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New injectable agent can potentially increase surgeon's ability to remove cancerous tumor during surgery

Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon's ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through collaboration with scientists at Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lumicell Inc.

7 Jan 2016

Lipoprotein nanoplatelets important for imaging biological molecules and cells

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a new material composite derived from quantum dots. These lipoprotein nanoplatelets are rapidly taken up by cells and retain their fluorescence, making them particularly well-suited for imaging cells and understanding disease mechanisms.

6 Jan 2016

Fraunhofer scientists use antibodies to detect cancer cells in tissue samples

Antibodies combat viruses and bacteria. They also attach themselves to cancer cells - in a typical, characteristic way. Fraunhofer scientists are using this property to detect cancer cells in tissue samples. Such rapid tests can already be applied by surgeons during operations - within a few minutes and without expensive equipment.

4 Jan 2016

3-D recordings of nematode brains may help understand how neurons coordinate action and perception

Princeton University researchers have captured among the first recordings of neural activity in nearly the entire brain of a free-moving animal. The three-dimensional recordings could provide scientists with a better understanding of how neurons coordinate action and perception in animals.

31 Dec 2015

New model provides images of single cell with micrometer resolution

Thermal properties of cells regulate their ability to store, transport or exchange heat with their environment. So gaining control of these properties is of great interest for optimizing cryopreservation -- the process of freezing and storing blood or tissues, which is also used when transporting organs for transplants.

30 Dec 2015

CMU researchers develop new method to survey learning-related changes in synapse properties

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new approach to broadly survey learning-related changes in synapse properties. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience and featured on the journal's cover, the researchers used machine-learning algorithms to analyze thousands of images from the cerebral cortex. This allowed them to identify synapses from an entire cortical region, revealing unanticipated information about how synaptic properties change during development and learning.

29 Dec 2015

Father-daughter duo co-author research paper on new grapefruit cybrids

When Jude Grosser's daughter, Melinda, was in elementary school, he would often take her to his laboratory at the University of Florida's Citrus Research and Education Center, where he works as a researcher on citrus diseases and creating new varieties.

26 Dec 2015

New study improves understanding of metal-based chemotherapy drugs

What is the mechanism of action of metal-based chemotherapy drugs (the most widely used for treating common cancers like testicular or ovarian cancer)? How can we improve their effect and reduce their toxicity? A new study combining experiments and theory has broadened our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of these active drugs to help experimentalists devising increasingly effective drugs with fewer side effects.

21 Dec 2015

Certain gut bacteria linked to type 2 diabetes, reveal Russian scientists

A group of Russian scientists, including Dr Elena Kostryukova, the Head of the Laboratory of Postgenomic Research in Biology of the Scientific Research Institute of Physical-Chemical Medicine and a researcher at MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), and Maria Vakhitova, an MIPT postgraduate student, has discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may be linked to the development of type 2 diabetes.

21 Dec 2015

Study examines effect of nonoperative treatment for appendicitis

It is too early to change the standard treatment of appendicitis in U.S. adults to initial antibiotic therapy only, rather than surgical removal of the appendix, or appendectomy, authors of a new systematic review study conclude.

18 Dec 2015

UA developing brain-scanning technology that could improve diagnosis of many disorders

Researchers at the University of Arizona are developing a noninvasive brain-scanning technology that could produce images far superior to those obtained with the most commonly used systems -- electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

17 Dec 2015

Researchers report development of rapid, low-cost test for detecting TB in resource-limited areas

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease and a major global health problem, especially in countries with developing health care systems. Because there is no fast, easy way to detect TB, the deadly infection can spread quickly through communities. Now, a team reports in ACS Sensors the development of a rapid, sensitive and low-cost method for detecting the disease in resource-limited areas.

17 Dec 2015

Study offers new view of how cancer cells transform normal cells through 'metastatic hijacking'

Metastasis - or the spread of cancer from one part of the body to other parts - accounts for more than 90 percent of cancer-related deaths. Although the cells that seed metastasis and the sites that they tend to travel to have been increasingly studied over the years, little has been known about how cancer migrates from a primary site, such as breast tissue, to a secondary site, such as the brain or bone marrow.

16 Dec 2015

Researchers identify dazzling new method for visualizing neurons

Researchers have discovered a dazzling new method of visualizing neurons that promises to benefit neuroscientists and cell biologists alike: by using spectral confocal microscopy to image tissues impregnated with silver or gold.

16 Dec 2015

Vutara 352 super-resolution fluorescence microscope introduced by Bruker

At the 2015 Cell Biology ASCB Annual Meeting, Bruker today announced the release of the first quantitative super-resolution microscope, the Vutara™ 352.

From Bruker BioSpin Group 15 Dec 2015

Human body clock study paves way for drug treatment of osteoarthritis

A University of Manchester biologist has for the first time established that the painful and debilitating symptoms endured by osteoarthritis sufferers are intrinsically linked to the human body clock.

15 Dec 2015

FDA Approval for EnFocus OCT from Leica Microsystems

Leica Microsystems’ optical coherence tomography (OCT) division Bioptigen received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its EnFocus intrasurgical OCT system.

From Leica Microsystems GmbH 14 Dec 2015

TSRI-led study shows how different drugs regulate protein linked to asthma, obesity and diabetes

A new study, led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, shows how different pharmaceutical drugs hit either the "on" or "off" switch of a signaling protein linked to asthma, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

11 Dec 2015

New artificial muscle imitates macroscopic movement of human muscles

The macroscopic movement of our muscles is caused by the collective movement of “biomolecular motors”. Scientists and engineers have long been trying to imitate this process.

10 Dec 2015

Textbook view of the human cell cycle needs to be revised, shows new Danish research

Ground-breaking new Danish research has shown that the current scientific description of the human cell cycle needs to be revised. These findings could also lead to the development of new therapeutic approaches to target an Achilles' heel in different types of cancers.

9 Dec 2015