Laboratory News and Research

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NeoRx Corporation acquires worldwide rights to platinum-based anti-cancer agent

NeoRx Corporation today announced that it has acquired from AnorMED Inc. the worldwide exclusive rights, excluding Japan, to develop, manufacture and commercialize AMD473, a platinum-based anti-cancer agent. AMD473 has been administered to more than 500 cancer patients in phase I and phase II clinical trials, demonstrating anti-cancer activity in a wide range of tumors and a manageable safety profile. NeoRx expects to initiate clinical studies of AMD473 in one or more cancer indications in the second half of this year.

5 Apr 2004

New center enables genetic treatments and advances

A new state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to helping produce modified cells for treatment of cancer and other diseases recently opened at the Siteman Cancer Center.

1 Apr 2004

Compounds that may stop replication of T-cell leukemia virus

Researchers are analyzing several compounds that may inhibit the enzyme that is essential for the reproduction of the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 (HTLV-I), which has infected 15 to 20 million people worldwide. The virus causes the fatal adult T-cell leukemia in up to 10 percent of those infected.

1 Apr 2004

Lab discovers way to keep short-lived catalysts active for longer than five months

Enzymes, the workhorses of chemical reactions in cells, lead short and brutal lives. They cleave and assemble proteins and metabolize compounds for a few hours, and then they are spent. This sad fact of nature has limited the possibilities of harnessing enzymes as catalytic tools outside the cell, in uses that range from biosensing to toxic waste cleanup.

1 Apr 2004

Scientists have discovered that a non-genetic molecular process can effect cell behaviour

Genetic mutations, sudden, random and usually harmful changes to the structure of a gene, are only one factor that determines the ultimate fate of a cell. Chicago scientists have discovered that a non-genetic molecular process also can play a role, and that experimenters can influence this process in bacteria, they report in the April 1 issue of the journal Nature.

1 Apr 2004

T-cells in lupus patients avoid apoptosis and are stimulated to produce antibodies against the patients own DNA

Researchers studying autoimmune diseases have found a molecular mechanism that explains how T-cells in lupus patients avoid apoptosis and are stimulated to produce antibodies against the patients own DNA.

1 Apr 2004

How rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans

An international research team, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced it has completed a high-quality, draft sequence of the genome of the laboratory rat, and has used that data to explore how the rat's genetic blueprint stacks up against those of mice and humans.

31 Mar 2004

SARS virus vaccine stimulates protective immune response

An experimental vaccine prevents the SARS virus from replicating in laboratory mice, according to a new report in the April 1 issue of Nature. Scientists at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, developed the vaccine. The vaccine was tested in a mouse model of SARS infection recently validated by other NIAID investigators.

31 Mar 2004

Gene-rich human Chromosome 19 sequence completed

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and Stanford University report today the completion of the sequencing of human chromosome 19, the most gene-rich of all the human chromosomes.

31 Mar 2004

Scientists seek cause for what makes good cell go bad

Genetic mutations--sudden, random and usually harmful changes to the structure of a gene--are only one factor that determines the ultimate fate of a cell. Chicago scientists have discovered that a non-genetic molecular process also can play a role, and that experimenters can influence this process in bacteria, they report in the April 1 issue of the journal Nature.

31 Mar 2004

Research team has found a new way to streamline gene isolation to determine their functions

A single strand of plant or animal DNA may contain tens of thousands of genes, each programmed to produce a specific protein essential for the growth or survival of the organism. The challenge for geneticists is to isolate individual genes and determine their function -- a painstaking process often requiring years of laboratory trial and error.

31 Mar 2004

Drug, Nembutal can suppress activity in colon cancer cells

A barbiturate once commonly used to treat anxiety may play a role in controlling the spread of colon cancer, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

30 Mar 2004

Discovery of gender difference in cartilage cells may help spinal disc repair

When biologist Barbara Boyan discovered science’s first proof of biochemical differences between male and female cartilage cells, she began to question the approaches she and other researchers were taking to study cells. Was their thinking biologically relevant?

30 Mar 2004

Faster new cloning technique - transcript-based cloning

A single strand of plant or animal DNA may contain tens of thousands of genes, each programmed to produce a specific protein essential for the growth or survival of the organism. The challenge for geneticists is to isolate individual genes and determine their function – a painstaking process often requiring years of laboratory trial and error.

30 Mar 2004

Aspirin surgery on neck arteries can prevent complications

Popping an aspirin the night before you are due to have surgery on neck arteries could help prevent a dangerous complication, a team of researchers at the University of Leicester has discovered.

30 Mar 2004

Scientists find parallels between human speech and bird song which gives clues to human speech disorders.

The research by a team led by Stephanie White, UCLA assistant professor of physiological science, supports the theory that two genes shared by humans and songbirds, FoxP1 and FoxP2, may play a critical role in human speech, and speech disorders. The study is published March 31 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

30 Mar 2004

Extraction of RNA from Archived Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissue

For the first time, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have demonstrated the ability to extract RNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples archived for up to five years. What's more, the technology used retrieves high-quality samples, allowing researchers to identify cancer-related genetic changes. Accepted as a "late-breaking" abstract, the research was presented today at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research by Renata Coudry, M.D., a research pathologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

30 Mar 2004

A peptide called magainin, found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces

A peptide called magainin, first found in the skin of the African clawed frog, holds the secret to creating bacteria-killing surfaces, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn scientists have taken a joint experimental-computational approach to mimicking magainin.

30 Mar 2004

First North American sales of Raycell X-ray blood irradiator

The Indiana Blood Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, and SMDC Laboratory in Duluth, Minnesota have both chosen to purchase MDS Nordion's Raycell(TM) blood irradiator as a means of eliminating delays in receiving irradiated blood and blood products from external suppliers and improving the service they provide to physicians and patients.

30 Mar 2004

Trial of new drug that may halt progression of Type I Diabetes

The results of a long-term clinical trial on a new drug designed to inhibit the progression of type I diabetes was announced at the International Diabetes Society meeting in Cambridge, England, March 29. The findings of the 18-month long clinical trial confirm the drug's efficacy in improving a diabetic's ability to produce insulin.

30 Mar 2004