CHIP News and Research

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Simple method to comb genomes

Instead of immutable proprietary software, any species, genetic information resembles open source code that is constantly tweaked and optimized to meet the users specific needs.

20 Jul 2007

New method of adult stem cell therapy to grow cornea stem cells

A new method of adult stem cell growth, designed in the Area of Cellular Therapy of the University Clinic (University of Navarra), has demonstrated its efficacy for its capacity to grow cornea stem cells.

20 Jul 2007

Lubert Stryer wins National Medal of Science

Neurobiologist Lubert Stryer, MD, of the Stanford University School of Medicine, will receive the nation's highest scientific honor, the National Medal of Science, for his achievements in a wide range of fields that included the development of a DNA chip used in genetics.

19 Jul 2007

Restless legs gene found

An international team of researchers has identified the first gene associated with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a common sleep disorder affecting tens of millions of people worldwide.

19 Jul 2007

New Tax Foundation study of poverty levels

Almost 60 percent of U.S. children and many childless adults would qualify for government-provided health insurance under an expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) if plans popular on Capitol Hill become law, according to a new Tax Foundation study of poverty levels.

12 Jul 2007

Growing support for tobacco tax increase to fund SCHIP by lawmakers

Congressional support "appears to be growing" for an increase in the federal tobacco tax as a way to fund the reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP, the Wall Street Journal reports.

11 Jul 2007

Competitive marketplace key to successful U.S. health care system

The U.S. health care system "is in need of serious reform, but the solution is not Cuban-style socialized medicine, as Michael Moore advocates in his new film 'Sicko,'" HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt writes in a Washington Times opinion piece.

10 Jul 2007

Democrats work to reauthorize, expand SCHIP while Bush administration tries to limit program growth

Congressional efforts to reauthorize SCHIP, which expires on Sept. 30, are "intensifying," but the Bush administration "has taken several steps to slow momentum for expansion of the program," the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 7/9).

10 Jul 2007

RNA molecules can orchestrate gene activity across vast portions of the human genome

Large, seemingly useless pieces of RNA - a molecule originally considered only a lowly messenger for DNA - play an important role in letting cells know where they are in the body and what they are supposed to become, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered.

29 Jun 2007

New genetic test advances detection and diagnosis of muscular dystrophy

A new genetic test targeting the most common types of muscular dystrophy--those caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene--is far quicker with greater accuracy and sensitivity than existing tests.

28 Jun 2007

Microfluidic chip for cancer diagnosis

For the first time an important diagnostic test for cancer has been miniaturized and automated onto a microfluidic chip by a team of University of Alberta researchers in Edmonton, Canada.

20 Jun 2007

Snake venom medication

A chemist at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) is looking for unusual structures in snake venom and plans to prove their medical effectiveness.

16 Jun 2007

True cost of having a baby

For women insured through large employer private plans, the average cost of having a baby in the United States in 2004 was more than $8,000, according to a study released by the March of Dimes Foundation.

14 Jun 2007

New wireless monitoring system to track esophageal reflux

UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors and UT Arlington engineers have developed a wireless monitoring system that uses electrical impulses to track esophageal reflux.

30 May 2007

Largest ever Affymetrix GeneChip Microarray study

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech has announced that it has completed the largest ever Affymetrix GeneChip Microarray study for a plant experimental system in an academic research setting.

28 May 2007

Pioneering skin researchers at the University of Leeds achieve international quality standard

The Skin Research Centre at the University of Leeds, which has led the way in the treatment of acne, eczema and other skin conditions, is the only University skin microbiology laboratory in the UK to receive the international quality standard ISO 17025.

22 May 2007

Lab-on-a-chip speeds proteomics research

In recent years, the science of biology has been dominated by genomics, the study of genes and their functions.

4 May 2007

States increasingly expanding SCHIP coverage to middle-class families

Several states are working to raise income eligibility limits for SCHIP, despite White House opposition, AP /Long Island Newsday reports. According to a survey conducted by Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, 18 states already have received federal approval to offer SCHIP coverage to families with annual incomes greater than 200% of the federal poverty level -- the income threshold established when SCHIP began a decade ago.

1 May 2007

Cover the uninsured week focuses on enrolling children in SCHIP

Several states have held events as part of Cover the Uninsured Week, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

30 Apr 2007

Chitin compound causes allergic inflammation

The beetle's back and the crab's shell owe their toughness to a common compound called chitin that now appears to trigger airway inflammation and possibly asthma, UCSF scientists have found.

24 Apr 2007