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Hospira commences EPO Phase I U.S. clinical trial in renal dysfunction patients with anemia

Hospira, Inc., the world leader in generic injectable pharmaceuticals, today announced the start of a U.S. Phase I clinical trial of its biosimilar erythropoietin (EPO) in patients with renal (kidney) dysfunction who have anemia, an important step on the road toward introducing a biosimilar product in the United States. Erythropoietin is a treatment for anemia associated with chronic renal failure and chemotherapy.

26 Jul 2010

Natural, needle-free vaccination against malaria

If mice are administered an antibiotic for three days and are simultaneously infected with malaria, no parasites appear in the blood and life-threatening disease is averted. In addition, the animals treated in this manner also develop robust, long-term immunity against subsequent infections. This discovery was made by the team headed by Dr. Steffen Borrmann from the Department of Infectious Diseases at Heidelberg University Hospital in cooperation with Dr. Kai Matuschewski of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. The scientists think that safe and affordable prophylaxis with antibiotics in residents of areas with high malaria transmission has the potential to be used as a natural "needle-free" vaccination against malaria.

21 Jul 2010

ArmaGen uses BBB molecular Trojan horse platform technology to create brain penetrating form of human EPO

Human erythropoietin (EPO) is a potent neuroprotective agent for multiple brain disorders, including stroke, brain and spinal cord injury, and Parkinson's disease. However, EPO drug development for the brain is limited, because EPO does not cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In acute stroke or brain injury, the BBB is intact in the early hours after the insult when neuroprotection is still possible. Therefore, large molecule biopharmaceuticals such as EPO must be re-engineered to enable BBB transport.

17 Jul 2010

U.S. taxpayers spend equal amounts on non-emergency food aid and shipping, study says

IRIN examines the findings of a study about the costs and effects of the U.S. Agricultural Cargo Preference policy, noting that "U.S. taxpayers spend about $140 million every year on non-emergency food aid in Africa, and roughly the same amount to ship food aid to global destinations on U.S. vessels; money that could have been used to feed more people."

15 Jul 2010

Maven Semantic releases updates to Biotechnology research database

Maven Semantic (http://www.mavensemantic.com) announces updates to their Biotechnology research database.

14 Jul 2010

IAS announces recipients of CNIHR grants

The International AIDS Society today announced the recipients of its first joint research grant programme, Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research. CNIHR grants, funded in partnership with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the NIH-supported Centers for AIDS Research are designed to promote innovative research and new ideas from early stage investigators whose primary focus has previously been in fields of scientific inquiry other than HIV/ AIDS.

14 Jul 2010

Improved delivery methods needed to advance gene therapy strategies for prostate cancer: Review

Improved delivery methods and better testing systems are needed to advance promising gene therapy strategies for treating prostate cancer, according to a series of review articles in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

14 Jul 2010

Gene therapy represents safe alternative to current cures for blood disorder β-thalassemia

Italian scientists pioneering a new gene transfer treatment for the blood disorder β-thalassemia have successfully completed preclinical trials, claiming they can correct the lack of beta-globin (β-globin) in patients' blood cells which causes the disease. The research, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, reveals how gene therapy may represent a safe alternative to current cures that are limited to a minority of patients.

14 Jul 2010

LSUHSC Professor awarded $2.1M grant to determine role of PCP

Dr. Jay Kolls, Professor and Chairman of Genetics at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has been awarded a $2.1 million grant over five years by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to determine the role and identify which T-helper cells fight the opportunistic infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, which can be a complication of HIV/AIDS.

14 Jul 2010

Study: Disruption of genes that control circadian rhythms may lead to diabetes

Disruption of two genes that control circadian rhythms can lead to diabetes, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found in an animal study. Mice with defective copies of the genes, called CLOCK and BMAL1, develop abnormalities in pancreatic cells that eventually render the cells unable to release sufficient amounts of insulin.

14 Jul 2010

Researchers watch armed tumor-seeking immune system cells attack dangerous melanomas in real time

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center created a large, well armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune system cells and watched, in real time using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), as the special forces traveled throughout the body to locate and attack dangerous melanomas.

