Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) News and Research

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When it comes to low fat diets - all are not equal!

New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine re-enforces what Mum always told you, eat those veggies and those other nutrient-dense foods because they're good for you!

2 May 2005

Solar cell implant may restore some sight for the blind

Ophthalmologists at Rush University Medical Center implanted Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) microchips in the eyes of five patients to treat vision loss caused by retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The implant is a silicon microchip 2mm in diameter and one-thousandth of an inch thick, less than the thickness of a human hair.

1 May 2005

New strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have used a new strategy to identify differences between non-metastatic and highly metastatic breast cancer cells. The article by Valerie Montel et al., "Expression profiling of primary tumors and matched lymphatic and lung metastases in a xenogeneic breast cancer model," appears in the May 2005 issue of The American Journal of Pathology and is accompanied by a commentary.

22 Apr 2005

FDA expert panel to review Abiomed's artificial heart

Abiomed, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will convene an expert panel of cardiovascular surgeons and cardiologists to review the groundbreaking technologies and clinical trial data behind the AbioCor artificial heart.

20 Apr 2005

Genomics and proteomics to increase the efficiency of drug discovery and development

While the United Sates is still the world leader, Europe is having a good deal of success in the field of advanced genomics and proteomics research. Significant government funding together with the presence of large pharmaceutical companies has made Europe a major competitor in the efforts to deploy genomics and proteomics as vital tools in drug discovery and development.

5 Apr 2005

Bionic eyes from Stanford

Stanford physicists and eye doctors have teamed up to design a "bionic eye," of sorts. On Feb. 22 in the Journal of Neural Engineering, Daniel Palanker, Alexander Vankov and Phil Huie from the Department of Ophthalmology and the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory and Stephen Baccus from the Department of Neurobiology published a design of an optoelectronic retinal prosthesis system that can stimulate the retina with resolution corresponding to a visual acuity of 20/80

4 Apr 2005

DNA sequencing made portable and faster by "colour-blind" technology

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Rice University have developed a"colour-blind" method of fluorescence detection which could open new doors that would take DNA sequencing to the patient's bedside, the doctor's office and even the scene of a crime or a battlefield.

29 Mar 2005

Test that will prevent the needless loss of the thyroid gland in people with the noncancerous condition

New research suggests that physicians can distinguish between a type of thyroid cancer and an identical-looking, non-cancerous thyroid condition by simply determining the activity of three genes.

28 Mar 2005

Genomic DNA provides clues to new advances in cancer diagnostics

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a method of assessing the malignant potential of cells based on the sensitivity of cellular DNA to enzyme digestion.

22 Mar 2005

Most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date

A team of scientists led by Dr. Kuniya Abe from the RIKEN BioResource Center in Japan has performed one of the most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date. Their findings are published in the April issue of the journal Genome Research.

15 Mar 2005

Nano-enabled drug discovery solutions will generate revenues of $1.3 billion in 2009

According to a new report by NanoMarkets, an industry consultancy based here, nano-enabled drug discovery solutions will generate revenues of $1.3 billion in 2009 and grow to $2.5 billion in 2012.

8 Mar 2005

Researchers can now predict who will benefit from cerclage

Doctors treating pregnant women with threatened preterm birth sometimes sew the cervix closed, a procedure known as cerclage. Despite this traditional intervention, many women still lose the pregnancy.

1 Mar 2005

Biochip for detection of inflammatory bowel disease

At the III International Symposium on Advanced Therapy for Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease, held in Madrid, the biotechnological company, Progenika, presented a DNA-chip the purpose of which is the optimisation of the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and Ulcerous Colitis).

26 Jan 2005

Home HIV-AIDS test could be a reality within two years

A portable device similar to a home pregnancy test that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles as well as biological agents such as Ricin and anthrax, is the goal of a new joint research project

17 Jan 2005

New portable infectious disease detector

A portable device similar to today's home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles, as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university/industry research project.

10 Jan 2005

FDA go ahead for first of kind genetic lab test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of the first laboratory test system that will allow physicians to consider unique genetic information from patients in selecting medications and doses of medications for a wide variety of common conditions such as cardiac disease, psychiatric disease, and cancer.

27 Dec 2004

Researchers can now inexpensively program the chemical synthesis of entire genes on a single microchip

Devices the size of a pager now have greater capabilities than computers that once occupied an entire room. Similar advances are being made in the emerging field of synthetic biology at the University of Houston, now allowing researchers to inexpensively program the chemical synthesis of entire genes on a single microchip.

23 Dec 2004

Gene expression analysis software

Case Western Reserve University has announced that its BAMarray™ software is now available for download and licensing. The statistical software analyzes gene expression data -- one of the hottest areas of biology research.

20 Dec 2004

Scotland’s deep-fried Mars bar is not just an urban myth

A letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET details a survey of Scottish fish and chip shops to try and estimate the popularity of the deep-fried Mars bar.

20 Dec 2004

The regulation of physical activity in young children

The evidence at present suggests that neither better facilities, nor an increase in the amount of time allocated to PE to four hours a week, will improve physical activity levels in children as a whole and thereby impact on the rising tide of obesity.

16 Dec 2004