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Microglia prune connections between neurons

Gardeners know that some trees require regular pruning: some of their branches have to be cut so that others can grow stronger. The same is true of the developing brain: cells called microglia prune the connections between neurons, shaping how the brain is wired, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, discovered.

22 Jul 2011

Australian anti-cancer company completes $2.6 million placement

Australian monoclonal antibody company, Immune System Therapeutics Limited (IST), today said it completed a private placement to raise $2 million from new and existing private and institutional investors in Australia. Investors have agreed to purchase 5,200,000 shares in the company at a price of $0.50 cents per share resulting in gross proceeds of $2.6 million.

21 Jul 2011

Neogen develops new pathogen DNA detection method for E. coli strains

Neogen Corporation has announced the development of a breakthrough pathogen detection and identification technology that provides next day, DNA-specific test results for seven pathogenic E. coli strains. The technology could be adapted to target almost any bacterium of concern in almost any food sample type.

21 Jul 2011

Galectin, University of Michigan enter collaboration to study role of Galectins in cardiovascular disease

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration with Dr. Jose Jalife of the University of Michigan Medical School to better understand the relationship of Galectin-3 to cardiac fibrosis in chronic cardiac arrhythmias.

21 Jul 2011

Microencapsulated cell transplant can help treat chronic illnesses more effectively

Chronic illnesses such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's could be treated more effectively in the future, by means of the transplant of microencapsulated cells. The researcher from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Dr Ainhoa Murua has presented a number of proposals for optimising this technique.

21 Jul 2011

Pharmaceutical waste forms a whole new range of contaminants

The health implications of polluting the environment weigh increasingly on our public consciousness, and pharmaceutical wastes continue to be a main culprit. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher says that current testing for these dangerous contaminants isn't going far enough.

21 Jul 2011

NIAID awards $36M grant to BIDMC for AIDS vaccine research in nonhuman primates

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, to lead a Consortium for AIDS Vaccine Research in Nonhuman Primates.

21 Jul 2011

Randox win Premier Healthcare Alliance contract for Quality Control

Randox Laboratories Ltd is proud to announce that in April 2011 we signed a multi-year agreement with the Premier Healthcare Alliance for the supply of Acusera Quality Control (QC) materials. The agreement will provide the 90,000 plus Premier members with access to our extensive range of quality control products and the benefits they offer clinical laboratories. When asked about the new agreement Laura Coyle Randox Business Manager for the USA revealed that ‘We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Premier and providing added value to their members’.

From Randox Laboratories Ltd. 21 Jul 2011

WHO warning increases opportunity for Biomagnetics urine based TB assay

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria detection, and other innovative technologies, today announced that the World Health Organization ("WHO") on Sunday July 17, 2011 warned that the widely used blood tests to detect tuberculosis ("TB") are unreliable and "dangerous" to patients because they produce too many false negatives and positives.

21 Jul 2011

New vaccine formulation may help heroin addicts maintain abstinence

Scientists are reporting development and successful initial laboratory tests on the key ingredient for a much-needed vaccine to help individuals addicted to heroin abstain from the illicit drug. Their study appears in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

21 Jul 2011

Promising compounds for new anti-obesity drugs

Though it generally is known that obesity dramatically increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, the biological mechanisms for that connection still are unclear.

21 Jul 2011

Genetically engineered excitable cells made to generate and pass electrical current

By altering the genetic makeup of normally "unexcitable" cells, Duke University bioengineers have turned them into cells capable of generating and passing electrical current.

21 Jul 2011

Receptor GPR56 could have a critical role in cancer progression

Melanoma is devastating on many fronts: rates are rising dramatically among young people, it is deadly if not caught early, and from a biological standpoint, the disease tends to adapt to even the most modern therapies, known as VEGF inhibitors.

21 Jul 2011

Intense visual stimulation renders nerve cells more receptive to subsequent learning

Dr. Ed Ruthazer is a mapmaker but, his landscape is the developing brain - specifically the neuronal circuitry, which is the network of connections between nerve cells. His research at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro at McGill University, reveals the brain as a dynamic landscape where connections between nerves are plastic, changing and adapting to the demands of the environment.

21 Jul 2011

Maltodextrin-based imaging probes could improve diagnosis and treatment of bacterial infections

A new family of contrast agents that sneak into bacteria disguised as glucose food can detect bacterial infections in animals with high sensitivity and specificity. These agents -- called maltodextrin-based imaging probes -- can also distinguish a bacterial infection from other inflammatory conditions.

21 Jul 2011

Novel vaccine for treating heroin addiction

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have developed a highly successful vaccine against a heroin high and have proven its therapeutic potential in animal models.

21 Jul 2011

Australia sees early rise in flu cases

Australia is gripped with a fourfold increase in the number of people suffering flu. This rise is even before the usual peak season in August and September. Already nearly 8,000 cases have been reported compared with about 2,000 at the same time last year. The increase has disproportionately affected Queensland, NSW and South Australia. In January and February more than 1,700 people were recorded with flu, compared with fewer than 300 the year before.

20 Jul 2011

MDL announces HPV-16 Status reflex test

Medical Diagnostic Laboratories, L.L.C. (MDL) is a CLIA certified infectious disease laboratory which specializes in high-complexity, state-of-the-art, automated DNA-based molecular analyses.

20 Jul 2011

New insights into sleep difficulties among older people

A new study of the brain's master circadian clock - known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN - reveals that a key pattern of rhythmic neural activity begins to decline by middle age. The study, whose senior author is UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, may have implications for the large number of older people who have difficulty sleeping and adjusting to time changes.

20 Jul 2011

Normal stem cell encourages growth of cancer stem cells and fuels ovarian cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a type of normal stem cell fuels ovarian cancer by encouraging cancer stem cells to grow.

20 Jul 2011