Microscopy News and Research

RSS

Findings may lead to new methods for diagnosing osteoporosis

Using a technique that provides detailed images of nanoscale structures, researchers at the University of Michigan and Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital have discovered changes in the collagen component of bone that directly relate to bone health.

23 Dec 2009

Investigation of IDH1 gene mutations in brain cancer receives new funds

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the emerging field of cancer metabolism, announced today that it has received funding from Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), a non-profit organization that supports brain cancer research. ABC2’s funding will enable new research investigating IDH1 gene mutations in brain cancer, with the goal of supplementing Agios’s ongoing research into the development of new IDH1 therapeutics and diagnostics.

21 Dec 2009

Researchers follow steps that lead some tumor cells to establish metastases

Up to 25% of cancer patients develop metastases in the brain - often long after successful treatment of the primary tumor. In almost all such cases, the prognosis is poor. The mechanisms responsible for the appearance of brain metastases have long been mysterious.

21 Dec 2009

Researchers explore cellular movement

Our cells are more like us than we may think. They're sensitive to their environment, poking and prodding deliberately at their surroundings with hand-like feelers and chemical signals as they decide whether and where to move. Such caution serves us well but has vexed engineers who seek to create synthetic tissue, heart valves, implants and other devices that the human body will accept.

17 Dec 2009

Zecotek Photonics' proprietary TGFL selected for research in flow cytometry

Zecotek Photonics Inc., a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for medical, industrial and scientific markets, today announced that the National Cancer Institute, a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), has selected its proprietary Tunable Green Fiber Laser (TGFL) for research in flow cytometry.

16 Dec 2009

Mutant ATPase blocks autophagy partway and causes multi-tissue degenerative disease

It's important to finish what you start, say Jeong-Sun Ju and researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. In the December 14, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org), Ju et al. reveal how a mutant ATPase blocks autophagy partway through to cause a multi-tissue degenerative disease.

15 Dec 2009

Nanoprobes deliver drugs directly to the right tumor cellular compartments

Tiny nanoprobes have shown to be effective in delivering cancer drugs more directly to tumor cells - mitigating the damage to nearby healthy cells - and Purdue University research has shown that the nanoprobes are getting the drugs to right cellular compartments.

15 Dec 2009

University of California now has an innovative stem cell core facility

Kornberg Associates | Architects has converted part of an existing building (Keen Hall), including a previously unused covered open area, into an innovative stem cell core facility for the University of California, Riverside. Ken Kornberg, president and founder, made the announcement.

11 Dec 2009

Rice, TMC team wins stimulus funds for nanoparticle standardization

One of the promises of nanomedicine is the design of tiny particles that can home in on diseased cells and get inside them. Nanoparticles can carry drugs into cells and tag cells for MRI and other diagnostic tests; and they may eventually even enter a cell's nucleus to repair damaged genes. Unfortunately, designing them involves as much luck as engineering.

11 Dec 2009

Enzo Biochem and Ikonisys sign agreement to market molecular-based cervical cancer test

Enzo Biochem, Inc. announced today that its Enzo Clinical Lab division has entered into an exclusive marketing partnership covering the States of New York and New Jersey with privately-owned Ikonisys, Inc., of New Haven, CT, relating to Ikonisys’ proprietary oncoFISH® cervical test, a laboratory developed test for cervical cancer prevention.

10 Dec 2009

Biomoda, Christiana Care Health System partner in study of CyPath lung cancer diagnostic test

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. today announced that The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center associated with Christiana Care Health System, a screening site for the International Early Lung Cancer Program (I-ELCAP), will recruit a cohort of patients diagnosed with lung cancer to participate in the final stage of the Phase II pilot study of the investigational CyPath® assay, an early-stage diagnostic test for lung cancer.

10 Dec 2009

Researchers describe how PDNF protein prolongs the life of T. cruzi parasite

The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (or T. cruzi), which causes Chagas' disease, will go to great lengths to evade death once it has infected human host cells, researchers have discovered. In a study published in the November 17 online issue of Science Signaling, the researchers describe how a protein called parasite-derived neurotrophic factor (PDNF) prolongs the life of the T. cruzi parasite by activating anti-apoptotic (or anti-cell-death) molecules in the host cell. These protective mechanisms help to explain how host cells continue to survive despite being exploited by T. cruzi parasites.

9 Dec 2009

Interim data from Celator Pharmaceuticals' CPX-351 trial presented at the ASH meeting

Celator Pharmaceuticals today announced that interim safety and efficacy data from its Phase 2 multicenter, randomized, open-label clinical trial of CPX-351 (Cytarabine:Daunorubicin) Liposome Injection versus conventional cytarabine and daunorubicin therapy ("7+3") in patients 60-75 years of age with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were presented at the 51st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana (ASH Abstract # 1033).

7 Dec 2009

TGFb growth factor controls spread of cancer cells

The spread, or metastasis, of individual breast cancer cells from the main tumor into the blood circulation to the lungs and other body tissues and organs is under the control of a growth factor abbreviated TGFb, according to a study with laboratory mice that will be presented at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 49th Annual Meeting, Dec. 5-9, 2009 in San Diego.

7 Dec 2009

Jenex reports closing of modified private-placement equity financing

The Jenex Corporation, a medical device company focused on the development and application of products based on its patented thermal therapy technology, today announced that on December 1, 2009 it closed a brokered private-placement equity financing. The offering is subject to receiving final acceptance from The TSX Venture Exchange.

5 Dec 2009

New step in the proofreading process that helps maintain accuracy of DNA replication identified

Wayne State researchers have for the first time observed the movement of a single molecule of DNA polymerase as it incorporates nucleotides one by one. More significantly, they have identified a previously unknown step that they speculate is part of the proofreading process known to prevent the polymerase from producing cancer-causing mutations.

4 Dec 2009

Study suggests brain can integrate new information without jeopardizing established memories

Our ability to learn new information and adapt to changes in our daily environment, as well as to retain lifelong memories, appears to lie in the minute junctions where nerve cells communicate, according to a new study by NYU Langone Medicine Center researchers. The study is published online this week in the journal Nature.

4 Dec 2009

Biomoda appeals N.M. congressional delegation to support Lung Cancer Mortality legislation

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. (OTCBB: BMOD) today urged the New Mexico congressional delegation to support the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009, which calls for a comprehensive federal program to achieve a 50% reduction in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2016.

3 Dec 2009

Guardian Technologies International introduces Signature Mapping TBDx to diagnose TB

Guardian Technologies International is bringing the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) into the 21st century with Signature Mapping TBDx™ (SM TBDx), an automated diagnostic solution using sophisticated detection algorithms to identify TB under microscopy in sputum samples, at the laboratory level.

2 Dec 2009

Study explores brain's rewiring processes during motor learning

New connections begin to form between brain cells almost immediately as animals learn a new task, according to a study published this week in Nature. Led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the study involved detailed observations of the rewiring processes that take place in the brain during motor learning.

30 Nov 2009