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Bionomics goes for aggressive strategy in 2005

Australian biotech, Bionomics gave an investor presentation in Melbourne on 2 February 2005 and outlined a bolder, more aggressive strategy. There are many Australian biotech companies with big aspirations.

13 Feb 2005

Chlamydia screening in high street pharmacies across the Britain is now underway

The first step in a drive to make chlamydia screening available in high street pharmacies across the country is now underway, Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson announced today.

8 Feb 2005

Gene used in brain development can cause childhood brain cancers

A gene that's normally silenced after contributing to brain development was found to be expressed in cells from medulloblastoma, the most common form of pediatric brain malignancy in children, scientists report in an article published in the February 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

3 Feb 2005

Association between fitness and survival suggests a link between impaired oxygen metabolism and disease

Research published in the current issue of Science magazine reinforces the belief that aerobic capacity is an important determinant in the continuum between health and disease.

26 Jan 2005

Novel nanotechnology detects human DNA mutations

Researchers at Nanosphere, Inc. have reported unprecedented benefits in the company's technology for the medical analysis of human DNA.

26 Jan 2005

Now significantly easier to search long stretches of DNA for genetic changes associated with disease

The researchers developed a method called direct genomic selection that accelerates the transition between family or population-based studies of disease inheritance patterns and identification of genetic variations that may contribute to disease.

6 Jan 2005

Gene sequencing explains why natural bioremediation 'bug' has big appetite for chlorinated pollutants

"The born-to-dechlorinate bug" is what Cornell University researchers called Dehalococcoides ethenogenes Strain 195 when they found the bacterium obligingly detoxifying the pollutant PCE, or perchloroethylene (a chlorinated solvent used for dry cleaning), in sludge from an Ithaca, N.Y., sewage treatment plant.

6 Jan 2005

New technique for tracking gene regulators

Finding out where gene-regulator proteins bind to DNA and identifying the genes they regulate just got a step easier thanks to a new technique developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

28 Dec 2004

DLX5 gene may play a role in the pathology of Rett Syndrome

A research team led by Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu of the Life Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has identified a gene, DLX5, that may play a role in the pathology of Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in girls.

20 Dec 2004

Rett Syndrome, the first identified epigenetic disease - linked to specific defects in the three-dimensional folding of chromatin

Sometime between the age of 6 and 18 months, after a period of seemingly normal development, girls affected with Rett Syndrome lose interest in play; they gradually become withdrawn and anxious, develop autistic-like behaviors, and acquire specific symptoms like repetitive teeth-grinding and hand-wringing.

20 Dec 2004

Revised safety advice on chromium picolinate supplements

The Food Standards Agency has revised its advice on the safety of chromium picolinate supplements. It is no longer advising people to avoid this type of chromium.

14 Dec 2004

DNA crystal that computes as it grows

In a demonstration that holds promise for future advances in nanotechnology, California Institute of Technology computer scientists have succeeded in building a DNA crystal that computes as it grows. As the computation proceeds, it creates a triangular fractal pattern in the DNA crystal.

7 Dec 2004

Research raises question on shark cartilage use as an anti-cancer treatment

The rising popularity of shark cartilage extract as an anti-cancer treatment is a triumph of marketing and pseudoscience over reason, with a tragic fallout for both sharks and humans, according to a Johns Hopkins biologist writing in the Dec. 1 issue of Cancer Research.

4 Dec 2004

Manufacturers in the European active pharmaceutical ingredients market are struggling to overcome a variety of challenges

Manufacturers in the crowded and highly fragmented European active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) market are struggling to overcome a variety of challenges. One of the most pressing of these is the problem of overcapacity.

29 Nov 2004

Acid-resistant bug also alcohol-resistant

A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has found surprisingly tough enzymes in a bacterium that "just says no to acid."

23 Nov 2004

Sequencing of human genetic code promises to usher in a new era of genetic medicine

The ability of molecular biologists to sequence the human genetic code promises to usher in a new era of genetic medicine, but that doesn’t mean science can accurately read personal genetic codes.

16 Nov 2004

Grant to develop high speed DNA sequence reader

Sequencing of the human genome is one of the major scientific advances of our time. But with 3 billion base pairs, initial sequencing of the human genome took 11 years and cost $1 billion to complete in 2002. Today, it costs up to $50 million to sequence 3 billion base pairs.

1 Nov 2004

Researchers trim count of human genes to 20,000-25,000

Scientific description of the finished human genome sequence, reducing the estimated number of human protein-coding genes from 35,000 to only 20,000-25,000, a surprisingly low number for our species.

21 Oct 2004

Collaborative research will help bring hope to Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases

A collaborative research and development agreement signed today between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Second Sight LLC will help bring hope to hundreds of thousands of Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases.

18 Oct 2004

Researchers have identified a protein in the inner ear that translates sound into the nerve impulses used by the brain

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and their colleagues report in the October 13 Nature advanced on-line edition that they have identified a protein deep in the inner ear that they believe translates sound into the nerve impulses used by the brain.

13 Oct 2004