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Implantable chip could serve as a prosthetic retina for people who suffer from age-related blindness

Where other types of chips use electricity to stimulate nerves, this one instead tickles cells with minute amounts of chemicals. Because nerve cells normally communicate with each other by releasing chemicals known as neurotransmitters, the new device points to a more effective way of treating very delicate tissues, such as those in the eye and in the brain.

24 Jun 2004

DEA Controlled Substance Act Registration Database now on-line

The Drug Enforcement Administration, as part of its efforts to control the abuse and misuse of controlled substances and chemicals used in producing some over-the-counter drugs, maintains databases of individuals registered to handle these substances.

21 Jun 2004

Xenobiotic gets patent approval for toxin detection

XDS consultant (and former XDS laboratory director) Michael Chu and President George Clark combined their research skills to develop a rapid and relatively inexpensive methodology to quantify TEQs (Toxic Equivalence -- measures of toxicity adopted by the World Health Organization) for individual toxic chemical groups.

17 Jun 2004

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy identifies women with chest pain at high risk

Women with chest pain who have a normal coronary angiogram can benefit from a test that detects abnormal metabolism in their heart muscle, according to a study reported in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Jun 2004

Chemical agents extracted from Caribbean sea squirt may help find cancer treatments for certain deadly tumours

European Union funding is helping to find cancer treatments for certain deadly tumours using small marine animals. European researchers are using chemical agents extracted from a type of Caribbean sea squirt, named Ecteinascidia turbinata, to treat some tumours.

11 Jun 2004

Drink that enhances the effectiveness of medication given to treat psychiatric illnesses

Scientists funded by the UK's largest biomedical research charity, The Wellcome Trust, have developed a drink that enhances the effectiveness of medication given to treat psychiatric illnesses such as mania and schizophrenia.

10 Jun 2004

Australia's CSIRO to exhibit major display at the world's largest biotechnology conference

CSIRO is mounting a major display of technologies this week at BIO 2004, the world's largest biotechnology conference, being held in San Francisco, USA, from 6-9 June.

7 Jun 2004

Antipsychotic compound bifeprunox worth USD 1 billion per year to Solvay and Wyeth

Solvay has re-evaluated the commercial potential of bifeprunox, a Solvay compound in clinical development for the treatment of schizophrenia . Bifeprunox additionally has the potential to be developed in other disorders, i.e. bipolar disorder.

3 Jun 2004

How the brain interprets electrical impulses sent by neurons

University of California, San Diego neurobiologists have uncovered evidence that sheds light on the long-standing mystery of how the brain makes sense of the information contained in electrical impulses sent to it by millions of neurons from the body.

3 Jun 2004

Research laboratory at the forefront of the science of metabolomics

A new $1.8 million research laboratory will catapult Iowa State University to the forefront of the science of metabolomics.

2 Jun 2004

Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail

Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail that can accelerate mouth cancer, according to new research in the British Journal of Cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Mothercare, John Lewis and Argos worst stores in UK for dangerous chemicals

High street stores must do more to phase out chemicals which may adversely affect human health, Friends of the Earth said today. The call coincides with a new survey by the environmental campaign group showing some stores are still not taking effective action to remove risky chemicals from their products.

1 Jun 2004

Higher rate of cancer in meat industry

A study of over 6600 meat industry workers around New Zealand has found a significantly high rate of cancers, particularly lung cancer, which may be caused by exposure to cancer causing agents carried by animals.

31 May 2004

Brain cells containing the chemical histamine are critical for waking

A study by scientists with the Veterans Affairs' Neurobiology Research Laboratory and UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute shows that brain cells containing the chemical histamine are critical for waking.

27 May 2004

Scientific evidence links mold in homes and buildings to people with chronic asthma symptoms

Scientific evidence links mold and other factors related to damp conditions in homes and buildings to asthma symptoms in some people with the chronic disorder, as well as to coughing, wheezing, and upper respiratory tract symptoms in otherwise healthy people, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

25 May 2004

Scientists have genetically engineered a mouse with extraordinary resistance to bowel cancer

Scientists have genetically engineered a mouse with extraordinary resistance to bowel cancer, delegates at the Cancer Research UK senior researchers' conference in Harrogate will hear today.

24 May 2004

Significant symptom relief reported in clinical trial patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Solvay Pharmaceuticals unveiled this week results from a six-month study of both male and female patients and from a subgroup analysis of males with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea predominance (IBS-D).

24 May 2004

Teenagers most vulnerable to the addictive lure of cigarettes

Teenagers have long been regarded as the age group most vulnerable to the addictive lure of cigarettes, and a new report compiling five years of studies from a UC Irvine tobacco research program provides details why this is very likely true.

21 May 2004

Chloropropanols in Australian meat products

A Food Standards Agency investigation into 1,3-dichloropropanol (1,3-DCP) has not found it in any of the meat products tested. 1,3-DCP is a chemical that might harm people's health.

20 May 2004

Natural biological process by which yeast cells dismantle amyloid fibers

Amyloid fibers, those clumps of plaque-like proteins that clog up the brains of Alzheimer's patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures. In laboratory experiments, they are able to withstand extreme heat and cold and powerful detergents that cripple most other proteins.