HDM+a

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Science China Press

In the 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed that the velocities of galaxies in the Coma Cluster were too high to be maintained solely by the gravitational pull of luminous matter. He proposed the existence of some non-luminous matter within the galaxy cluster, which he called dark matter. This discovery marked the beginning of humanity's understanding and study of dark matter.

Today, the most precise measurements of dark matter in the universe come from observations of the cosmic microwave background. The latest results from the Planck satellite indicate that about 5% of the mass in our universe comes from visible matter (mainly baryonic matter), approximately 27% comes from dark matter, and the rest from dark energy.

Despite extensive astronomical observations confirming the existence of dark matter, we have limited knowledge about the properties of dark matter particles. From a microscopic perspective, the Standard Model of particle physics, established in the mid-20th century, has been hugely successful and confirmed by numerous experiments. However, the Standard Model cannot explain the existence of dark matter in the universe, indicating the need for new physics beyond the Standard Model to account for dark matter candidate particles, and the urgent need to find experimental evidence of these candidates.

Consequently, dark matter research is not only a hot topic in astronomy but also at the forefront of particle physics research. Searching for dark matter particles in colliders is one of the three major experimental approaches to detect the interaction between dark matter and regular matter, complementing other types of dark matter detection experiments such as underground direct detection experiments and space-based indirect detection experiments.

Recently, the ATLAS collaboration searched for dark matter using the 139 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data accumulated during LHC's Run 2, within the 2HDM+a dark matter theoretical framework. The search utilized a variety of dark matter production processes and experimental signatures, including some not considered in traditional dark matter models. To further enhance the sensitivity of the dark matter search, this work statistically combined the three most sensitive experimental signatures: the process involving a Z boson decaying into leptons with large missing transverse momentum, the process involving a Higgs boson decaying into bottom quarks with large missing transverse momentum, and the process involving a charged Higgs boson with top and bottom quark final states.

This is the first time ATLAS has conducted a combined statistical analysis of final states including dark matter particles and intermediate states decaying directly into Standard Model particles. This innovation has significantly enhanced the constraint on the model parameter space and the sensitivity to new physics.

"This work is one of the largest projects in the search for new physics at the LHC, involving nearly 20 different analysis channels. The complementary nature of different analysis channels to constrain the parameter space of new physics highlights the unique advantages of collider experiments," said Zirui Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan.

This work has provided strong experimental constraints on multiple new benchmark parameter models within the 2HDM+a theoretical framework, including some parameter spaces never explored by previous experiments. This represents the most comprehensive experimental result from the ATLAS collaboration for the 2HDM+a dark matter model.

Lailin Xu, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China stated, "2HDM+a is one of the mainstream new physics theoretical frameworks for dark matter in the world today. It has significant advantages in predicting dark matter phenomena and compatibility with current experimental constraints, predicting a rich variety of dark matter production processes in LHC experiments. This work systematically carried out multi-process searches and combined statistical analysis based on the 2HDM+a model framework, providing results that exclude a large portion of the possible parameter space for dark matter, offering important guidance for future dark matter searches."

Vu Ngoc Khanh, a postdoctoral researcher at Tsung-Dao Lee institute, stated: “Although we have not yet found dark matter particles at the LHC, compared to before the LHC’s operation, we have put stringent constraints on the parameter space where dark matter might exist, including the mass of the dark matter particles and their interaction strengths with other particles, further narrowing the search scope.” Tsung Dao Lee Fellow Li Shu, added: “So far, the data collected by the LHC only accounts for about 7% of the total data the experiment will record. The data that the LHC will generate over the next 20 years presents a tremendous opportunity to discover dark matter. Our past experiences have shown us that dark matter might be different from what we initially thought, which motivates us to use more innovative experimental methods and techniques in our search.”

ATLAS is one of the four large experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The ATLAS experiment is a multipurpose particle detector with a forward–backward symmetric cylindrical geometry and nearly 4π coverage in solid angle. It consists of an inner tracking detector surrounded by a thin superconducting solenoid, high-granularity sampling electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters, and a muon spectrometer with three superconducting air-core toroidal magnets. The ATLAS Collaboration consists of more than 5900 members from 253 institutes in 42 countries on 6 continents, including physicists, engineers, students, and technical staff.

---

Journal

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2024.06.003 

 

Breakthrough study unveils key steps for turning CO2 into valuable chemicals

Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society

 

image: 

Turning CO2 into Valuable Chemicals

view more 

Credit: © FHI

CO2 Reduction: A Pathway to Valuable Chemicals

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) is a promising technology that uses renewable electricity to convert CO2 into high-value chemicals, effectively closing the carbon cycle. Ethylene and ethanol, the focus of this study, are crucial for producing environmentally-friendly plastics and fuels, respectively. However, the exact mechanisms and intermediate steps involved in this conversion have remained elusive until now. The former mechanistic understanding is crucial in order to rationally design the active sites, which we show here are not only present in the synthesized pre-catalyst, but can also be formed and evolve in the course of the reaction through the interaction with reactants and reaction intermediates.

