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Firefly stem cells may help doctors to heal damaged hearts: Research

Stem cells that glow like fireflies could someday help doctors heal damaged hearts without cutting into patients' chests.In his University of Central Florida lab, Steven Ebert engineered stem cells with the same enzyme that makes fireflies glow. The "firefly" stem cells glow brighter and brighter as they develop into healthy heart muscle, allowing doctors to track whether and where the stem cells are working.

29 Sep 2010

National survey highlights need for greater awareness on lymphoma

While general awareness of lymphoma remains high, a new survey released today by the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) reveals significant knowledge gaps among Americans about the disease, which is the most prevalent form of blood cancer in the United States. Survey results showed a high number of adults (86 percent) remain unaware that there are 67 different types of lymphoma - 61 types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and six types of Hodgkin lymphoma.

21 Sep 2010

Researchers focus on finding markers to detect atypical vascular lesions that lead to angiosarcomato

Physicians have long noticed that breast cancer patients who have had surgery or radiation therapy have an heightened risk of developing angiosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that originates in the lining of the blood vessels.

14 Sep 2010

Researchers discover generation of pyramidal neurons by glial cell precursors

In an unanticipated finding, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine have discovered that, during early adulthood, the brain produces new excitatory neurons, and that these neurons arise from non-neuronal support cells in an area of the brain that processes smell.

10 Sep 2010

miacom diagnostics presents rapid detection method for pneumonia causing pathogens

miacom diagnostics specializes on the development and production of medical tests for the detection of acute infectious diseases. In addition to its existing sepsis kits miacom, diagnostics is now presenting a further CE-marked product based on the same proprietary technology. It is targeted at the rapid detection of clinically most relevant pneumonia causing pathogens.

7 Sep 2010

NIH awards $1.2 million EUREKA grant to study protein misfolding

Three University of Massachusetts Amherst scientists have received a four-year, $1.2 million EUREKA grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study folding and misfolding of secretory proteins in the cell's protein factory, the endoplasmic reticulum, where misfolding can lead to diseases such as cystic fibrosis and liver cirrhosis.

3 Sep 2010

Research on adult mammary stem cells may help to cure breast cancer

For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have identified and isolated adult mammary stem cells in mice. Long-term implications of this research may include the use of such cells to regenerate breast tissue, provide a better understanding of the role of adult stem cells in breast cancer development, and develop potential new targets for anti-cancer drugs.

2 Sep 2010

Disruption of structural component in heart muscle cells occurs before decline in heart function

The disruption of a structural component in heart muscle cells, which is associated with heart failure, appears to occur even before heart function starts to decline, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

31 Aug 2010

Biomoda's CyPath assay for lung cancer detection receives Canadian patent

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. has received a notice of allowance for a Canadian patent application for a method of using its proprietary porphyrin-based compound that binds to cancer cells and causes them to fluoresce under specific frequencies of light when viewed under a fluorescent microscope.

26 Aug 2010

New TRIM5α-based treatments can knock out HIV in humans: Research

Using a $225,000 microscope, researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5α that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys.The finding could lead to new TRIM5α-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans, said senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System.

25 Aug 2010

Bug with bifocals discovered

University of Cincinnati researchers are reporting on the discovery of a bug with bifocals - such an amazing finding that it initially had the researchers questioning whether they could believe their own eyes. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of truly bifocal lenses in the extant animal kingdom," the researchers state in the Aug. 24 cover feature of the premier life-science journal, Current Biology.

24 Aug 2010

University of Melbourne and Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute adopt BioEYES outreach program

Baltimore, MD-The innovative, educational, outreach program BioEYES has now been adopted by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute. The down-under partnership program debuts this August. BioEYES is designed to foster an interest in and a love for science in elementary, middle, and high school students. Over the course of one week, students watch the transparent zebrafish, Danio rerio, grow from a single-celled zygote to a larval fish complete with a beating heart.

24 Aug 2010

Discovery of Hsp90 protein's pattern of motion paves way for new drug target in cancer therapy

The protein Hsp90 plays a significant role in the survival of cells that are exposed to stress. Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) uncovered this protein's mode of operation some time ago - but now Hsp90 has surprised even the experts with an unexpected pattern of motion. The results are published in the current online issue of the renowned science journal PNAS and may help researchers discover specific cancer medication.

24 Aug 2010

Research on OGF-OGFr complex helps to understand pathobiology of diseases

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that the Opioid Growth Factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin) and its receptor, OGFr, a clinically important system with potent antitumor properties, has controlled entry from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The nucleocytoplasmic passage of OGF-OGFr is critical to cell proliferation and suggests that there are hierarchical levels of nuclear import.

24 Aug 2010

Researchers develop tiny color-changing sensor molecules

A new approach to building an "artificial nose" using fluorescent compounds and DNA could accelerate the use of sniffing sensors into the realm of mass production and widespread use, say Stanford chemists. If their method lives up to its promise, it could one day detect everything from incipiently souring milk to high explosives.

21 Aug 2010

New squeeze test for screening potential drugs for Alzheimer's

Brain cells exposed to a form of the amyloid beta protein, the molecule linked to Alzheimer's disease, become stiffer and bend less under pressure, researchers at UC Davis have found. The results reveal one mechanism by which the amyloid protein damages the brain, a finding that could lead to new ways to screen drugs for Alzheimer's and similar diseases.

21 Aug 2010

Hepatitis C rather than Donor Risk Index is major contributor to poor graft survival in transplant patients

The Donor Risk Index, which assesses donor characteristics impacting liver transplantation outcomes, does not bear the same impact on outcomes on a small scale as is suggested from large-scale, national data.

17 Aug 2010

Indiana University installs new DeltaVision|OMX imaging system from Applied Precision

Applied Precision, along with Indiana University, are excited to announce the installation of a new DeltaVision|OMX imaging system in the Light Microscopy Imaging Center in Bloomington, Indiana.

16 Aug 2010

ACD launches RNAscope Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Assay Kit

Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc., announces the launch and immediate availability of RNAscope™ FFPE Assay Kit, a line of RUO products designed to detect RNA biomarkers in routine Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded tissue specimens with single molecule sensitivity.

From Advanced Cell Diagnostics 11 Aug 2010

Foam in helmets, armor can cause injury

In a counter-intuitive finding, scientists at New York University (NYU) and Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) report that the foam used in helmets and other body armor indeed absorbs damage when compressed slowly but can cause as much injury as a hard object when hit at high speeds.

5 Aug 2010