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Cytogen issued new patent covering oral drug delivery agents

Cytogen Corporation has announced that it has been issued United States patent number 7,135,457 covering its oral drug delivery agents - random peptide compositions that bind to gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) transport receptors.

28 Nov 2006

Nanotechnology continues to advance anticancer gene therapy

Given that cancer is a disease in which genetic errors play a major role, it should come as no surprise that many experts envision a time when gene therapy will play an equally important role in the treatment of cancer.

20 Nov 2006

Low-field magnetic separation of monodisperse Fe3O4 nanocrystals

Whether the goal is to separate different types of cells or molecules, methods that rely on the age-old principle of magnetism are a staple among researchers.

20 Nov 2006

Templated self-assembly of quantum dots from aqueous solution using protein scaffolds

Quantum dots are rapidly becoming biomedical researchers' tool of choice for adding a fluorescent label to a wide variety of biomolecules.

20 Nov 2006

New agreement questions NHS relation with industry

The Department of Health's new clinical trials agreement raises questions about the NHS's relation with the drug industry, says an editorial published on the British Medical Journal website.

19 Nov 2006

International plan to protect against counterfeit medicines

The World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 20 international partners are today launching a comprehensive package of measures to help national authorities safeguard their populations from the dangers of counterfeit medicines.

15 Nov 2006

Optical amplification of photothermal therapy with gold nanoparticles and nanoclusters

Gold nanoparticles, through their unique ability to convert light into heat, show great promise as miniature heaters capable of cooking cancer cells to death.

13 Nov 2006

Modified silicon-based surfaces provide good home to proteins

Silicon, whether in its elemental form as silicon wafers or in its oxidized form, known as silicon dioxide or silica, is proving to be a valuable material for biomedical nanotechnology, in large part because of the biocompatibility and chemical inertness of these substances.

13 Nov 2006

Latest food scare - Salmonella in Hershey chocolate bars

In the latest food scare to hit North America confectionary and biscuits by Hershey Canada have been recalled because they may be tainted with salmonella.

13 Nov 2006

Recall of Strength Store-brand Acetaminophen caplets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting the public to a voluntary recall being conducted by Perrigo Company (Perrigo) of Allegan, Michigan for 383 lots of acetaminophen 500mg caplets manufactured and distributed under various store-brands as a result of small metal fragments found in a small number of these caplets.

13 Nov 2006

Nanoparticles for two-photon photodynamic therapy in living cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a combination of ultraviolet or visible light and a light-sensitive chemical, or photosensitizer, to kill cancer cells using reactive oxygen.

6 Nov 2006

Multifunctional polymeric micelles as cancer-targeted, MRI-ultrasensitive drug delivery systems

In an attempt to create a single device that can image and treat tumors simultaneously, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have successfully melded magnetic iron nanoparticles, the anticancer drug doxorubicin, and a polymer tagged with a tumor-targeted molecule into a stable nanoparticle that accumulates inside human tumor cells.

6 Nov 2006

Lab-on-a-chip nanoscale array monitors cellular processes

Researchers at Tel-Aviv University in Israel have developed a lab-on-a-chip device that can incorporate enzymes and even living cells in a nanoscale array capable of monitoring electrochemical reactions.

30 Oct 2006

Detecting rare microRNAs with gold nanoparticles

Over the past three years, numerous studies have shown that short pieces of single-stranded RNA, known as microRNAs, play a central role in the development of at least some cancers.

30 Oct 2006

Multifunctional composite nanoparticles: magnetic, luminescent, and mesoporous

Silica, the mineral of which sand is made, is generally inert in the body and can be modified easily using a variety of well-established chemical reactions.

30 Oct 2006

Squalenoyl nanomedicines as potential therapeutics

Nucleoside analogs such as cytarabine and gemcitabine are powerful anticancer agents, but a simple chemical modification that causes them to assemble into stable nanoparticles could make them even more valuable in the treatment of a wide variety of cancers.

23 Oct 2006

Functionalization of individual ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotubes

While most research aimed at developing carbon nanotubes as tumor-targeting drug and imaging agent delivery vehicles has focused on full-length nanotubes, Lon Wilson, Ph.D., and his colleagues at Rice University have been working with ultra-short nanotubes that cells appear to take up more efficiently than their longer counterparts.

23 Oct 2006

$74 million allocated to study environmental causes of disease

As part of the new Exposure Biology Program, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health, today announced $74 million in grant opportunities for the development of new technologies that will improve the measurement of environmental exposures that contribute to human disease.

19 Oct 2006

A nanoplasmonic molecular ruler for measuring nuclease activity and DNA footprinting

The interactions between proteins and nucleic acids play a critical role in some of life’s most crucial biochemical processes, including gene expression and protein production, and some promising anticancer agents exert their effects by interfering with these interactions.

16 Oct 2006

Key parameters for encapsulating drugs in nanoparticles

One of the early, successful uses of nanoparticles has been to develop delivery vehicles capable of ferrying large amounts of water-insoluble drugs to tumors.

2 Oct 2006