Category: Chromium

  • Enterochromaffin (EC) cells aka Kulchitsky cells

    Enterochromaffin (EC) cells (also known as Kulchitsky cells) are a type of enteroendocrine cell, and neuroendocrine cell. They reside alongside the epithelium lining the lumen of the digestive tract and play a crucial role in gastrointestinal regulation, particularly intestinal motility and secretion. They were discovered by Nikolai Kulchitsky. EC cells modulate neuron signalling in the enteric nervous system (ENS) via the secretion of the neurotransmitter serotonin and other peptides.…

    Read more...

  • Chromaffin cells aka pheochromocytes

    Chromaffin cells, also called pheochromocytes (or phaeochromocytes), are neuroendocrine cells found mostly in the medulla of the adrenal glands in mammals. These cells serve a variety of functions such as serving as a response to stress, monitoring carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations in the body, maintenance of respiration and the regulation of blood pressure. They are in close proximity to pre-synaptic sympathetic ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system,…

    Read more...

  • -ium 

    word-forming element in chemistry, used to coin element names, from Latin adjectival suffix -ium (neuter of -ius), which formed metal names in Latin (ferrum “iron,” aurum “gold,” etc.). In late 18c chemists began to pay attention to the naming of their substances with words that indicate their chemical properties. Berzelius in 1811 proposed forming all element names in Modern Latin. As…

    Read more...

  • Adrenochrome

    Adrenochrome

    Adrenochrome is a chemical compound produced by the oxidation of adrenaline (epinephrine). It was the subject of limited research from the 1950s through to the 1970s as a potential cause of schizophrenia. While it has no current medical application, the related derivative compound, carbazochrome, is a hemostatic medication. Despite this compound’s name, it is unrelated to the element chromium; instead, the ‑chrome suffix indicates a relationship to color, as pure adrenochrome…

    Read more...

  • Rose madder aka madder

    Rose madder (also known as madder) is a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant Rubia tinctorum. Madder lake contains two organic red dyes: alizarin and purpurin. As a paint, it has been described as a fugitive, transparent, nonstaining, mid valued, moderately dull violet red pigment in tints and medium solutions, darkening to an impermanent, dull magenta red in masstone. History Madder…

    Read more...

  • Hyperaccumulators are plants with an ability to absorb more than 100 times higher metal concentrations than typical organisms

    A hyperaccumulator is a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals, absorbing these metals through their roots, and concentrating extremely high levels of metals in their tissues. The metals are concentrated at levels that are toxic to closely related species not adapted to growing on the metalliferous soils. Compared to non-hyperaccumulating species, hyperaccumulator roots…

    Read more...

  • Petrified Wood

    Petrified Wood

    Petrified wood, also known as petrified tree (from Ancient Greek πέτρα meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’; literally ‘wood turned into stone’), is the name given to a special type of fossilized wood, the fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. Petrifaction is the result of a tree or tree-like plants having been replaced by stone via a mineralization process that often includes permineralization and replacement.  The organic materials making up cell walls have been replicated…

    Read more...

  • What Is Metalloproteinase?

    Metalloproteinase – the name alone screams “I’m here to ruin everything” – is a feral pack of enzymes armed with metal claws (zinc, mostly, because it’s the shiniest weapon in the elemental arsenal) that shred proteins like they’re auditioning for a slasher flick. These molecular psychopaths don’t just cut – they obliterate, turning the extracellular…

    Read more...

  • What Is A Siderophore?

    Siderophores (Greek: "iron carrier") are small, high-affinity iron-chelating compounds that are secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. They help the organism accumulate iron. Although a widening range of siderophore functions is now being appreciated. Siderophores are among the strongest (highest affinity) Fe3+ binding agents known. Phytosiderophores are siderophores produced by plants.

    Read more...

  • Delftia acidovorans

    Delftia acidovorans

    Delftia acidovorans is a Gram-negative, motile, non-sporulating, rod-shaped bacterium known for its ability to biomineralize gold and bioremediation characteristics.

    Read more...

Scroll back to top