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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

Two instruments of Thermo Fisher Scientific win 2011 R&D 100 Award

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, today announced that two of its instruments are 2011 R&D 100 Award winners: the Thermo Scientific Evolution 200 series UV-Vis spectrophotometer and the Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-5000 capillary ion chromatography system.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 20 Jul 2011

New transgenic mouse could predict toxicity of targeted cancer drugs

Only one in twenty cancer drugs makes its way from the laboratory to become an approved pharmaceutical product. The majority of new agents are only shown to be unsuitable in the later phases of clinical development which would explain the exorbitantly high development costs of 500 to 600 million euros per new cancer drug.

20 Jul 2011

Nuclear Factor I/B appears to drive progression of small cell lung cancer

A major challenge for cancer biologists is figuring out which among the hundreds of genetic mutations found in a cancer cell are most important for driving the cancer's spread.

20 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Suggestions for reducing Medicare spending; Medicaid cuts hurt; personal health responsibility

Over the past months, Republicans enjoyed enormous advantages. Opinion polls showed that voters are eager to reduce the federal debt, and they want to do it mostly but not entirely through spending cuts. There was a Democratic president eager to move to the center. He floated certain ideas that would be normally unheard of from a Democrat.

20 Jul 2011

UNC receives $3M federal grant for AIDS research

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine and pharmacy have been awarded a $3 million federal grant to develop and test a new generation of treatments aimed at preventing sexual transmission of HIV to uninfected individuals.

19 Jul 2011

EPA to expand Cooperative Research And Development Agreement with NanoLogix

NanoLogix, a biotechnology innovator in the rapid detection and identification of live-cell bacteria and microorganisms, announced today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to expand its Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) with NanoLogix to include additional water-borne pathogens.

19 Jul 2011

Scientists discover cholesterol moves far slower within and between cells

Neutrons have shown the movement of cholesterol between and within cells takes far longer than previously thought. Findings could impact the treatment of a range of diseases linked to abnormal rates of cholesterol transfer.

19 Jul 2011

Thalidomide analog shows promise against sickle cell disease

A thalidomide analog is shaping up as a safe, worthy opponent of sickle cell disease, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.

19 Jul 2011

Columbia University receives NIH grant to expand clinical, translational research

A Columbia University institute, whose goal is to accelerate the pace of translating science into real-life treatments for patients, received $38.9 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand its work over the next five years.

19 Jul 2011

A*Star Institute of Microelectronics shortens drug development cycle with new silicon-based screening tool

Researchers from A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (IME) have developed a lateral silicon-based drug screening tool that has demonstrated simultaneous capture of 12 individual cells – 12 times higher throughput than conventional patch clamping. The device can be scaled up to allow 1536 cell-recordings simultaneously, permitting 16 times higher throughput than existing planar patch clamp approach.

19 Jul 2011

UCSF receives NIH grant to translate science into real-life solutions

A UCSF institute aimed at accelerating the pace of translating science into real-life solutions for patients has received $112 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand its work over the next five years.

19 Jul 2011

Scientists find way to make copper-catalyzed click chemistry biocompatible

Biomolecular imaging can reveal a great deal of information about the inner workings of cells and one of the most attractive targets for imaging are glycans - sugars that are ubiquitous to living organisms and abundant on cell surfaces. Imaging a glycan requires that it be tagged or labeled. One of the best techniques for doing this is a technique called click chemistry.

19 Jul 2011

Mayo Clinic licenses M. tuberculosis complex speciation test from QIAGEN

Mayo Clinic has licensed patent rights from QIAGEN to enable Mayo Medical Laboratories to offer an M. tuberculosis complex speciation test. The test expands Mayo Medical Laboratories' current offering for tuberculosis testing, which already includes M. tuberculosis complex culture, molecular identification and drug susceptibility testing.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 19 Jul 2011

Emory-led consortium receives NIH grant to develop effective HIV/AIDS vaccine

A consortium of leading vaccine researchers at Emory University and partner institutions has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at developing an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine.

19 Jul 2011