Oxidative stress is a condition resulting from an imbalance between the generation of reactive oxygen species (i.e., molecules containing oxygen with an uneven number of electrons) and the ability of antioxidants (i.e., molecules ...
Typically, pyramidal cells and GABAergic interneurons in the brain are activated simultaneously. A team of neuroscientists at New York University, however, recently identified a unique class of neurons that do not fire at ...
Aging is a natural process that affects all living organisms, prompting gradual changes in their behavior and abilities. Past studies have highlighted several physiological factors that can contribute to aging, including ...
Cancer treatment can rob childbearing-age women of fertility, but new research has uncloaked how the body's own traitor protein conspires with chemo and other harsh therapies against the ovaries' primordial follicles, home ...
Oxidative stress is fundamental to the development of diverse pathological conditions including atherosclerosis. However, the effect of oxidative stress on atherosclerosis remains to be known.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Haifa in Israel have discovered that production of nitric oxide in the brain correlates with autistic symptoms. In their paper, "The NO Answer for Autism ...
Psychoactive drugs include all manner of hallucinogens, deliriants, hypnotics and psychedelics. But what is a psychedelic, really? Insofar as many in the field are now moving toward bringing new molecules with presumably ...
Working with mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have contributed significant new evidence to support the idea that high doses of cocaine kill brain cells by triggering overactive autophagy, a process in which cells literally ...
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(Medical Xpress)—Mitochondria are symbiotic organelles that reside in most of the body's cells and power cellular functions. They contain their own DNA, called mtDNA, and they produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which ...
(Medical Xpress)—Blood transfusions are supposed to save lives. Doctors give transfusions to severely ill or injured people with the expectation that their conditions will improve. In fact, transfusions do not always help ...
Redox (shorthand for reduction-oxidation reaction) describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane (CH4), or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body through a series of very complex electron transfer processes.
The term redox comes from the two concepts of reduction and oxidation. It can be explained in simple terms:
Though sufficient for many purposes, these descriptions are not precisely correct. Oxidation and reduction properly refer to a change in oxidation number — the actual transfer of electrons may never occur. Thus, oxidation is better defined as an increase in oxidation number, and reduction as a decrease in oxidation number. In practice, the transfer of electrons will always cause a change in oxidation number, but there are many reactions that are classed as "redox" even though no electron transfer occurs (such as those involving covalent bonds).
Non-redox reactions, which do not involve changes in formal charge, are known as metathesis reactions.
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