Bioengineering News and Research

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New fertilized cells narrowly avoid degenerating into fatal chaos

Research based at Princeton University has revealed that newly fertilized cells only narrowly avoid degenerating into fatal chaos. At the same time, scientists have discovered that embryos have acquired a mechanism to contain this dangerous instability, a finding that could help biologists unravel other mysteries about the first hours of life.

24 Aug 2011

Children with asthma more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoking before birth

Children with severe asthma are 3.6 times more likely to have been exposed to tobacco smoking before birth - even without later exposure - than children with a mild form of the disease, according to a multicenter study led by researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

23 Aug 2011

Pittsburgh researchers combine Viscotek GPC and Zetasizer Nano in work on novel polymers for drug delivery

Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution measurements are a basic necessity in studying the synthesis of the novel polymers being carried out by researchers at the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. For the Pittsburgh team, the applications and technical expertise provided by Malvern Panalytical is a significant factor in their use of the company’s Viscotek gel permeation chromatography (GPC) system to characterize polymer molecular weight, prior to applying the Zetasizer Nano for zeta potential measurements to study inter-molecular interactions.

From Malvern Panalytical 18 Aug 2011

Harmless bacteria re-engineered to fight a deadly strain

Scientists in Singapore have re-engineered a harmless strain of bacteria to fight another common, drug-resistant microbe that spreads in hospitals and is deadly to patients with weak immune systems.

17 Aug 2011

Researchers describe novel skin-mounted electronics in Science journal

Engineers have developed a device platform that combines electronic components for sensing, medical diagnostics, communications and human-machine interfaces, all on an ultrathin skin-like patch that mounts directly onto the skin with the ease, flexibility and comfort of a temporary tattoo.

12 Aug 2011

Medical College of Wisconsin to establish National Center for Systems Biology

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology.

12 Aug 2011

Single engineered protein blocks two related angiogenic receptors

Cancer needs blood. In fact, some cancer medications work solely to slow or prevent cancer cells from creating new capillaries, choking off their much-needed blood and nutrient supply to halt the growth of tumors.

12 Aug 2011

Pfizer, UC San Diego sign research agreement to drive innovation in drug discovery

In an innovative collaboration designed to speed the process of drug discovery, Pfizer, Inc. and the University of California, San Diego Health Sciences announced today that UC San Diego has joined the ranks of other top-tier life science research institutions across the country as part of Pfizer's Centers for Therapeutic Innovation.

9 Aug 2011

Researchers team up to combat age-related macular degeneration

A professor at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering has received a $100,000 grant to develop a new technique to fight a disease that gradually destroys vision.

8 Aug 2011

New method of delivering growth factors could lead to revolutionary heart treatment

Ever since the Nobel Prize for nerve growth factor was awarded more than 30 years ago, researchers have been searching for ways to use growth factor clinically.

3 Aug 2011

Needle-free nanopatch vaccine delivery system

The needle-free nanopatch vaccine delivery system is coming soon after a consortium of investors put up $15 million for its development. The money will enable University of Queensland's Professor Mark Kendall to continue his work on the technology. It is described as the biggest breakthrough in vaccine delivery since the invention of the syringe more than 150 years ago.

3 Aug 2011

Noninvasive brain computer interface could turn thoughts into motion

"Brain cap" technology being developed at the University of Maryland allows users to turn their thoughts into motion. Associate Professor of Kinesiology José 'Pepe' L. Contreras-Vidal and his team have created a non-invasive, sensor-lined cap with neural interface software that soon could be used to control computers, robotic prosthetic limbs, motorized wheelchairs and even digital avatars.

28 Jul 2011

Insect virus holds key to safer stem cell therapy: Singapore scientists

The future of regenerative medicine lies in harnessing the potential of the human body to renew and repair itself. Now, scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have developed a new genetic engineering technique that promises safer stem cell therapy for cancer patients. Using an insect virus, the team of researchers successfully inserted a therapeutic gene into a safe site in the DNA of human embryonic stem cells without compromising the functionality of the engineered cells.

28 Jul 2011

NSF announces $18.5M grant to establish new engineering research center

The National Science Foundation today announced an $18.5 million grant to establish an Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering based at the University of Washington.

15 Jul 2011

Light-switching complex could help detect signs of Alzheimer's disease

A breakthrough in sensing at Rice University could make finding signs of Alzheimer's disease nearly as simple as switching on a light.

14 Jul 2011

Research validates SpinalCyte's core technology to regrow the spinal disc

SpinalCyte, LLC, a spinal technology company focused on autologous regrowth of the spinal disc nucleus using human dermal fibroblasts, announced today the publication of its research completed with Rice University, titled, "Chondrogenic Differentiation of Neonatal Human Dermal Fibroblasts Encapsulated in Alginate Beads with Hydrostatic Compression Under Hypoxic Conditions in the Presence of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2".

11 Jul 2011

Hemova device can reduce risk of infection, clotting and vessel narrowing in dialysis patients

Johns Hopkins University graduate students have invented a device to reduce the risk of infection, clotting and narrowing of the blood vessels in patients who need blood-cleansing dialysis because of kidney failure.

30 Jun 2011

New concepts for how evolutionary change occurs

At a recent Kavli Futures Symposium, 19 experts from a diverse range of fields discussed the promise of using the lab to understand and exploit the evolution of organisms -- progress that may one day lead to new vaccines or other biotechnology products.

29 Jun 2011

MU and Coulter Foundation enter $5 million grant agreement for biomedical research

University of Missouri officials announced today a $5 million grant agreement with the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, through the Foundation's Translational Partnership Award Program. The goal of the partnership is to develop technologies that will save, extend and improve patient lives and suffering from any disease or condition in any country around the world.

23 Jun 2011

Novel method of disguising nanoparticles as red blood cells to fight cancer

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a novel method of disguising nanoparticles as red blood cells, which will enable them to evade the body's immune system and deliver cancer-fighting drugs straight to a tumor. Their research was published this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

22 Jun 2011