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A physician on a medical relief mission to Africa sees pregnantwomen sip a medicinal tea prepared by local witch doctors when thetime for birth arrives. Made from the leaves of a plant called"kalata-kalata," the tea speeds labor and delivery. Scientistsanalyze the plant and discover a remarkable new substance. Theresearch puts them on course for discovery of potential new drugsfor diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. That truth-is-stranger-than-fiction scenario is the topic of thelatest episode in the 2011 edition of a popular video series fromthe American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientificsociety. Titled Prized Science: How the Science Behind ACS AwardsImpacts Your Life, the videos are available without charge at thePrized Science website* and on DVD. ACS encourages educators, schools, museums, science centers, newsorganizations and others to embed links to Prized Science on theirwebsites. The videos discuss scientific research in non-technicallanguage for general audiences. New episodes in the series, whichfocuses on ACS' 2011 award recipients, will be issued periodicallyin the months ahead. "Science awards shine light on individuals who have made impressiveachievements in research," noted ACS President Nancy B. Jackson,Ph.D. "Often, the focus is on the recipients, with the public notfully grasping how the award-winning research improves the everydaylives of people around the world. The Prized Science videos striveto give people with no special scientific knowledge the chance todiscover the chemistry behind the American Chemical Society'snational awards and see how it improves and transforms our dailylives." "New Drugs - From a Cup of Tea" features the research of DavidCraik, Ph.D., winner of the 2011 ACS Ralph F. Hirschmann Award inPeptide Chemistry. Peptides are chains of amino acids, the buildingblocks of proteins. Craik is a professor at the University ofQueensland in Australia, and the video describes his research,which promises to turn kalata-like proteins, called cyclotides,into new drugs for treating health problems, such asantibiotic-resistant bacteria and even AIDS , which affect millions of people worldwide. Proteins alreadynumber among the world's most important medicines. Insulin, forinstance, is a protein. Many other proteins could becomelife-saving medicines. But there's a problem with proteins andsmaller chunks of proteins called peptides. They cannot be taken bymouth because the body breaks them apart during digestion, justlike the protein in meat or soy. The video explains how cyclotideshave a strong internal architecture that keeps them active whentaken by mouth. Prized Science's 2011 launch episode is a video featuring theresearch of Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail, Ph.D., winner of the ACS2011 Priestley Medal, the society's highest honor. Zewail is theLinus Pauling Chair professor of chemistry and professor of physicsat the California Institute of Technology and recipient of the 1999Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The video, Designing the World's FastestCamera, highlights Zewail's work on imaging chemical and biologicalevents that happen very quickly - in a femtosecond, which is amillionth of a billionth of a second. His latest work involvesrevolutionary new technology that enables scientists to visualizeobjects, not in three dimensions, but in four dimensions. In doingso, it promises to have sweeping applications in medicine,electronics and biological research. The ACS administers more than 60 national awards to honoraccomplishments in chemistry and service to chemistry. Thenomination process involves submission of forms, with winnersselected by a committee consisting of ACS members who typically aretechnical experts in the nominee's specific field of research. Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Cell Phone Leather Cases , Protective Phone Covers Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Tablet Protective Film today!
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