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Proteins to punch holes in cancer cells to kill them: Study

In a medical breakthrough scientists have found a protein called perforin that kills rogue cells in the human body especially the ones causing cancer. The team comprising of experts from Melbourne and London found that perforin punches holes and kills these cells. The research appeared in the acclaimed journal Nature.

31 Oct 2010

New findings on protein factories could unravel cell complexities, lead to new antibiotics and disease treatments

A team from The Scripps Research Institute has revealed the first-ever pictures of the formation of cells' "protein factories." In addition to being a major technical feat on its own, the work could open new pathways for development of antibiotics and treatments for diseases tied to errors in ribosome formation. In addition, the techniques developed in the study can now be applied to other complex challenges in the understanding of cellular processes.

30 Oct 2010

TU/e researchers mimic process of bone formation in laboratory

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have for the first time succeeded in mimicking the process of bone formation in the laboratory, and in visualizing the process in great detail. The results will be published in the December edition of the scientific journal Nature Materials.

28 Oct 2010

NCRR awards 450 Recovery Act instrumentation grants to NIH-funded scientists

Leading-edge, shared technologies are an important component of advancing research to improve health. Specialized instruments such as high-powered electron microscopes, high-resolution mass spectrometers and supercomputers that rapidly process vast amounts of data can enable breakthrough discoveries in preventions, treatments and cures for diseases.

22 Oct 2010

Highlights of Frontiers in Optics 2010/Laser Science XXVI Meeting

Scientists and engineers from around the world will gather on the shores of Lake Ontario in Rochester, N.Y. next week to discuss some of the latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics and their applications to cutting-edge science, the development of new materials, and medicine.

21 Oct 2010

Researchers identify common link among malignant tumor types in all grades of cancer

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with investigators of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) of France led by Nicolae Ghinea, PhD, have found a common link among several malignant tumor types in all grades of cancer. This breakthrough may ultimately provide a new diagnostic or therapeutic target to detect cancer early or stop tumor growth.

21 Oct 2010

Rad51 protein plays a key role in DNA protection

Cancer Research UK scientists have shed new light on the vital role that a protein plays in protecting our DNA, reveals a study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology today.

12 Oct 2010

Specialized bacterial filaments shown to conduct electricity

Some bacteria grow electrical hair that lets them link up in big biological circuits, according to a University of Southern California biophysicist and his collaborators.

12 Oct 2010

Study finds boosting mitochondria may delay onset of Parkinson's disease

In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight.

8 Oct 2010

Bruker closes acquisition of instruments businesses with Veeco

Bruker Corporation today announced the closing of its acquisition of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and the Optical Industrial Metrology (OIM) instruments businesses from Veeco Instruments, Inc. for $229.4 million in cash.

8 Oct 2010

Parkinson’s disease pathology breakthrough

Researchers have found that brain cells of people with early Parkinson's disease have damaged powerhouses. In a new study they have identified 10 groups of gene sets related to the energy production problems in the brain cells of these people.

8 Oct 2010

New processing technology uses low-energy electron beams to decontaminate food

A collaborative agreement between CSIRO and two German organisations is providing Australian food companies with access to a new processing technology which uses low-energy electron beams rather than heat or chemicals to decontaminate food.

1 Oct 2010

Novel Compound's NVC-422 broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent kills P. mirabilis bacteria in catheters

Patients fitted with long-term bladder catheters often face a potentially serious complication caused by a Gram-negative bacteria Proteus mirabilis that can colonize the catheters.

16 Sep 2010

NHGRI announces fund to develop third generation DNA sequencing technologies

More than $18 million in grants to spur the development of a third generation of DNA sequencing technologies was announced today by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). The new technologies will sequence a person's DNA quickly and cost-effectively so it routinely can be used by biomedical researchers and health care workers to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

14 Sep 2010

Researchers to discuss brain's secrets at neuroscience conference

Top brain researchers from around the world will be in Milwaukee, Sept, 16-19, 2010, for a neuroscience conference focused on gaining insights into the brain's inner workings to better understand how the brain thinks, how the brain develops, and how the brain is altered by neurological diseases and how it responds to treatment.

14 Sep 2010

Cachexia reduces function and changes muscle structure of heart in mice with colon cancer

The wasting disease associated with some cancers that is typically seen affecting skeletal muscles can also cause significant damage to the heart, new research in mice suggests.

9 Sep 2010

International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory orders for Vistec's EBPG5200 electron-beam lithography system

Vistec Lithography, a leading supplier of advanced electron-beam lithography systems has announced today that the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in Braga, Portugal has placed an order for Vistec's electron-beam lithography system EBPG5200. The Portuguese Laboratory is the first fully international research organization in Europe in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

7 Sep 2010

Human endogenous retroviruses may provide insight evidence to HIV diagnosis

Why is it so hard to isolate and purify human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).Why has no one been able to see, by electron microscopy, a single HIV particle in the blood of AIDS patients, even those who have a "high viral load" Why does HIV seem to mutate with startling rapidity. AIDS researchers have not been able to come up with answers to these questions.

4 Sep 2010

Researchers clear hurdle on path toward gene-therapy treatment for disease

One of the most difficult aspects of working at the nanoscale is actually seeing the object being worked on. Biological structures like viruses, which are smaller than the wavelength of light, are invisible to standard optical microscopes and difficult to capture in their native form with other imaging techniques.

2 Sep 2010

Researchers develop high-resolution technology to visualize individual virus particles

In the war against infectious disease, identifying the culprit is half the battle. Now, research professor Shaopeng Wang and his colleagues from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, describe a new method for visualizing individual virus particles. Their research opens the door to a more detailed understanding of these minute pathogens, and may further the study of a broad range of micro- and nanoscale phenomena.

25 Aug 2010