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Scientists design octapeptides to fight drug resistant ovarian cancer cells

Italian and German scientists have designed peptides to target the protein-protein interface of a key enzyme in DNA synthesis crucial for cancer growth. The peptides act by a novel inhibitory mechanism and curb cancer cell growth in drug resistant ovarian cancer cells.

2 Aug 2011

Salk researchers successfully edit diseased gene in patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells

In principle, genetic engineering is simple, but in practice, replacing a faulty gene with a healthy copy is anything but. Using mutated versions of the lamin A gene as an example to demonstrate the versatility of their virus-based approach, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies successfully edited a diseased gene in patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells as well as adult stem cells.

21 May 2011

New PET imaging clinical trial to improve early esophageal, lung cancer detection

Can a simple imaging test help predict the success of cancer treatment, even before the treatment is complete? To begin to answer this question, a new National Cancer Institute-funded clinical trial is using a novel PET imaging technique that could improve the early detection of tumor growth during treatment for esophageal and lung cancer.

29 Apr 2011

FEN1 enzyme might serve as anti-cancer therapy target

An enzyme essential for DNA replication and repair in humans works in a way that might be exploited as anti-cancer therapy, say researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

15 Apr 2011

SHMT1 gene and folate deficiency increase risk for colon cancer

Offering a likely insight into how such cancers develop in humans - Cornell University researchers report they have identified a gene that increases the risk for colon cancer in laboratory mice when the animals' diets are deficient in folate.

30 Mar 2011

Two studies show how laminin plays a central role in breast cancer development

Laminin, long thought to be only a structural support protein in the microenvironment of breast and other epithelial tissues, is "famous" for its cross-like shape.

8 Mar 2011

Progeria-derived iPS cells may treat aging-related disease in children

The current pace of population aging is without parallel in human history but surprisingly little is known about the human aging process, because lifespans of eight decades or more make it difficult to study. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have replicated premature aging in the lab, allowing them to study aging-related disease in a dish.

24 Feb 2011

Researchers develop new method to identify chemical histone modifications

Test system on Drosophila should provide the key to histone function. The genetic inherited material DNA was long viewed as the sole bearer of hereditary information. The function of its packaging proteins, the histones, was believed to be exclusively structural. Additional genetic information can be stored, however, and passed on to subsequent generations through chemical changes in the DNA or histones. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have succeeded in creating an experimental system for testing the function of such chemical histone modifications and their influence on the organism.

12 Oct 2010

Research on OGF-OGFr complex helps to understand pathobiology of diseases

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that the Opioid Growth Factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin) and its receptor, OGFr, a clinically important system with potent antitumor properties, has controlled entry from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The nucleocytoplasmic passage of OGF-OGFr is critical to cell proliferation and suggests that there are hierarchical levels of nuclear import.

24 Aug 2010

Researchers develop tiny color-changing sensor molecules

A new approach to building an "artificial nose" using fluorescent compounds and DNA could accelerate the use of sniffing sensors into the realm of mass production and widespread use, say Stanford chemists. If their method lives up to its promise, it could one day detect everything from incipiently souring milk to high explosives.

21 Aug 2010

OriGene Technologies announces acquisition of Blue Heron Biotechnology

OriGene Technologies, Inc., a gene-centric life sciences company, announces the acquisition of Blue Heron Biotechnology, a pioneer in the gene synthesis business since 1999.

13 Aug 2010

Sangon Biotech, Bio Basic complete $10 million round of funding from Qiming Ventures

Sangon Biotech, a Shanghai based life science research service company, and Bio Basic Inc. (BBI), a Toronto based life science research service company, announced today the completion of a $10 million round of funding from Qiming Ventures. The company is using the funding to scale research & development, marketing and sales of its life science research tools including biochemical reagents, protein, antibody, research kit, DNA synthesis service, etc. to meet increasing demand.

3 Aug 2010

Gen-Probe invests $50M in Pacific Biosciences

Gen-Probe Incorporated and Pacific Biosciences announced today that Gen-Probe has made a $50 million strategic investment in Pacific Biosciences, a private sequencing company. In addition, the companies will work together to explore co-development of new integrated clinical diagnostics systems based on Pacific Biosciences' Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT™) platform and Gen-Probe's expertise in diagnostics.

18 Jun 2010

OHSU partners with UO, Harvard to expedite research into compounds that may prevent Fanconi anemia

Oregon Health & Science University is partnering with the University of Oregon and Harvard Medical School to expedite basic science research into new and existing drugs and compounds that may prevent the complications associated with Fanconi anemia, an inherited condition that can lead to bone marrow failure and cancer.

28 May 2010

JCVI researchers construct first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome.

21 May 2010

Driving evolution of antibiotic resistance backwards

The use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections causes a continual and vicious cycle in which antibiotic treatment leads to the emergence and spread of resistant strains, forcing the use of additional drugs leading to further multi-drug resistance.

26 Apr 2010

Exposure to blue-violet light may enhance cell growth in wound sites

Today, during the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research, convening at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, lead researcher C. Millan (U.S. Army Dental Corps, Martinez, Georgia) will present a poster of a study titled "A Novel In Vitro Model for Light-Induced Wound Healing."

4 Mar 2010

Sigma-Aldrich unveils new Sigma Life Science brand and website platform

Sigma-Aldrich® today unveiled its new Sigma® Life Science brand and website platform, designed to elevate the Company's current focus on biology and provide a single destination where researchers can access deep biological knowledge and market-leading products and technologies.

2 Mar 2010

European Patent Office grants a patent for Rexahn Pharmaceuticals' RX-3117

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that the European Patent Office has granted a patent for its novel anti-cancer compound, RX-3117.

20 Jan 2010

Some combination drug therapies are counter-productive

Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.

16 Nov 2009