Laboratory News and Research

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Immense potential for digitized personal health records in chronic disease management

Faster and more widely available internet access has improved our lives in many ways but healthcare is lagging behind, according to researchers writing in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

3 Nov 2010

New technique could help scientists to predict how living prostate tissues respond to therapy

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, University of Helsinki and Stanford University have developed a technique to keep normal and cancerous prostate tissue removed during surgery alive and functioning normally in the laboratory for up to a week.

3 Nov 2010

New global map shows distribution of sickle cell gene

At a global scale, the sickle cell gene is most commonly found in areas with historically high levels of malaria, adding geographical support to the hypothesis that the gene, whilst potentially deadly, avoids disappearing through natural selection by providing protection against malaria.

3 Nov 2010

Tolerx establishes Scientific Advisory Board to advance type 1 diabetes study

Tolerx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer by modulating T cell activity, announced today that it has established a Scientific Advisory Board to help advance the company's research and clinical studies in type 1 diabetes.

3 Nov 2010

New mouse model confirms mutation of beta-synuclein protein promotes neurodegeneration

A team of scientists from Japan and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have created a new mouse model that confirms that mutations of a protein called beta-synuclein promote neurodegeneration. The discovery creates a potential new target for developing treatments of diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

3 Nov 2010

Quanterix granted $733,437 under QTDP program for Single Molecule Array platform

Quanterix Corporation, a single molecule technology company focused on developing a next generation diagnostics platform, announced today that it was awarded a total of $733,437 in grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program. The QTDP program recognized Quanterix's Single Molecule Array (SiMoA™) platform as a promising advance that will improve diagnosis and treatment of disease while reducing healthcare costs.

3 Nov 2010

Tests show Haitian cholera strains match ones from South Asia, CDC says

Tests have shown that the strain in Haiti's cholera outbreak is similar to cholera strains found in South Asia, the CDC said on Monday, Agence France-Presse reports (11/1).

3 Nov 2010

Researchers reveal molecular structure of blood-clotting enzyme

Using state-of-the-art robotic and x-ray crystallographic equipment, researchers at Saint Louis University have revealed for the first time the molecular structure of the zymogen, or inactive, form of a blood-clotting enzyme.

3 Nov 2010

Jelly fish glow may help detect early stage cancer

Researcher Professor Norman Maitland of the Yorkshire Cancer Research Laboratory at York University, feels that this technology could be at least ten times better than CT scanners at detecting tumors. He explained, “Cancers deep within the body are difficult to spot at an early stage and early diagnosis is critical for the successful treatment of any form of cancer.

2 Nov 2010

Virus fighting just got a new boost

In a ground breaking study in the UK researchers have identified a previously unknown mechanism that allows the immune system to fight viruses even after they have infected cells. Until now it was believed that antibodies can act only before the virus enters the cells. The team now has found that antibodies that attached themselves to a virus were able to follow it into cells and help to destroy the virus before it started to reproduce. This could open up new avenues of therapy.

2 Nov 2010

Celldex third quarter net loss increases to $9.1 million

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010. Celldex reported a net loss of $9.1 million, or $0.28 per share, for the third quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss of $7.2 million, or $0.45 per share, for the third quarter of 2009. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, Celldex reported a net loss of $25.2 million, or $0.79 per share, compared to a net loss of $23.6 million, or $1.49 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

2 Nov 2010

GEN co-sponsored roundtable discussion on Gulf Oil Spill

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News announced that on Thursday, October 28th, they co-sponsored a roundtable discussion on new ways to use biological solutions to assist in environment cleanup after manmade or natural disasters.

2 Nov 2010

InVivo opens new development laboratory and manufacturing facility

InVivo Therapeutics Corporation, a company focused on the development of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today announced that it has signed a lease to open its first manufacturing and development facility in Medford, Massachusetts. The company expects to use this new facility to scale up the manufacturing process for its lead product candidate, a novel biocompatible polymer scaffolding device used to treat acute open-wound SCI.

2 Nov 2010

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols features standard and cutting-edge imaging laboratory techniques

Imaging has rapidly become a defining tool of the current era in biological research. But finding the right method and optimizing it for data collection can be a daunting process, even for an established imaging laboratory. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is one of the world's leading sources for detailed technical instruction for implementation of imaging methods, and the November issue features articles detailing standard and cutting-edge laboratory techniques.

2 Nov 2010

Autism Consortium begins new therapeutic initiative on Translational Medicine

The Autism Consortium, an innovative Boston area collaboration of researchers, clinicians, funders and families dedicated to catalyzing research and enhancing clinical care for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), announced that it will begin a new initiative on Translational Medicine and Autism Therapeutics. The new focus was introduced at the Consortium's fifth annual symposium held October 26th, 2010, at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

2 Nov 2010

New algebraic model of DNA hybridization to measure cellular behavior

Researchers at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have developed a novel algebraic model of DNA "hybridization," a process central to most biotechnology devices that monitor changes in cell's gene expression or characterize a cell's genome.

2 Nov 2010

Researchers explain how adiponectin prevents stress-induced damage in heart

One of the many advantages of maintaining a normal body weight is having healthy fat, which in turn supports a healthy heart. Fat tissue is increasingly seen as more than just a storage depot - it's also an active secretory organ that normally produces high levels of a cardioprotective hormone called adiponectin. How adiponectin protects the hearts of healthy people has long been a mystery, and now a team led by Barbara Ranscht, Ph.D. and Pilar Ruiz-Lozano, Ph.D. at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) reveals that the protein T-cadherin is the receptor that anchors adiponectin to heart cells.

2 Nov 2010

Effective treatment for brain cancer in daffodils

When looking for new ways to treat aggressive brain cancers, an international team of scientists turned a new leaf and "discovered" the lowly daffodil. A new research study published in the November 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) offers hope that a natural compound found in daffodil bulbs, called narciclasine, may be a powerful therapeutic against biologically aggressive forms of human brain cancers.

2 Nov 2010

Vitrolife operating income increases 3% to SEK 25 million for January to September 2010

Vitrolife: Growth in local currency was 13 percent. Sales amounted to SEK 217 (207) million, corresponding to an increase of 4 percent in SEK. Operating income before research and development costs increased by 11 percent and amounted to SEK 58 (53) million.

2 Nov 2010

PITs compounds induce cell death and limit tumor growth

A class of compounds that interferes with cell signaling pathways may provide a new approach to cancer treatment, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition. The compounds, called PITs (non-phosphoinositide PIP3 inhibitors), limited tumor growth in mice by inducing cell death.

2 Nov 2010