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Nanoparticle-delivered suicide gene therapy effectively reduces ovarian tumor burden in mice

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA that expresses selectively in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect that this therapy could be tested in humans with advanced ovarian cancer within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research. If additional tests are successful, these finding could lead to a new treatment for ovarian cancer, which now causes more than 15,000 deaths each year in the United States. Because it is usually diagnosed at a relatively late stage, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

7 Sep 2009

Ecological catalysts to get ibuprofen and naxopren from oil production

The Compuestos de Coordinación y Organometálicos group of the University of Huelva is designing ecological catalysts to get important products such as adhesives, textiles and products with pharmacological, antibiotic or insecticide properties -from hydrocarbons, that is, organic molecules derived from oil production.

3 Sep 2009

Public-private collaboration to fund research on health, diet and green technology

A total of £7M funding has been announced today by two public-private collaborations led by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

2 Sep 2009

USPTO awards two new patents to Nerites

Nerites Corporation announced Thursday that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued two new patents covering the company’s technology. These “composition of matter” patents provide underlying intellectual property protection for surgical adhesives, films, and coatings. Nerites’ scientists create synthetic mimetics of the protein components used by marine mussels to stick to rocks under water.

28 Aug 2009

Kimball Electronics’ focus on growth of medical business to strengthen with the addition of two new members

Kimball Electronics Group, a subsidiary of Kimball International, Inc., has added Katie Eggert and Anita Conlin to the Business Development Team focused on growth of the Company’s medical sector.

26 Aug 2009

Advansource Biomaterials partners with medical device company for the development of specialized solution-based polymer

AdvanSource Biomaterials Corporation (NYSE Amex: ASB), a leading developer of advanced polymer materials for a broad range of medical devices, today announced that the Company has entered into a multi-year development agreement with a leading international medical device company.

20 Aug 2009

Scientists harness carbon nanomaterials for drug delivery, oxygen sensors

Two nanoscale devices recently reported by University of Pittsburgh researchers in two separate journals harness the potential of carbon nanomaterials to enhance technologies for drug or imaging agent delivery and energy storage systems, in one case, and, in the other, bolster the sensitivity of oxygen sensors essential in confined settings, from mines to spacecrafts.

17 Aug 2009

New kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS

University of Utah scientists developed a new kind of “molecular condom” to protect women from AIDS in Africa and other impoverished areas. Before sex, women would insert a vaginal gel that turns semisolid in the presence of semen, trapping AIDS virus particles in a microscopic mesh so they can’t infect vaginal cells.

10 Aug 2009

Dynamic, 3D pattern formation within protein-based gel

Modern regenerative medicine is on the lookout for implantable materials that can change as the surrounding tissue does, and two Stanford University researchers have made some new gel materials that do just that. Karin Straley and Professor Sarah Heilshorn have developed a method for preparing protein-based implant materials that can evolve with the changing needs of the host biological system. Not only can their new materials change in different ways at different times, they can do so at different places within the implant materials.

31 Jul 2009

New nano-gene therapy technique could fight late-stage tumors

Tiny particles carrying a killer gene can effectively suppress ovarian tumor growth in mice, according to a team of researchers from MIT and the Lankenau Institute.

31 Jul 2009

Scientists combine two nanoparticles into one tiny package

Nanoparticles are being developed to perform a wide range of medical uses - imaging tumors, carrying drugs, delivering pulses of heat. Rather than settling for just one of these, researchers at the University of Washington have combined two nanoparticles in one tiny package.

28 Jul 2009

Nanoparticle-based “chemical nose” sniffs out cancer earlier to improve treatment options

Using a "chemical nose" array of nanoparticles and polymers, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a fundamentally new, more effective way to differentiate not only between healthy and cancerous cells but also between metastatic and nonmetastatic cancer cells. It is a tool that could revolutionize cancer detection and treatment, according to Vincent M. Rotello, Ph.D., M.Phil., and D. Joseph Jerry, Ph.D., M.S., the investigators who led the study.

21 Jul 2009

Chewing robot helps study dental wear formation on teeth

The UK spends around £2.5 billion each year on dental materials to replace or strengthen teeth. The Chewing Robot is a new biologically inspired way to test dental materials and it will be shown to the public for the first time at this year's Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition [30 June to 4 July].

29 Jun 2009