Researchers pioneer breakthrough that could change how medicine is made: 'These ... drive desired reactions forward'
Researchers at the University of Missouri have developed a chemical tool that uses "soapy" water and electricity that can reduce the cost of medicine manufacturing and enhance clean energy technology, according to Phys.org.
Traditionally, medicine is made through electrochemistry. However, this process uses toxic solvents such as chloroform.
University of Missouri associate professor Sachin Handa and graduate student Karanjeet Kaur collaborated with Novartis Pharmaceuticals to develop sustainable substances known as micelles, which are derived from naturally occurring amino acids and coconut oil.
These micelles, with an appearance of soapy water, have a unique structure that can be used efficiently in electrochemical reactions without the need for toxic solvents or electrolytes.
"These micelles drive desired reactions forward," explained Mizzou's Sachin Handa. "But they don't react with anything and remain stable, making them unique from ionic micelles."
Because the chemical reactions are highly efficient, it could lower the cost of manufacturing certain medicines, "such as the NS5A of the Hepatitis C virus." According to Handa, it can also "be used to treat hyperproliferative, inflammatory and immunoregulatory diseases."
In addition to medicine manufacturing, the micelles could also help develop clean energy technologies like hydrogen fuel.
"This process, known as electrocatalysis, also plays a key role in clean energy production," Handa said. "With the same approach, hydrogen—in situ generated from water—can potentially be used as a clean fuel. Plus, we can use hydrogen to break down harmful PFAS chemicals, transforming them into useful hydrocarbons while simultaneously releasing oxygen into the air."
The study was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Medicine prices have risen by 15.2% year over year between 2022 and 2023, according to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The advancement of this technology could lower the costs of manufacturing drugs, which could lower the costs of drugs for consumers.
Should the government be able to control how we heat our homes?
Definitely
Only if it saves money
I'm not sure
No way
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
However, as senior faculty editor, Harvard Health Publishing's Robert H. Shmerling pointed out, there is no evidence of a connection between development costs for drugs and the drug price. Still, the micelles could lower toxic chemicals and the "environmental impact of traditional chemical processes" used in the production of medicine, according to the University of Missouri.
And the micelles can contribute to clean energy tech. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, hydrogen fuel could have many uses, from fueling vehicles and power plants to energy storage and heating.
Hydrogen fuel can be produced through different means, including thermal, solar, biological, and electrolytic processes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This new process, using the micelles from the University of Missouri and a type of electrolytic process, could help increase the production of hydrogen fuel, reducing the need for dirty energy, such as coal and gas, which contribute to planet-warming pollution and extreme weather events.
Many companies are producing and testing systems of hydrogen fuel, including Honda and Hypermotive, which are collaborating on a fuel cell for vehicles. Other companies are working to test hydrogen fuel in ships and planes.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Can Tackling Addictions Reduce Medicaid Costs?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Discussions around Medicaid costs have become more heated than ever in recent months as President Donald Trump's administration tries to push its budget bill through the legislative ranks. House Republicans have instructed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to slash $880 billion in spending over the next decade, with Medicaid making up 93 percent of the committee's budget. As a result, the amount of money the federal Medicaid program needs to provide health care services for more than 70 million Americans has been under dispute, with some arguing there is significant waste and misuse of money in the system, while others have warned cuts would leave millions of vulnerable people without access to health care. While lawmakers continue debating the divisive legislation, experts have discussed with Newsweek whether there could be another way of reducing Medicaid costs—tackling substance use disorders. Medicaid enrollees with substance use disorders require significantly higher health costs than those without—around $1,200 per month on average compared to $550, according to KFF. Around 7.2 percent of Medicaid recipients age 12 to 64 have a diagnosed substance use disorder, and treatment is key to addressing overdoses, deaths and other health or social complications, KFF reported. So could tackling substance use disorders in turn reduce costs for the Medicaid program? Here's what experts told Newsweek. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva Why Are Medicaid Costs Higher for Those With Substance Use Disorders? The reason Medicaid enrollees with substance use disorders have higher health costs is because they often also have additional health complications, Dr. Joshua Lynch, professor of emergency and addiction medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, New York, told Newsweek. This could be physical health conditions, such as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes, or mental health disorders, "which can lead to more complex health care needs," he added. Those with substance use disorders also may "experience more fragmented care and more challenging access to high quality, lower cost care and preventative services," Lynch said. They may also struggle to work, or stay in work, and this may "contribute to increased reliance on higher-cost healthcare services," he added. Many Americans with substance use disorders also go undiagnosed, Brendan Saloner, professor of health policy and management at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, told Newsweek. He added that those with substance addiction can have a lot of problems, such as the risk of overdose, or contracting blood-borne diseases like HIV or hepatitis C, as well as other issues, so "it's much better to get people into care proactively then to wait for their problems to become a crisis." The higher costs for those with substance use disorders, therefore, could "reflect the devastating physical consequences of substance use itself," Heidi Allen, professor of social work at the Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, told Newsweek, pointing to overdoses, increased vulnerability for chronic illness and exposure to infectious diseases. It's also not just about health complications, John Kelly, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Newsweek. "The nature of these disorders means also that, on average, in the Medicaid population, individuals suffering from substance use disorder tend to have more social instability in terms of secure housing, employment, and criminal justice complications. These all contribute to increased costs," he said. Could Tackling Substance Use Disorders Reduce Medicaid Costs? While tackling substance use disorders may not slash Medicaid costs in the short term, as it would require investment in prevention and treatment, it could have positive economic impacts in the long run. "Prioritizing substance use treatment for enrollees might not reduce Medicaid costs in the short term, since we would expect more Medicaid enrollees to engage with treatment, which itself costs money," Allen