13 Jul 2010

New method enhances delivery of DNA payloads into cells

Chang Lu and his chemical engineering research group at Virginia Tech have discovered how to "greatly enhance" the delivery of DNA payloads into cells. The description of their work will be featured on the cover of Lab on a Chip (issue 16), the premier journal for researchers in microfluidics.

9 Jul 2010

Jasmine can be used instead of sleeping pills or mood enhancers: Study

Instead of a sleeping pill or a mood enhancer, a nose full of jasmine from Gardenia jasminoides could also help: in collaboration with Dr. Olga Sergeeva and Prof. Helmut Hass from the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, researchers from Bochum led by Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt have discovered that the two fragrances Vertacetal-coeur (VC) and the chemical variation (PI24513) have the same molecular mechanism of action and are as strong as the commonly prescribed barbiturates or propofol.

9 Jul 2010

Scientists shrink distant sarcomas with genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and anti-vascular drug

Scientists have used a genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and an anti-vascular drug to shrink spreading distant sarcomas designed to model metastatic disease in mice – still an elusive goal when treating humans with cancer, according to a study in the July 8 Gene Therapy.

8 Jul 2010

Scientists use genetically reprogrammed herpes virus to shrink distant sarcomas

Scientists have used a genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and an anti-vascular drug to shrink spreading distant sarcomas designed to model metastatic disease in mice - still an elusive goal when treating humans with cancer, according to a study in the July 8 Gene Therapy.

8 Jul 2010

Scientists identify new strategy for treating movement disorders

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Stanford University have shown how key circuits in the brain control movement. The research, published in the journal Nature not only establishes the function of these circuits, but offers promise for treating movement related disorders, such as Parkinson's disease.

8 Jul 2010

Rutgers researchers report genetic coding responsible for making QPM kernels sturdy

Rutgers researchers have discovered the basis for what makes corn kernels hard, a quality that allows corn to be easily harvested, stored and transported. The findings could lead to better hybrids and increase the supply for people in developing countries who rely on it as a nutritional staple.

7 Jul 2010

Researchers identify key players in biochemical pathway that regulates blood pressure

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified key players in a little-known biochemical pathway that appears to regulate blood pressure. The findings, reported in the early online version of Cardiovascular Research, have evolved from studies conducted by Jeffrey S. Isenberg, M.D., Eileen M. Bauer, Ph.D., and their colleagues at Pitt's Vascular Medicine Institute.

7 Jul 2010

POMC neurons suppress appetite, induce weight loss: Research

A protein found in cells throughout the body must be present in a specific set of neurons in the brain to prevent weight gain after chronic feeding on high-calorie meals, new findings from UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggest.

7 Jul 2010

Preclinical efficacy data of Sangamo's ZFN based human stem cell therapy for HIV published

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced the publication of data demonstrating the preclinical efficacy of a human stem cell therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) based on its proprietary zinc finger DNA-binding protein nuclease (ZFN) technology.

6 Jul 2010

Genetic Engineering News and Research

Hospira commences EPO Phase I U.S. clinical trial in renal dysfunction patients with anemia

Natural, needle-free vaccination against malaria

ArmaGen uses BBB molecular Trojan horse platform technology to create brain penetrating form of human EPO

U.S. taxpayers spend equal amounts on non-emergency food aid and shipping, study says

Maven Semantic releases updates to Biotechnology research database

IAS announces recipients of CNIHR grants

Improved delivery methods needed to advance gene therapy strategies for prostate cancer: Review

Gene therapy represents safe alternative to current cures for blood disorder β-thalassemia

LSUHSC Professor awarded $2.1M grant to determine role of PCP

Study: Disruption of genes that control circadian rhythms may lead to diabetes

Researchers watch armed tumor-seeking immune system cells attack dangerous melanomas in real time

New method enhances delivery of DNA payloads into cells

Jasmine can be used instead of sleeping pills or mood enhancers: Study

Scientists shrink distant sarcomas with genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and anti-vascular drug

Scientists use genetically reprogrammed herpes virus to shrink distant sarcomas

Scientists identify new strategy for treating movement disorders

Rutgers researchers report genetic coding responsible for making QPM kernels sturdy

Researchers identify key players in biochemical pathway that regulates blood pressure

POMC neurons suppress appetite, induce weight loss: Research

Preclinical efficacy data of Sangamo's ZFN based human stem cell therapy for HIV published

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