A recent JACS paper published by CBC members has been featured on the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF) website as a "Spotlight on Science"
A 3-D Hexagonal Inverse Micellar Lyotropic Phase
Gemma C. Shearman, Arwen I. I. Tyler, Nicholas J. Brooks, Richard H. Templer, Oscar Ces, Robert V. Law and John M. Seddon
Abstract: Lipids that are found in cell membranes form a variety of self-assembled phases in the presence of water. Many of these structures are liquid-crystalline with structural motifs mirrored in cells and organelles and can be exploited in the delivery of drugs and genes. We report the discovery of a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase based on a 3-D hexagonal close-packed arrangement of inverse micelles, of space group P63/mmc. This is the first new inverse lyotropic liquid-crystalline phase to be reported for two decades and is the only known lyotropic phase whose structure consists of a close packing of identical inverse micelles.
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