said. However, she added that "it could certainly improve the health of enrollees, which might result in Medicaid savings down the road." If patients also have access to high-quality treatment and are able to manage their condition, "they have a lower reliance on high-cost health care such as emergency visits and inpatient hospitalizations," Lynch said. He added that other comorbidities also become more manageable, while housing stability and employment turn more achievable. "All of these will lead to a decrease in overall Medicaid spending," he said. Kelly also said he thought that tackling substance use disorders could reduce costs for Medicaid, adding that "focus on earlier intervention, and better implementation of care coordination will result in reduced use of more expensive acute medical care services, as well as prevention of the contraction of more chronic disease such as alcohol-associated liver diseases, HIV and hepatitis infections." "I am very confident that it would help to prevent some long-term costs to the program and would have a huge impact on other non-health needs like employment and reduced incarceration," Saloner said. But he added that whether it fully pays for itself, or saves money, is a more difficult question to answer. "We have some older studies showing that substance use care can offset lots of costs to society, but purely from the perspective of the Medicaid budget it's hard to say. The quality of life gains make it very cost-effective, whether or not it's cost saving," he said. Carrie Fry, professor in the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Tennessee, told Newsweek: "Research shows that addressing substance use disorder with effective, evidence-based treatments reduces Medicaid costs." In order to cut Medicaid costs, Fry said, making it easier for people with substance use disorders "to start and remain on effective treatment" would be an important step in the process. "For opioid use disorder, this means expanding availability of medications for opioid use disorder including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone," she said. She added that only about half of Medicaid enrollees with an opioid use disorder receive evidence-based treatment in a given year. "So, treatment is an important first step to addressing the burden of substance use disorders in Medicaid and can reduce or prevent additional downstream costs," Fry said. She added that reducing the prevalence of substance use disorder via prevention will "require a more comprehensive approach to addressing broader social conditions that lead to increased risk of developing a substance use disorder."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Researchers make critical breakthrough after using powerful satellite to track dangerous pollution: 'Large-scale missions'
Research published this March in the journal Environmental Research Letters has demonstrated an impressive new way to zero in on heavy polluters and monitor evolving pollution problems, according to a release via Researchers at the Max Planck Institute and Heidelberg University have established a method for using a German satellite, the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMAP, to determine the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) present in the same area "with an unprecedented spatial resolution." These common air pollutants are generally released from the same source, so measuring one or the other independently has been challenging to date. This team leveraged the new technique to assess emissions from power plants. The technology used for such measurements has typically "only [achieved] a spatial resolution of 3 to 5 kilometers" (about 1.9 to 3.1 miles), according to the release. But the EnMAP can achieve an "exceptionally high level of spatial detail" of a 30-meter (98-foot) square, producing more precise and usable data. NO2 isn't technically a greenhouse gas like CO2, methane (CH4), or nitrous oxide (N2O), though it is harmful when in the home. Meanwhile, because NO2 is so often emitted alongside CO2, it is often used to measure CO2 based on an assumed ratio. With independent measuring made possible with the EnMAP, readings can now provide more accurate and insightful information. The EnMAP has been in the sky for three years as of April and has been key to numerous climate-related studies. The paper's co-authors are hopeful about the future applications of the method they have developed using the satellite. "Our study shows how satellites with high spatial resolution can contribute to the targeted monitoring of industrial emissions in the future—in addition to large-scale missions such as the European CO2M satellite," said research leader Thomas Wagner in a statement. With accurate data being key to catching polluters as well as tracking potential improvements, there's the possibility for innovative measurement techniques to play a role in not only penalties for offenders but also in setting more pro-environment policies down the line. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Researchers make incredible discovery about chickens that could help keep grocery prices down: 'We need to differentiate'
Researchers at Cornell University found that feeding chickens grape waste made them less susceptible to diseases. According to the gut health of chickens can open them up to disease. The poultry industry relies on the mass production of chickens, but when chickens get sick and there are fewer chickens, the prices increase in stores. Corresponding author and department of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, associate professor Elad Tako, said, "Inflammation weakens the immune system and opens the birds to other pathogens such as avian flu." Grape pomace is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, so the researchers set out to see just how true that was. Their findings were published in the Journal of Functional Foods. They injected the grape pomace into "amniotic fluid in chicken eggs to induce inflammation, and then a second one of a grape pomace extract to intervene," per Co-author and doctoral food science student, Melissa Huang, said the grape pomace did improve gut inflammation symptoms and intestinal health. In the U.S., the grape industry produces one million pounds of grape pomace waste yearly. What's left over from wine and juice production is stalks, seeds, and grape skins. While some of this is put into animal feeds or made into a fertilizer, much of it ends up in a landfill. According to "nearly three-quarters of production costs are bound up in what the birds eat." So, finding a way to utilize leftover grape pomace is not only a low-cost way for the birds' health, but also stops it from going into a landfill. When birds get sick, it doesn't just cause prices to go up on eggs. WGCU said it's also a threat to biodiversity. What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time Not enough space It seems too hard I have a garden already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. It said bird flu has been growing fast recently and "has infected more than 500 species, including 485 avian and at least 70 mammalian." Some animals that have contracted it are dolphins, seals, foxes, and skunks. Many end up dead or have neurological symptoms. While this is a significant win for keeping animals healthy, Huang said further investigation is needed to optimize the anti-inflammatory effects of grape pomace. She said, "Studies show that fiber and polyphenols, on their own, can affect inflammation. We need to differentiate which specific compounds in grape pomace are making this difference." Reducing reliance on poultry is another way to reduce the risk of the threat to biodiversity. You can do that by exploring plant-based food options. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
