Toxin News and Research

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Luminex's xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel now available for detecting dangerous biotoxins

Quickly detecting and identifying dangerous biotoxins is now a reality, thanks to the xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel (BTP) by Luminex. The xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel is the first multiplex assay to rapidly detect and identify the six most easily acquired and most dangerous biotoxins. All six of these biotoxins are on the US government's list of most dangerous substances.

From Luminex 21 Jan 2015

Unmet medication need in neuropathic pain

A systematic review and meta-analysis reveals that current treatments for neuropathic pain achieve only a moderate response in patients.

16 Jan 2015

Study: Century-old drug may help treat autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect 1 to 2 percent of children in the United States. Hundreds of genetic and environmental factors have been shown to increase the risk of ASD. Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine previously reported that a drug used for almost a century to treat trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, reversed environmental autism-like symptoms in mice.

16 Jan 2015

TSRI researchers identify enzyme that produces inflammatory lipid molecules in the brain

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has identified an enzyme that produces a class of inflammatory lipid molecules in the brain. Abnormally high levels of these molecules appear to cause a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder, and that disorder now may be treatable if researchers can develop suitable drug candidates that inhibit this enzyme.

13 Jan 2015

MGB Biopharma provides update on business performance for 2014

MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing a truly novel class of anti-infectives, provides an update on its business performance for 2014. MGB Biopharma is developing a pipeline of novel antimicrobials that puts it at the forefront of addressing the major global problem of antimicrobial resistance.

12 Jan 2015

Eight researchers to receive 2015 Leibniz Prize

The new recipients of Germany's most prestigious research funding prize have been announced. In Bonn today, the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) decided to award the 2015 Leibniz Prize to eight researchers.

18 Dec 2014

Tobacco smoke toxin could increase pain in people with spinal cord injury

A neurotoxin called acrolein found in tobacco smoke that is thought to increase pain in people with spinal cord injury has now been shown to accumulate in mice exposed to the equivalent of 12 cigarettes daily over a short time period.

4 Dec 2014

MIT engineers create new computer model to design complex 3-D DNA shapes

MIT biological engineers have created a new computer model that allows them to design the most complex three-dimensional DNA shapes ever produced, including rings, bowls, and geometric structures such as icosahedrons that resemble viral particles.

3 Dec 2014

Scientists reveal how bacterial nanodrills enter into our cells to kill them

A team of scientists has revealed how certain harmful bacteria drill into our cells to kill them. Their study shows how bacterial 'nanodrills' assemble themselves on the outer surfaces of our cells, and includes the first movie of how they then punch holes in the cells' outer membranes.

3 Dec 2014

CHFA reveals top five healthy holiday gift ideas

Finding that perfect gift for health-conscious friends and family can be hard, but this holiday season, you can put those fears to rest.

1 Dec 2014

UCL research opens up new way to treat neurological disorders

The way that tetanus neurotoxin enters nerve cells has been discovered by UCL scientists, who showed that this process can be blocked, offering a potential therapeutic intervention for tetanus. This newly-discovered pathway could be exploited to deliver therapies to the nervous system, opening up a whole new way to treat neurological disorders such as motor neuron disease and peripheral neuropathies.

28 Nov 2014

Researchers take major step in fight against sleeping sickness

Researchers from Aarhus University have taken an important step in the fight against sleeping sickness, a disease that is a major problem in parts of Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the disease threatens approximately 60 million people and the treatment options are poor.

24 Nov 2014

UCLA creates largest-ever protein that self-assembles into molecular 'cage'

UCLA biochemists have created the largest-ever protein that self-assembles into a molecular "cage." The research could lead to synthetic vaccines that protect people from the flu, HIV and other diseases.

23 Nov 2014

Strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli worldwide have similar toxins and virulence factors

The strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) that infect adults and children in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, have notably similar toxins and virulence factors, according to research published ahead of print in the Journal of Bacteriology.

14 Nov 2014

LSU Health New Orleans professor awarded $1.8 million grant to target intra-abdominal infections

Mairi Noverr, PhD, Associate Professor of Prosthodontics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry's Center of Excellence in Oral Biology, has been awarded a $1.8 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

13 Nov 2014

Inovio Pharmaceuticals reports Q3 2014 financial results, provides corporate update

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

10 Nov 2014

Liposomes can help prevent bacterial toxins from killing human cells

Published in Nature Biotechnology, the study at the University of Liverpool showed that specially engineered lipid (fat) bodies, called liposomes, can be used to prevent bacterial toxins from killing human cells.

7 Nov 2014

ETEC vaccine candidate provides significant protection against bacterial diarrhea

New results from a safety and immunogenicity study, which included a challenge phase to test efficacy, indicate that a live attenuated enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccine candidate, given in combination with a novel adjuvant, provided significant protection against disease.

28 Oct 2014

Scientists devise novel way to use stem cells in fight against brain cancer

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a new way to use stem cells in the fight against brain cancer. A team led by neuroscientist Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, who recently demonstrated the value of stem cells loaded with cancer-killing herpes viruses, now has a way to genetically engineer stem cells so that they can produce and secrete tumor-killing toxins.

27 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Examining the U.S. Ebola response, possible solutions, facts vs. fear, and the need for candor

The Ebola cases in the United States show that American hospitals and public health officials have much to learn about effective ways to protect health care workers and the public from possible infection.

17 Oct 2014