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Link between growth of blood vessels critical to spread of cancer and copper in our bodies

Growing new blood vessels from existing ones - a process called angiogenesis - is important in growth, development and wound healing. But it also enables the spread of tumors throughout the body, so researchers have been scrambling for ways to stop angiogenesis in the fight against cancer.

28 Feb 2007

Quantum dots detect metastatic lesions

By injecting quantum dots into tumors, investigators at Carnegie Mellon University have been able to image sentinel lymph nodes in animals using near-infrared light. These results could lead to a simple, non-invasive method for detecting metastasis.

26 Feb 2007

Quantum rods and dots image cancer cells

Brightly fluorescent quantum dots and quantum rods are quickly becoming important tools for identifying specific molecules and cells in living systems. Two new reports demonstrate some of the ways in which cancer researchers are using these nanoscale imaging agents.

26 Feb 2007

How DNA is packed

The life cycles of many viruses include a self-assembly stage in which a powerful molecular motor must pack the DNA genome into the virus's preformed shell (the capsid). How it manages this intricate feat has been subject to debate, but we know that the DNA passes into the capsid shell through a channel formed by a structure called the connector. Scientists have speculated that rotation of the connector complex might feed the DNA into the capsid as it turns.

20 Feb 2007

Nanoparticles advance photodynamic therapy to kill tumor cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a powerful approach for destroying tumors, one that uses light and a light-sensitive chemical to rapidly kill cells.

20 Feb 2007

Targeting bladder tumor cells in vivo and in the urine with a peptide identified by phage display

Efforts to create nanoparticles that deliver anticancer drugs or imaging agents to tumors while avoiding healthy cells are often stymied by a lack of known tumor targets, that is, molecules found on the surface of malignant cells but not healthy cells.

12 Feb 2007

DNA-encoded antibody libraries

During the past several years, breakthroughs in genomic and proteomic technologies have enabled researchers to more clearly identify the biochemical networks that malfunction when a healthy cell becomes malignant.

12 Feb 2007

New microscopy technology

Research is finding evidence that may solve one of the great puzzles of 21st Century medicine using a new microscopy technology known as CytoViva.

11 Feb 2007

New, rapid-detection system for Salmonella

The food and drink we consume have to pass strict quality controls. Nevertheless, these measures are not always sufficient, given that sometimes certain foodstuffs can still give rise to food poisoning, most often caused by micro-organisms. The Salmonella bacterium is undoubtedly one of the best known of these.

8 Feb 2007

Scientists step closer to understanding the relationship between aging and cancer

Wielding a palette of chromosome paints, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have taken a step closer to understanding the relationship between aging and cancer by visualizing chromosomes of cells from patients with a heritable premature aging disease known as Werner Syndrome.

6 Feb 2007

Odyssey Thera granted U.S. patents for protein-fragment complementation assays

Odyssey Thera announced today that on January 9, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 7,160,691. On January 23, 2007, the USPTO also granted U.S. Patent No. 7,166,424.

5 Feb 2007

New type of nanoparticle created by spray pyrolysis

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have created a new type of nanoparticle that could be used in tests for medical diagnostics, environmental pollution, and contamination of food products.

5 Feb 2007

Bright quantum dots help basic cancer biology studies

Though there is little doubt that nanoscale devices are going to play a critical role in improving cancer detection and treatment over the next five to ten years, nanoparticles are already having a major impact on the way that cancer biologists study the processes that go awry within malignant and metastatic cells.

5 Feb 2007

Novel approach to synthesizing nanowires

A novel approach to synthesizing nanowires (NWs) allows their direct integration with microelectronic systems for the first time, as well as their ability to act as highly sensitive biomolecule detectors that could revolutionize biological diagnostic applications, according to a report in Nature.

31 Jan 2007

Gene produces springy protein keeping nerve cells flexible

If you bend a knee or an elbow, the nerves in your limbs stretch but do not break. A University of Utah study suggests why: A gene produces a springy protein that keeps nerve cells flexible. When the gene was disabled in tiny nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke.

29 Jan 2007

Nano Chemical Systems files patent for breakthrough new material

Nano Chemical Systems announced today that it has filed a US Patent application on a breakthrough new material that exhibits light (luminescent) in the absence of heat.

23 Jan 2007

Dendrimer-based targeted delivery of an apoptotic sensor in cancer cells

Taking a critical step toward the development of a multifunctional nanoscale anticancer agent that can detect cancer, treat it, and then report on the success or failure of that treatment, investigators at the University of Michigan have developed a nanoscale sensor of cell death.

22 Jan 2007

Simple diagnostic test detects genetic signs of lung cancer in sputum

DNA coughed up along with phlegm could point to lung cancer, say researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who are developing an inexpensive and non-invasive gene probe to help diagnose early stage lung cancer in current and former smokers.

18 Jan 2007

Nanoparticles yield delivery tools for therapeutic nucleic acids

Cancer researchers hold great hope that nucleic acid-based therapeutics, such as anticancer genes, antisense oligonucleotides, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules, will prove to be powerful antitumor agents.

16 Jan 2007