Bioengineering News and Research

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Scientists develop microfabricated device to measure cellular forces during tissue development

A University of Pennsylvania-led collaboration of bioengineers studying the physical forces generated by individual cells has created a tiny micron-sized device that allows researchers to measure and manipulate cellular forces as assemblies of living cells reorganize themselves into tissues.

23 Jun 2009

Scientists map sequence mutations of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus

In just two weeks from the time the first patient virus samples were made available, Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain.

22 May 2009

Decoding the human brain

'Nature' journals are synonymous with the very best in research. Earlier this year, an article by University of Leicester bioengineer Professor Rodrigo Quian Quiroga not only appeared in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, but also featured on the magazine cover. In the article, Prof. Quian Quiroga and co-author Dr. Stefano Panzeri discuss new methodologies that are enabling scientists to better understand how our brain processes information.

19 May 2009

Brain works best when cells keep right rhythms

It is said that each of us marches to the beat of a different drum, but new Stanford University research suggests that brain cells need to follow specific rhythms that must be kept for proper brain functioning.

26 Apr 2009

Breakthrough method for sequencing-based methylation profiling

Bioengineers at UC San Diego have developed a breakthrough method for sequencing-based methylation profiling, which could help fuel personalized regenerative medicine and even lead to more efficient and cost-effective methods for studying certain diseases.

23 Apr 2009

A nanoscale motor in the ear

Utah and Texas researchers have learned how quiet sounds are magnified by bundles of tiny, hair-like tubes atop "hair cells" in the ear: when the tubes dance back and forth, they act as "flexoelectric motors" that amplify sound mechanically.

22 Apr 2009

New insights into transcription factors in human cells

Bioinformatics researchers from UC San Diego just moved closer to unlocking the mystery of how human cells switch from "proliferation mode" to "specialization mode."

20 Apr 2009

Singapore scientists synthesize gold to shed light on cells' inner workings

Highly fluorescent gold nanoclusters for sub-cellular imaging have been synthesized by researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), one of the research institutes of Singapore's A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research).

16 Apr 2009

Shedding some light on Parkinson's treatment

A research team lead by Karl Deisseroth in the bioengineering department at Stanford University has developed a technique to systematically characterize disease circuits in the brain.

16 Apr 2009

Scientists use RNA to reprogram 1 cell type into another

For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity.

16 Apr 2009

DNA origami rectangle made with 'bottom-up' construction approach

The construction of complex man-made objects--a car, for example, or even a pizza--almost invariably entails what are known as "top-down" processes, in which the structure and order of the thing being built is imposed from the outside (say, by an automobile assembly line, or the hands of the pizza maker).

9 Apr 2009

Scientists first evidence of cell-to-cell communication by amino acids

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Engineering in Medicine (MGH-CEM) has found the first evidence of cell-to-cell communication by amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, rather than by known protein signaling agents such as growth factors or cytokines.

6 Apr 2009

NIH Nanotechnology Task Force and the NIH Nanomedicine Roadmap initiative host NanoWeek 2009

The NIH Nanotechnology Task Force and the NIH Nanomedicine Roadmap Initiative will host NanoWeek 2009 from Tuesday, April 7 through Friday, April 10 at the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. NIH's first-of-a-kind series of events focusing on science at the nanoscale, NanoWeek 2009 will include symposia with experts in the field, demonstrations, talks, and posters from NIH scientists.

4 Apr 2009

University of Nottingham back pain study wins prestigious research prize

A study aimed at overcoming problems with treatments for a common cause of back pain has picked up one of the most prestigious prizes in spinal research.

31 Mar 2009

New, more effective nisin antibiotics combat superbugs and food diseases

Researchers at University College Cork have used bioengineering to produce a new generation of natural antibiotics that target harmful micro-organisms such as MRSA and the food-borne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes

30 Mar 2009

Researchers identify genetic machinery responsible for synthesizing thiostrepton

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified the genetic machinery responsible for synthesizing thiostrepton, a powerful antibiotic produced by certain bacteria.

23 Mar 2009

Insights into Parkinson's disease and deep-brain stimulation

About the only thing doctors have understood about deep-brain stimulation, which is widely used to treat Parkinson's disease symptoms, is that somehow it works for many patients.

20 Mar 2009

MicroRNA undermines tumor suppression

Scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the National University of Singapore have discovered the first microRNA (miRNA) capable of directly tamping down the activity of the well known tumor-suppressor gene, p53, While p53 functions to prevent tumor formation, the p53 gene is thought to malfunction in more than 50% of cancerous tumors.

17 Mar 2009

BioNanomatrix awarded phase II NIH grant to support development of single-molecule nanoscale whole genome analyzer

BioNanomatrix, Inc. has announced receipt of a Phase II grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

17 Mar 2009

Engineering flu vaccines

A new computerized method of testing could help world health officials better identify flu vaccines that are effective against multiple strains of the disease.

17 Mar 2009