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Antibody-based therapies successfully protect monkeys from deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses

Army scientists have demonstrated, for the first time, that antibody-based therapies can successfully protect monkeys from the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses. In addition, the animals were fully protected even when treatment was administered two days post-infection, an accomplishment unmatched by any experimental therapy for these viruses to date.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers double time to store donated cartilage

For years, doctors have been able to treat defects in joint cartilage by grafting cartilage donated from cadavers into patients' bad joints. Using current methods, donated cartilage can be stored for 28 days for a transplant before the tissue becomes too degraded to transplant into a patient. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri have found a way to store donated cartilage more than twice as long.

14 Mar 2012

Rats’ decision making as good as humans: Study

It is a known fact that rats are smart. But now US researchers have shown that they may be just as good as humans at juggling information in order to make the best decision. The discovery could help scientists better understand how the brain works in order to help people with autism who have difficulty processing various stimuli the way that others can, said the study authors.

14 Mar 2012

FDA clears Ventana PR (1E2) image analysis algorithm and digital read applications

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the VENTANA Companion Algorithm Progesterone Receptor (PR) (1E2) image analysis application used with the VENTANA iScan Coreo Au scanner running VIRTUOSO software.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers crack problem of predicting gene targets for PcG proteins

Cancer is usually attributed to faulty genes, but growing evidence from the field of cancer epigenetics indicates a key role for the gene "silencing" proteins that stably turn genes off inside the cell nucleus. A new study from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine promises to speed research in the field by rapidly identifying the genes that epigenetic proteins can target for silencing.

14 Mar 2012

Antidepressant could help the workings of anticancer drug used in leukemia

The study by scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research found that tranylcypromine (TCP) – which can be used to treat psychotic depressive states - can make cancer cells vulnerable to the effects of a vitamin A-derivative drug called ATRA.

13 Mar 2012

Thermo Fisher launches innovations that enable customers to improve lab productivity

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today introduced innovations that enable customers to improve laboratory productivity - by delivering results faster and with greater accuracy - while extending the boundaries of routine analysis. During Pittcon, being held from March 11-15, in Orlando, the company will showcase its scale and depth of capabilities across its three premier brands: Thermo Scientific, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 13 Mar 2012

Thermo Fisher introduces Dionex ICS-5000 system

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today introduced the Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-5000, a capillary high-pressure ion chromatography system that increases separation speeds and provides sharper peaks for high-efficiency ion chromatography.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 13 Mar 2012

RhoGDI2 protein helps prevent bladder cancer metastasis to the lungs

The diagnosis of localized bladder cancer carries an 80 percent five-year survival rate, but once the cancer spreads, the survival rate at even three years is only 20 percent. A major study published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation not only shows how bladder cancer metastasizes to the lungs but pinpoints a method for stopping this spread.

13 Mar 2012

Researchers elucidate function of Codanin-1 protein

Within all our cells lies two meters of DNA, highly ordered in a structure of less than 10 micro meters in diameter. Special proteins called histones act as small building bricks, organising our DNA in this structure. Preservation of the structure is necessary to maintain correct function of our genes, making histones detrimental for maintaining a healthy and functional body.

13 Mar 2012

Study addresses how human body controls gamma-herpesviruses

New research from the Trudeau Institute addresses how the human body controls gamma-herpesviruses, a class of viruses thought to cause a variety of cancers. The study, carried out in the laboratory of Dr. Marcia Blackman, awaits publication in The Journal of Immunology.

13 Mar 2012

AB SCIEX introduces new triple quadrupole mass spectrometry instrumentation system

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced the introduction of the AB SCIEX 4500 series, which is next-generation, mass spectrometry instrumentation that sets a new benchmark for routine quantitation and screening.

12 Mar 2012

Human diseases with Drosophila counterparts discussed at annual conference

More than two-thirds of human genes have counterparts in the well-studied fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, so although it may seem that humans don't have much in common with flies, the correspondence of our genetic instructions is astonishing. In fact, there are hundreds of inherited diseases in humans that have Drosophila counterparts.

12 Mar 2012

OPKO Health, Scripps Research partner to commercialize Parkinson's disease compound, SR 3306

The Scripps Research Institute and OPKO Health, Inc. today announced a global agreement for the development and commercialization of SR 3306, a novel compound discovered by scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute that blocks the destruction of brains cells in animal models of Parkinson's disease.

12 Mar 2012

Salk scientists' discovery explains how a class of chemotherapy drugs works

The well-being of living cells requires specialized squads of proteins that maintain order. Degraders chew up worn-out proteins, recyclers wrap up damaged organelles, and-most importantly-DNA repair crews restitch anything that resembles a broken chromosome. If repair is impossible, the crew foreman calls in executioners to annihilate a cell. As unsavory as this last bunch sounds, failure to summon them is one aspect of what makes a cancer cell a cancer cell.

12 Mar 2012

Thermo Fisher Scientific introduces integrated capillary high-pressure ion chromatography system

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced the Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-4000, the world's first commercially available integrated capillary high-pressure ion chromatography (HPIC) system, incorporating multiple detector options in one instrument.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 12 Mar 2012

AB SCIEX announces commercial expansion in Brazil

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced its expansion of commercial operations in Brazil to support the Brazilian scientific community's increasing use of mass spectrometry for food safety testing, environmental analysis, academic research, drug development, forensic toxicology and clinical research.

12 Mar 2012

Two scientists receive The Brain Prize 2012 for pioneering work on hearing and deafness

The Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation announced today that The Brain Prize 2012 is jointly awarded to Christine Petit and Karen Steel.

12 Mar 2012

InflammaGen to initiate Phase 2 study of new drug/delivery platform for shock

A 200-patient Phase 2 clinical pilot study will be initiated this month to test the efficacy and safety of a new use, and method of administering, an enzyme inhibitor for critically ill patients developed by University of California, San Diego Bioengineering Professor Geert Schmid-Sch-nbein. Conditions expected to qualify for the study include new-onset sepsis and septic shock, post-operative complications, and new-onset gastrointestinal bleeding.

12 Mar 2012

Gastrointestinal progenitor cells could be coaxed into making insulin

A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections.

12 Mar 2012