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Scientists develop new technique to target brain cancer cells

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using inorganic titanium dioxide nanoparticles bonded to soft biological material.

20 Aug 2009

Nano-bio material kills cancer cells, leaves healthy cells in unharmed

19 Aug 2009

New "micropatterning" method useful in gene expression studies

Like oil and water, two water-based liquids can mingle without mixing in a new University of Michigan technology developed for biological experiments.

19 Aug 2009

Scientists harness carbon nanomaterials for drug delivery, oxygen sensors

Two nanoscale devices recently reported by University of Pittsburgh researchers in two separate journals harness the potential of carbon nanomaterials to enhance technologies for drug or imaging agent delivery and energy storage systems, in one case, and, in the other, bolster the sensitivity of oxygen sensors essential in confined settings, from mines to spacecrafts.

17 Aug 2009

Oxygen nanosensor could improve tumor imaging

A new material developed at the University of Virginia - an oxygen nanosensor that couples a light-emitting dye with a biopolymer - simplifies the imaging of oxygen-deficient regions of tumors. Such tumors are associated with increased cancer aggressiveness and are particularly difficult to treat.

11 Aug 2009

Holography helps tackle ovarian cancer

Two University of Arizona researchers have formed a research team to design, build and evaluate two versions of an ovarian cancer medical imaging and screening instrument that will use holographic components in a new type of optical microscope.

11 Aug 2009

New class of molecules capable of blocking formation of tau protein fibrils

A new class of molecules capable of blocking the formation of specific protein clumps that are believed to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease pathology has been discovered by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. By assaying close to 300,000 compounds, they have identified drug-like inhibitors of AD tau protein clumping, as reported in the journal Biochemistry.

11 Aug 2009

Mal-illumination - the silent epidemic

Most of human history has witnessed people living and working outdoors during the light of day, absorbing "life-charging" full-spectrum solar energy from the sky. An average of 10 hours daily in the sunlight, 70 hours weekly, was common for eons.

10 Aug 2009

Nanoviricides anti-herpes drug candidate reduces viral load by 99.99%

NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), has announced that the herpes simplex viral load was reduced by 99.99% or 10,000 fold in in-vitro studies by nanoviricides™ drug candidates.

10 Aug 2009

New kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS

University of Utah scientists developed a new kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS in Africa and other impoverished areas. Before sex, women would insert a vaginal gel that turns semisolid in the presence of semen, trapping AIDS virus particles in a microscopic mesh so they can’t infect vaginal cells.

10 Aug 2009

New bio-hybrid materials could be used as sensors, catalysts, drug-delivery systems, more

Bacteria play a role in myriad industrial processes from fermentation to cleaning up environmental pollution. But floating freely in solution, the microbial cells constantly multiply, generating biomass that must be removed periodically, causing downtime. Additionally, the microorganisms cannot be localized to a specific region of interest.

3 Aug 2009

Scientists illuminate brain tumors with fluorescent nanoparticles

Brain cancer is among the deadliest of cancers. It's also one of the hardest to treat. Imaging results are often imprecise because brain cancers are extremely invasive. Surgeons must saw through the skull and safely remove as much of the tumor as they can. Then doctors use radiation or chemotherapy to destroy cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue.

3 Aug 2009

Research may bring powerful new test for inflammatory lung diseases

Chronic inflammatory lung diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema are a major global health problem, and the fourth leading cause of death and disability in developed countries, with smoking accounting for 90% of the risk for developing them.

3 Aug 2009

Scientists combine two nanoparticles into one tiny package

Nanoparticles are being developed to perform a wide range of medical uses - imaging tumors, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat. Rather than settling for just one of these, researchers at the University of Washington have combined two nanoparticles in one tiny package.

28 Jul 2009

Camera-phone uses blood, saliva samples to diagnose disease

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a "prototype camera-phone mounted with a microscope" that can "magnify and photograph blood or saliva samples" for diagnosing diseases, the Canadian Press/Google.com reports.

22 Jul 2009

Nanoparticles image breast cancer

Current methods of detecting breast cancer suffer from low sensitivity, limited spatial resolution, or the need to use complicated and expensive radioisotope-based technologies.

21 Jul 2009

Nanoparticle-based “chemical nose” sniffs out cancer earlier to improve treatment options

Using a "chemical nose" array of nanoparticles and polymers, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a fundamentally new, more effective way to differentiate not only between healthy and cancerous cells but also between metastatic and nonmetastatic cancer cells. It is a tool that could revolutionize cancer detection and treatment, according to Vincent M. Rotello, Ph.D., M.Phil., and D. Joseph Jerry, Ph.D., M.S., the investigators who led the study.

21 Jul 2009

A quantum dot-based method for analysis of DNA methylation

One of the earliest events that changes a normal cell into a malignant one is known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) hypermethylation, a biochemical alteration that inactivates critical tumor-suppressor genes.

21 Jul 2009

Discovery of new mechanism controlling neuronal migration

The molecular machinery that helps brain cells migrate to their correct place in the developing brain has been identified by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

15 Jul 2009

Cells use import machinery to export their goods as well

In the bustling economy of the cell, little bubbles called vesicles serve as container ships, ferrying cargo to and from the port - the cell membrane. Some of these vesicles, called post-Golgi vesicles, export cargo made by the cell's protein factory.

9 Jul 2009