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Scientists find way to make copper-catalyzed click chemistry biocompatible

Biomolecular imaging can reveal a great deal of information about the inner workings of cells and one of the most attractive targets for imaging are glycans - sugars that are ubiquitous to living organisms and abundant on cell surfaces. Imaging a glycan requires that it be tagged or labeled. One of the best techniques for doing this is a technique called click chemistry.

19 Jul 2011

CSL Behring supports World Federation of Hemophilia with 1 million IUs of von Willebrand factor/Factor VIII

CSL Behring has donated more than 1 million international units (IU) of von Willebrand factor (VWF)/Factor VIII (FVIII) replacement medication to patients through the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH). The donation supports WFH's progress in improving the diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders in developing countries through its Global Alliance for Progress (GAP) program.

18 Jul 2011

Implantable fuel cells may obtain energy from blood sugar and oxygen

Implants that obtain their energy from blood sugar and oxygen: Dr. Sven Kerzenmacher at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) of the University of Freiburg is researching the development of biological fuel cells with the goal of finding an inexhaustible source of power in the human body. He has been awarded the 2011 FAM Research Prize for his dissertation by the Forum for Applied Microsystems Technology (FAM).

15 Jul 2011

Donors should continue to provide AIDS funding to China, UNAIDS head says

Cutting AIDS funding to China will "be a big mistake for a donor and particularly, for anyone who's invested in China today, ... for the simple reason that this funding is a catalytic fund," UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

13 Jul 2011

New innovative device can eliminate malaria

Grand Challenges Canada announces a grant today to support further development of a new innovative device to attract and kill mosquitoes that can transmit malaria.

13 Jul 2011

UNHCR says African drought threatens 'Human tragedy of unimaginable proportions'

"High levels of malnutrition, combined with violence in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, are threatening 'a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions,' the UNHCR warned" on Wednesday, the AFP/Daily Telegraph/Vancouver Sun reports.

8 Jul 2011

Allegro completes $5.4M Series A extension financing

Allegro Diagnostics today announced that it has closed a $5.4M Series A extension financing. The company's existing venture investors, Kodiak Venture Partners and Catalyst Health Ventures, participated in the round.

8 Jul 2011

Fused indolines made by asymmetrical carbon–carbon coupling

Many drugs are based on natural substances. Because it is usually difficult, if not impossible, to isolate these in sufficient quantities from plants or microorganisms, they must be synthesized in the laboratory. This requires linking carbon atoms – with the right spatial orientation (stereochemistry) relative to each other. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, E. Peter Kündig and a team from the University of Geneva (Switzerland) have now introduced a palladium-catalyzed synthesis that allows them to produce indoline derivatives with the correct spatial arrangement.

7 Jul 2011

ASCB Childcare grant eases science career vs. family conflict

For many young scientists, particularly women, research careers hang precariously between scientific and family responsibilities. That's a balance that the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) hopes to tip towards the plus side with a $60,000 grant from Nature Publishing Group (NPG) to underwrite childcare expenses at the ASCB's career-critical Annual Meetings over the next five years.

1 Jul 2011

Ovarian cancer molecular updates

In a new study a genetic mutation was found in the most common form of ovarian cancer. This according to the US scientists could pave the way for a more effective treatment of the disease. The detailed genetic map already helped scientists identify existing drugs with the potential for treating the mutations found in ovarian cancer tumors and also identified mutations that could respond to new drugs.

1 Jul 2011

TCGA examines ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tumors from 500 patients

An analysis of genomic changes in ovarian cancer has provided the most comprehensive and integrated view of cancer genes for any cancer type to date. Ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tumors from 500 patients were examined by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network and analyses are reported in the June 30, 2011, issue of Nature.

30 Jun 2011

COIN hosts ‘Risk vs. Reward: Financing Early-Stage, Emerging Technologies’ roundtable event

The Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology (COIN) has announced the upcoming NanoBio Executive Roundtable event to be hosted at The Hawthorne Inn in Winston-Salem, NC on July 14, 2011. This Roundtable will address a significant hurdle to nanobiotechnology development and commercialization—early-stage funding.

29 Jun 2011

IFT honors Elsevier's Academic Press authors for research in food engineering

Elsevier's Academic Press congratulates its authors in the food sciences for their recent awards. The Institute of Food Technologists, which for 70 years has served as a leading advocate for food science and a catalyst for change around the world, has honored two Academic Press authors for their contributions.

27 Jun 2011

Scientists analyse factors that influence development of burnout syndrome

Being over-burdened with work, monotony and the perception of lack of recognition can all be catalysts for burnout syndrome. A team of scientists has analysed the factors that influence the development of the three sub-types of this condition - 'frenetic', 'under-challenged' and 'worn out'.

24 Jun 2011

USPTO upholds ten amended claims of SANUWAVE's '119 patent

SANUWAVE Health, Inc., an emerging medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of non-invasive, biological response activating devices in regenerative medicine, today reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a reexamination certificate upholding ten amended claims of SANUWAVE's U.S. Patent No. 6,080,119 following a third party's ex parte reexamination request.

15 Jun 2011

Catalyst Health Solutions acquires Walgreens Health Initiatives

Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. today announced it has completed its acquisition of Walgreens' pharmacy benefit management (PBM) subsidiary, Walgreens Health Initiatives, Inc. (WHI). Catalyst funded the transaction with a combination of cash on hand and amounts available under its credit facility.

13 Jun 2011