Key Findings: Spectroscopic Insights and Theoretical Support

The research team led by group leader Dr. Arno Bergmann, Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya and Prof. Dr. Núria López employed in-situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and density functional theory (DFT) to investigate the molecular species on copper (Cu) electrocatalysts and thereby, gain insights into the reaction mechanism. Their findings reveal that the formation of ethylene occurs when specific intermediates, known as *OC-CO(H) dimers, form on undercoordinated Cu sites. Conversely, the production of ethanol requires highly compressed and distorted coordination environment of the Cu sites, with the key intermediate *OCHCH2.

Understanding the Role of Surface Morphology

One of the critical discoveries is the role of surface morphology in the reaction process. The team found that the undercoordinated Cu sites strengthen the binding of CO, a crucial step in the reduction process. These Cu sites, characterized by atomic-level irregularities, likely form under reaction conditions and make the catalytic surface more effective, leading to better performance in producing ethylene and ethanol.

Implications for the Chemical Industry

These findings have significant implications for the chemical industry, particularly in the production of plastics and fuels. By understanding the specific conditions and intermediates required for the selective production of ethylene and ethanol, researchers can design more efficient and sustainable catalysts. This could lead to more effective ways to utilize CO2, reducing the carbon footprint of chemical manufacturing processes.

Collaborative Effort

The study was a collaborative effort, with theoretical support from a research group in Spain. This partnership allowed for a comprehensive investigation, combining experimental and theoretical approaches to provide a detailed understanding of the CO2 reduction process.

Conclusion

The research conducted by the Interface Science Department at the Fritz Haber Institute and Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia represents a significant step forward in the field of CO2 reduction. By unveiling the key intermediates and active sites involved in the production of ethylene and ethanol, this study provides a foundation for developing more efficient and sustainable catalytic processes. The findings not only advance scientific knowledge but also offer practical solutions for reducing CO2 emissions and promoting sustainable chemical production.

---

Journal

Nature Energy

DOI

10.1038/s41560-024-01633-4 

Article Title

Key intermediates and Cu active sites for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene and ethanol

 

Study finds doctors and patients interested in environmental impact of health care decisions

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

BOSTON – Concerns about the environmental impact of healthcare decisions rarely enter into conversations between patients and physicians. However, evidence from a new study led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, shows there's broad interest in changing that.

In a series of focus groups conducted in different areas of the United States, doctors and patients expressed openness to considering environmental factors when discussing treatment options. The findings, presented in a paper published online today by Nature Climate Change, suggest that educating physicians about the environmental costs of treatment – and how those costs may be reduced while continuing to deliver excellent care – can be a first step toward that goal.

"Studies have shown that the U.S. healthcare industry is responsible for 8.5% of national greenhouse gases emissions and about 25% of healthcare emissions worldwide," said Andrew Hantel, MD, a faculty member in the Divisions of Leukemia and Population Sciences at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who led the study with Dana-Farber colleague Gregory Abel, MD, MPH. "The downstream health consequences of these emissions are responsible for the same level of loss of life as pancreatic cancer or colon cancer every year.

"If healthcare emissions are contributing to climate change that is resulting in this level of harm, we wanted to assess if and how physicians view their responsibility to address this issue," he continues. "We also asked patients how willing they would be to make changes in their care that might reduce emissions and limit harm to others."

Researchers conducted seven focus groups – three made up of physicians, four of patients – involving 46 people in all. Patients, on the whole, were interested in talking about these issues and learning about treatment alternatives that are equally effective but less damaging to the environment.

"Asthma or COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], for example, can be managed in part using powdered or aerosolized inhalers," Hantel relates. "For many patients they're equally effective medications, but powdered inhalers have significant environmental benefits."

Roughly two-thirds of the focus group participants identified as members of racial and ethnic minority groups, who often experience the harshest effects of climate change despite being less responsible for those effects than other groups. Many of them were interested in making environmentally conscious health decisions but wanted to ensure that the main contributors to climate change were also held accountable, researchers found. Some participants expressed a concern that physicians’ paternalism might be a deterrent to having climate-informed discussions with patients.

Many of the physicians in the focus groups incorrectly assumed that patients were not interested in discussing the environmental consequences of health choices, researchers found. Even if patients were interested, physicians said their medical school education hadn't prepared them to address the subject adequately.

At the same time, physicians felt their ability to act in a climate-informed fashion was limited by a healthcare culture oriented toward consumption of natural resources. "There was a sense of systemic headwinds against the kind of changes that can be beneficial for patients as well as the environment," Hantel observes.

Physicians and patients generally agreed that patients' immediate health should be prioritized over environmental concerns. In situations where there's co-benefit, however, both groups were open to actions that reduce environmental impact.

"Our findings point to the need to better educate physicians and health professionals about changes they can make, as well as those they can advocate for within their institutions, which benefit patients but also are less toxic to the environment," Hantel comments. "The goal isn't to shift the burden of climate-informed healthcare decisions onto patients, but to engage with them on these issues and make sure they're a normal part of conversations with their doctors."

The study was supported by the Greenwall Foundation.

---

Journal

Nature Climate Change