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A global DNA barcode database

The idea of barcoding is familiar to many: in almost every supermarket the checkout operator shows the ticket labelled with a series of black bars to a laser scanner which responds with a beep; a computer analyses the code, identifies the product and the price is sent to the till.

30 Jun 2008

Molecular movies reveal dynamic lives of proteins

Capturing moving images of tiny protein molecules is the aim of a new research project announced today at Imperial College London. The research will reveal, on extremely short timescales, the miniscule movements of proteins which help carry out important biological processes in people, animals, insects and plants.

30 Jun 2008

Vibrating exercise platform helps reduce falls in the elderly

Australian researchers have found a way of reducing the risks of older people falling.

30 Jun 2008

New self-powered sensor to monitor progress during knee operations

As news of Tiger Woods' knee injury hits the headlines, a researcher at the University of Southampton has developed a new self-powered sensor to monitor progress during knee operations.

30 Jun 2008

Novel approach for treating mitochondrial disorders wins Kaye prize

A novel concept for the treatment of mitochondrial disorders using directed enzyme replacement therapy (DERT) has won for a Hebrew University of Jerusalem doctoral candidate one of this year's Kaye Innovation Awards. The awards were presented at this year's 71st meeting of the Hebrew University Board of Governors.

30 Jun 2008

Microscopic needles effectively deliver drugs to the eyes

A new technique that effectively delivers drugs to the eyes, using microscopic needles, could offer hope to the millions of patients worldwide suffering from common eye diseases that threaten vision such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

30 Jun 2008

New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer

The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.

26 Jun 2008

Clinical Data secures European patent for key multi-drug resistance gene

Clinical Data, Inc. has announced that the European Patent Office has granted Patent No. 1232260 to Bernried, Germany-based Epidauros Biotechnologie AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clinical Data, relating to the use of a genetic variant, or biomarker, of the gene MDR1 (also known as ABCB1), which encodes P-glycoprotein (PGP).

26 Jun 2008

Aventix Pharma takes over key patents for innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis

The rights to key patents for an innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis were transferred today to Swiss biotech company Axentis Pharma AG.

26 Jun 2008

Genetic profiling for breast cancer on the horizon

Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that it may soon be possible to offer women a genetic test to assess their risk of breast cancer which could aid early diagnosis for those at high risk of the disease. Their findings are revealed in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Wednesday).

26 Jun 2008

Pregnancy may protect against bladder cancer

Female mice that had never become pregnant had approximately 15 times as much cancer in their bladders as their counterparts that had become pregnant, according to new findings by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Their work appears online as a rapid communication in the journal Urology.

26 Jun 2008

Sanofi Pasteur inaugurates high-tech vaccine production facility in France

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today the inauguration of a high-tech vaccine production facility in France to respond to soaring demand worldwide.

25 Jun 2008

Breakthrough in plant medicine production

A research team of scientists from Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands has succeeded in further unravelling and manipulating the glycosylation of proteins in plants.

25 Jun 2008

Identity tags can cause life saving medical equipment to malfunction

Dutch scientists are suggesting that radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) could cause critical care medical equipment to malfunction.

25 Jun 2008

CBO Director Orszag says health IT holds promise, but no panacea for health care costs

Health information technology could improve health care quality, but it is not the cure-all solution to reducing U.S. health care costs, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag said at a forum on Friday, CQ HealthBeat reports. The forum was hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

24 Jun 2008

Future of Medicare at stake in Presidential election, opinion piece states

"At stake in the presidential election is whether we will all need to consult lobbyists to have our medical issues heard by a remote, bureaucratic Medicare program," Scott Gottlieb, a former CMS official and an American Enterprise Institute fellow, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that would promote the adoption of a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports.

24 Jun 2008

USA Today examines online second-opinion services

USA Today on Monday examined the use of online second-opinion services, which allow patients to receive consultations from specialists based on medical records that they fax, mail or send through the Internet

24 Jun 2008

Lack of health insurance for many U.S. residents 'merely a symptom' of larger problem with costs, according to opinion piece

The major presidential candidates have "talked frequently" about proposals to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents but have failed to "recognize that lack of coverage is merely a symptom of a larger problem: the high cost of medical care," Dwight Bartlett, a former Social Security Administration chief actuary and a former Maryland insurance commissioner, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Drug-releasing coronary artery stent use linked with decrease in procedures to unblock coronary arteries

The widespread adoption of the use of drug-releasing coronary artery stents into routine practice is associated with a decrease in the need for repeat procedures to unblock coronary arteries and also do not appear to increase the risk of death, compared to bare-metal stents, according to a study in the June 25 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association

24 Jun 2008