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Illuminating sulfides’ roles in the body

Ming Xian
Ming Xian

For the first time, researchers at Washington State University have created an injectable compound or “probe” that illuminates hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen polysulfides in different colors when they are present in cells.

Hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen polysulfides are gases notorious as the source of rotten egg stench. They are produced and used for a wide variety of processes in the body. They are thought to play a role in aging as well as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart attack, cancer and many other diseases, but their precise functions remain a mystery.

The new probe, developed by WSU chemistry professor Ming Xian, will give medical researchers the ability to start identifying the functions each gas plays in specific biological processes, such as inflammation in the heart or the buildup of tumor cells, which could eventually lead to the design of new drugs and medical therapies.

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WSU News

Phys.org

Nuclear reactor on WSU campus generates electricity, curiosity

Ken Nash
Ken Nash

The nondescript building sits on the very edge of Washington State University’s campus in Pullman. An anonymous front door leads visitors through a metal detector and into a sparsely decorated reception area. Everyone must sign in. The first clue to what’s inside the building is the familiar Cougar logo emblazoned on top of a door-size international sign for radiation. And the lit “Reactor On” sign. This is the Dodgen Research Facility, home of WSU’s nuclear reactor and the university’s radiation center.

Dr. Ken Nash is a professor of chemistry who works on more efficiently managing nuclear waste. He said the campus reactor makes it possible for him to work with elements that are heavier than uranium.

“These are man-made elements that only exist because we know about nuclear science,” Nash said.

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Seattle Times

Spokesman Review

 

 

New radiochemistry training offered to WSU grad students

Nathalie Wall
Nathalie Wall

A new radiochemistry trainee program at Washington State University will help address a critical shortage of scientists in the nuclear energy industry.

Supported by a $3 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, the program will enhance training at WSU and let graduate students work alongside radiochemistry experts at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the next five years.

“Researchers and staff trained in America’s nuclear era in the late 20th century are retiring in large numbers and the current supply of trainees will not able to keep up with demand,” said Nathalie Wall, associate professor of chemistry and director of the WSU radiochemistry traineeship. “This program will provide our students with a variety of research experiences and a pipeline of potential employees well-educated in radiochemistry.”

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WSU News

Multimillion dollar grant to support nuclear waste cleanup

Sue Clark
Sue Clark

Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers have received a four-year, multimillion dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the chemical reactions that cause nuclear waste to change over time.

The grant establishes the IDREAM center, one of four newly minted DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers intended to play a major role in expediting the cleanup of Hanford and other sites contaminated by decades of nuclear weapons production. Sue Clark, a Batelle fellow at PNNL and a WSU regents professor of chemistry will serve as director of IDREAM (Interfacial Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials).

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WSU News

PNNL News

Tri-City Herald

Licensing agreement will improve chemical detection

A new licensing partnership between Washington State University and Excellims Corp. will improve chemical detection tools used to identify everything from dangerous chemicals to human disease.

Herbert Hill
Herbert Hill

“I am very happy to see our research achievements being implemented into a commercial instrument,” said Herbert Hill, a WSU Regents professor in chemistry who developed the licensed technology. “This will allow researchers in a variety of academic research and industrial research fields to have a more powerful tool based on ion mobility spectrometry.”

Ching Wu, president and CEO of Excellims, is a former student of Hill. Wu graduated from WSU in 1997 and launched Excellims in 2005. » More …