Biotechnology News and Research

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Research brings quick, precise view of cell development and gene expression

A team of University of Oregon biologists, using fruit flies, has created a way to isolate RNA from specific cells, opening a new window on how gene expression drives normal development and disease-causing breakdowns.

18 May 2009

Automated tissue engineering on demand

Skin from a factory - this has long been the dream of pharmacologists, chemists and doctors. Research has an urgent need for large quantities of 'skin models', which can be used to determine if products such as creams and soaps, cleaning agents, medicines and adhesive bandages are compatible with skin, or if they instead will lead to irritation or allergic reactions for the consumer. Such test results are seen as more meaningful than those from animal experiments, and can even make such experiments largely superfluous.

18 May 2009

Genetic basis for environmental and occupational respiratory diseases

Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases.

17 May 2009

New system to deliver siRNA into primary cells

In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delivering siRNA into primary cells.

17 May 2009

Editorial says, Obama is “right to push for health care reform”

President Obama is "right to push for [health care] reform now, despite calls to postpone efforts solely on the economic recovery," a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial states.

14 May 2009

Previous experiences invaluable for complex decision making, according to new brain research

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have shown that past experience really does help when we have to make complex decisions based on uncertain or confusing information.

13 May 2009

Sanofi-aventis to acquire Oforta, oral chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment

Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today that it has acquired from biotechnology company Antisoma plc the U.S. commercial rights to Oforta (fludarabine phosphate film-coated tablets), an oral B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) drug. Oforta is currently approved in the United States for use as a second-line therapy to treat adults with B-cell CLL.

12 May 2009

Concern raised over dietary supplements

As the FDA warns consumers to stop using Hydroxycut products, a new editorial published in the May 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that this FDA warning is not unique.

5 May 2009

Small molecules might block mutant protein production in Huntington's disease

Molecules that selectively interfere with protein production can stop human cells from making the abnormal molecules that cause Huntington's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

5 May 2009

Small molecules might block mutant protein production in Huntington's disease

3 May 2009

New insights into addictive behaviours

Addictive behaviour is determined by conscious, rapid thought processes, not necessarily by the content of visual stimuli as previously thought according to research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

30 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

Using combinatorial libraries to engineer genetic circuits advances synthetic biology

Streamlining the construction of synthetic gene networks has led a team of Boston University researchers to develop a technique that couples libraries of diversified components with computer modeling to guide predictable gene network construction without the back and forth tweaking.

22 Apr 2009

Discovery of new gene that stimulates the release of calcium in cells

International research collaborators have identified a new family of proteins, TPC2 (two-pore channels), that facilitates calcium signaling from specialized subcellular organelles.

22 Apr 2009

DNA of uncultured organisms sequenced using novel single cell genome sequencing approach

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have assembled high quality, contamination-free draft genomes of uncultured biodegrading microorganisms using a novel single cell genome sequencing approach.

22 Apr 2009