Molecular switchA molecular switch is a molecule that can be reversibly shifted between two or more stable states. The molecules may be shifted between the states in response to environmental stimuli, such as changes in pH, light, temperature, an electric current, microenvironment, or in the presence of ions and other ligands. In some cases, a combination of stimuli is required. The oldest forms of synthetic molecular switches are pH indicators, which display distinct colors as a function of pH.
Materials scienceMaterials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Age of Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy. Materials science still incorporates elements of physics, chemistry, and engineering.
IminiumIn organic chemistry, an iminium cation is a polyatomic ion with the general structure . They are common in synthetic chemistry and biology. Iminium cations adopt alkene-like geometries: the central C=N unit is nearly coplanar with all four substituents. Unsymmetrical iminium cations can exist as cis and trans isomers. The C=N bonds, which are near 129 picometers in length, are shorter than C-N single bonds. Cis/trans isomers are observed.
In-gel digestionThe in-gel digestion step is a part of the sample preparation for the mass spectrometric identification of proteins in course of proteomic analysis. The method was introduced in 1992 by Rosenfeld. Innumerable modifications and improvements in the basic elements of the procedure remain. The in-gel digestion step primarily comprises the four steps; destaining, reduction and alkylation (R&A) of the cysteines in the protein, proteolytic cleavage of the protein and extraction of the generated peptides.
Quantitative analysis (chemistry)In analytical chemistry, quantitative analysis is the determination of the absolute or relative abundance (often expressed as a concentration) of one, several or all particular substance(s) present in a sample. Once the presence of certain substances in a sample is known, the study of their absolute or relative abundance could help in determining specific properties. Knowing the composition of a sample is very important, and several ways have been developed to make it possible, like gravimetric and volumetric analysis.
Ethidium bromideEthidium bromide (or homidium bromide, chloride salt homidium chloride) is an intercalating agent commonly used as a fluorescent tag (nucleic acid stain) in molecular biology laboratories for techniques such as agarose gel electrophoresis. It is commonly abbreviated as EtBr, which is also an abbreviation for bromoethane. To avoid confusion, some laboratories have used the abbreviation EthBr for this salt. When exposed to ultraviolet light, it will fluoresce with an orange colour, intensifying almost 20-fold after binding to DNA.
