Biochemistry News and Research

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Scientists discover new method for early diagnosis, treatment of plaque-related diseases

UC Santa Barbara scientists have made a discovery that has the potential for use in the early diagnosis and eventual treatment of plaque-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes. Their work is published in a recent issue of Nature Chemistry.

10 Feb 2011

EMA grants QLT positive opinions for Orphan Drug Designation of QLT091001 to treat inherited blindness

QLT Inc. today announced that QLT091001, an oral synthetic retinoid, has received positive opinions for two distinct Orphan Drug Designations by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) for the treatment of the inherited retinal degenerative diseases, Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

10 Feb 2011

Alexion acquires investigational therapy for MoCD Type A ultra-rare genetic disorder from Orphatec

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has purchased patents and assets from Germany-based Orphatec Pharmaceuticals GmbH related to an investigational therapy for patients with molybdenum cofactor deficiency (MoCD) Type A, a devastating ultra-rare genetic disorder characterized by severe brain damage and rapid death in newborns.

10 Feb 2011

Seaweed microsponges may help diagnose many diseases quickly, at far lower cost

Microsponges derived from seaweed may help diagnose heart disease, cancers, HIV and other diseases quickly and at far lower cost than current clinical methods. The microsponges are an essential component of Rice University's Programmable Bio-Nano-Chip (PBNC) and the focus of a new paper in the journal Small.

9 Feb 2011

Evotec signs definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo

Evotec AG today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH, a Munich-based drug discovery alliance company supporting the development of targeted drugs.

9 Feb 2011

Drugs against protective action of bacteria's antitoxin molecules

Bacteria often attack with toxins designed to hijack or even kill host cells. To avoid self-destruction, bacteria have ways of protecting themselves from their own toxins.

9 Feb 2011

Mysteries of the hibernating heart

Hibernating, it turns out, is much more complicated than one might think.

8 Feb 2011

Single molecule FRET techniques combined with wavelet transforms give new view of AMPA receptor

A digital signal processing technique long used by statisticians to analyze data is helping Houston scientists understand the roots of memory and learning, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and stroke.

8 Feb 2011

Study: Fluorescent probe may serve as useful tool in future surgeries to repair injured nerves

Accidental damage to thin or buried nerves during surgery can have severe consequences, from chronic pain to permanent paralysis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may have found a remedy: injectable fluorescent peptides that cause hard-to-see peripheral nerves to glow, alerting surgeons to their location even before the nerves are encountered.

6 Feb 2011

Lack of DOT1L enzyme could lead to some types of heart disease: Study

Everyone knows chocolate is critical to a happy Valentine's Day. Now scientists are one step closer to knowing what makes a heart happy the rest of the year.

5 Feb 2011

UM researchers find genetic cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers led by geneticists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have identified a new gene that causes retinitis pigmentosa, a form of blindness, ending one South Florida family's nearly 20-year search for what caused three of their four children to lose their sight.

4 Feb 2011

Researchers develop hard X-ray laser to determine structure of biomolecules

Unraveling the molecular basis of life is an age-old quest of humanity. A breakthrough towards this goal was reported in a pair of studies published Feb. 3 in the scientific journal Nature, detailing a new method developed to determine structures of biomolecules based on diffraction from protein nanocrystals that are so small that they are not even visible under the microscope.

3 Feb 2011

Generation of iPSCs can be enhanced by modulating miRNA action

Stem cells are ideal tools to understand disease and develop new treatments; however, they can be difficult to obtain in necessary quantities. In particular, generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be an arduous task because reprogramming differentiated adult skin cells into iPS cells requires many steps and the efficiency is very low - researchers might end up with only a few iPS cells even if they started with a million skin cells.

3 Feb 2011

Vegetarians, vegans need to increase omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 to reduce heart disease risk

People who follow a vegan lifestyle - strict vegetarians who try to eat no meat or animal products of any kind - may increase their risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries," which are conditions that can lead to heart attacks and stroke. That's the conclusion of a review of dozens of articles published on the biochemistry of vegetarianism during the past 30 years.

3 Feb 2011

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a breakdown of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal region of the brain, which leads to, among other symptoms, a change in personality and behavior. The cause of some forms of frontotemporal dementia is a genetically determined reduction of a hormone-like growth factor, progranulin.

3 Feb 2011

Daily probiotic may help prevent upper respiratory tract infections in athletes: Research

Researchers at Loughborough University have revealed that a simple, daily probiotic might help prevent athletes catching colds during their training and competition.

2 Feb 2011

Extensive, reversible changes in heart take place when exposed to low oxygen levels

From the highest mountaintop comes a new research report in the FASEB Journal that gets to the bottom of what happens to the hearts of people when exposed to low-levels of oxygen, such as those on Mount Everest or in the intensive care unit of a hospital.

1 Feb 2011

USPTO Board of Patent Appeals rules in favor of Pacific Biosciences in case against Life Technologies

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. today announced that the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rendered a decision in a previously announced patent interference provoked by Pacific Biosciences related to single molecule sequencing. The decision cancels all patent claims by Life Technologies Corporation involved in the interference.

1 Feb 2011

Histamine can be an important molecule to develop new treatments for MS

If you think histamines are your nemesis during allergy season, here's something that might change your perspective. New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows that histamine could be an important molecule to developing new treatments for multiple sclerosis.

1 Feb 2011

Antibiotic may help in development of new anti-cancer agents: Researchers

An antibiotic known for its immunosuppressive functions could also point the way to the development of new anti-cancer agents, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have reported.

28 Jan 2011

Biochemistry News and Research

Scientists discover new method for early diagnosis, treatment of plaque-related diseases

EMA grants QLT positive opinions for Orphan Drug Designation of QLT091001 to treat inherited blindness

Alexion acquires investigational therapy for MoCD Type A ultra-rare genetic disorder from Orphatec

Seaweed microsponges may help diagnose many diseases quickly, at far lower cost

Evotec signs definitive agreement to acquire all shares in Kinaxo

Drugs against protective action of bacteria's antitoxin molecules

Mysteries of the hibernating heart

Single molecule FRET techniques combined with wavelet transforms give new view of AMPA receptor

Study: Fluorescent probe may serve as useful tool in future surgeries to repair injured nerves

Lack of DOT1L enzyme could lead to some types of heart disease: Study

UM researchers find genetic cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers develop hard X-ray laser to determine structure of biomolecules

Generation of iPSCs can be enhanced by modulating miRNA action

Vegetarians, vegans need to increase omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 to reduce heart disease risk

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Daily probiotic may help prevent upper respiratory tract infections in athletes: Research

Extensive, reversible changes in heart take place when exposed to low oxygen levels

USPTO Board of Patent Appeals rules in favor of Pacific Biosciences in case against Life Technologies

Histamine can be an important molecule to develop new treatments for MS

Antibiotic may help in development of new anti-cancer agents: Researchers

Biochemistry eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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