Professor Moonhor Ree (Department of Chemistry) and his research group, in a joint research with a Dongguk University Medical School team (Professor Heesoo Kim), successfully synthesized new brush polymers. The newly developed brush polymers are suitable for use in biomedical applications including medical devices and biosensors that require biocompatibility and the reduced possibility of post-operative infection.Because cell membranes play an important role protecting the material inside the cell and maintaining the structure and function of the cell, studies on polymer materials that mimic m..

Professor Moon-Ho Jo (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and his group, in a joint study with a Harvard University team, have materialized a new all-electrical surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) detection technique based on the near-field coupling between guided plasmons and a nanowire field-effect transistor. Photonic circuits can be much faster than their electronic counterparts, but it is difficult to miniaturize them below the optical wavelength scale. Nanoscale photonic circuits based on SPPs are a promising solution to this problem because they can localize light below the d..

Astudy revealed that thermosensory neurons of ectotherms affect lifespan at warm temperature by changing the activity of a steroid-signaling pathway that regulates longevity.Professor Seung-Jae Lee (Department of Life Science, School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Division of IT Convergence Engineering) and his team, in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco, discovered that thermosensory neurons of C. elegans (Caenorhabditis elegans), an ectotherm, actively regulates the temperature dependence of lifespan.Many ectotherms, including C. elegans, have sho..

A team of multinational scientists developed a technique to produce tiny, nano-sized optical lenses, a breakthrough that may open new possibilities in microscopy and bio-imaging, the researchers said Wednesday. In a study published in peer-review journal Nature, the researchers, led by Kwang Kim, a researcher from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), said they found that cup-shaped organic molecules, called calyx hydroquinone (CHQ), self-assemble into a lens shape when placed on a surface. The nano-lenses produced in this way could push lens-based magnification to resolve..

In the Steven Spielberg movie A.I., robots not only resemble humans in looks but read their facial expressions, reacting accordingly. With the new technology developed by Professor Daijin Kim (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) and his group, the movie may soon become reality.Automatic expression analysis is difficult because people’s faces vary so much. Existing software could effectively recognize only extreme expressions, which is not particularly helpful in real-life situations. But the system developed by Professor Kim’s team recognizes even slight facial movement..

Korean scientists have identified the structure of a protein linked to epilepsy and other brain function abnormalities, which they say could present new opportunities in treatment and drug development. In a study published by peer-review European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Journal, a team of researchers led Kim Kyung-jin of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) presented the crystal structure of the succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) protein. SSADH deficiency has been associated with epilepsy and other neurological conditions, and understanding the structure..

Mad cow disease made headlines in the early 2000s when 4.4 million cattle in the United Kingdom alone were killed as a precaution against it. Now, there may be a way to not only trace the disease in its incubation period but also medically treat it. Professor Daehee Hwang (School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering) and his group, in collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), the McLaughlin Research Institute, the University of California, San Francisco, the Allen Brain Institute, and the European Bioinformatics Institute, have spotted a set of genes that go hay..

A research team of Department of Life Science’s Center for Biomolecular Recognition and Division of Molecular and Life Science, consisting of Professor Byung-Ha Oh, Doctor Jae-Sung Woo, and Doctor Jae-Hong Lim, has solved secrets of the ring-shaped molecular structure of the MukBEF condensin, the key mediator of chromosome condensation.In eukaryotic organisms, chromosomes are found in the nucleus of every cell. Before cell division, chromosomes are condensed, and the two replicated copies of the chromosomes are partitioned into the two daughter cells. In prokaryotic organisms, chromosome..

Improvements in performance and reductions in cost of silicon-based nonvolatile memories, such as flash random access memory (flash-RAM), have rendered floppy discs and many other forms of portable storage obsolete. But for many uses that require data to be written only once, such as archiving and security applications, their cost effectiveness is limited. So-called write-onceread- many (WORM) memories made from low-cost polymer materials could provide a solution. The devices, developed by Professors Moonhor Ree, Ohyun Kim, Su-Moon Park and their research teams, are based on hyperbranched copp..

X-ray imaging shows in real-time and in in-vivo that intensive irradiation of x-rays significantly decreases the surface tension of water in droplets and capillary tubes. X-rays are used in a variety of experimental studies of liquids, in particular, of water. The present synchrotron sources allow intense irradiation, possibly enabling to alter the basic property of surface tension. In spite of its potential impact, this issue has been still unexplored. In 1896 Wilson roughly showed that x-rays ionized the air molecules, and the electrons and ions created cloud nuclei in a cloud chamber. His c..