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Stem cell production becomes much easier with polymer-based 3D culture system

Mass producing human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, for regenerative medicine and drug discovery may have gotten much easier, thanks to a polymer-based 3D culture system developed by Japanese researchers.

26 Apr 2014

Engineering breakthrough allows cancer researchers to create living tumors

Drexel's Wei Sun, PhD, Albert Soffa chair professor in the College of Engineering, has devised a method for 3D printing tumors that could soon be taking cancer research out of the petri dish.

26 Apr 2014

Scientists uncover key mechanism that regulates nerve cell growth in damaged nervous system

New research published today out of the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute uncovers a mechanism to promote growth in damaged nerve cells as a means to restore connections after injury. Dr. Doug Zochodne and his team have discovered a key molecule that directly regulates nerve cell growth in the damaged nervous system.

22 Apr 2014

ATHENA develops surrogate organ system for toxicity testing

Creating surrogate human organs, coupled with insights from highly sensitive mass spectrometry technologies, a new project is on the brink of revolutionizing the way we screen new drugs and toxic agents.

29 Mar 2014

BioTek to highlight latest microplate instrumentation technologies at Analytica 2014

BioTek Instruments, Inc., will highlight their latest microplate instrumentation technologies, designed to automate and improve lab efficiency, at Hall A3, Stand #310 during Analytica 2014, the 24th International Trade Fair for Laboratory Technology, Analysis and Biotechnology. The exhibition will be held April 1-4 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre / ICM in Munich, Germany.

28 Mar 2014

Researchers exploit plasmonic nanoparticles to kill tumour cells

If you put your hand over a switched-on torch in the dark, it appears to glow red. This is because long-wavelength red light beams penetrate human tissue more effectively than short-wavelength blue light.

25 Mar 2014

Scientists study how cancer spreads through the body

Because of results seen in flat lab dishes, biologists have believed that cancers cells move through the body in a slow, aimless fashion, resembling an intoxicated person who cannot walk three steps in a straight line.

12 Mar 2014

Researchers discover how byproducts from bacteria prevalent in gum disease incite growth of deadly tumors

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have discovered how byproducts in the form of small fatty acids from two bacteria prevalent in gum disease incite the growth of deadly Kaposi's sarcoma-related (KS) lesions and tumors in the mouth.

26 Feb 2014

Researchers examine impact of diet for preventing Alzheimer's dementia

A cocktail of ingredients containing omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil is being tested in patients with mild cognitive impairment as a means to slow the progression of Alzheimer's dementia down

19 Feb 2014

New low-cost device may help pathologists to quickly diagnose pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a particularly devastating disease. At least 94 percent of patients will die within five years, and in 2013 it was ranked as one of the top 10 deadliest cancers.

7 Feb 2014

Gladstone-led study represents important step towards cure for type 1 diabetes

A cure for type 1 diabetes has long eluded even the top experts. Not because they do not know what must be done-but because the tools did not exist to do it. But now scientists at the Gladstone Institutes, harnessing the power of regenerative medicine, have developed a technique in animal models that could replenish the very cells destroyed by the disease.

7 Feb 2014

Researchers examine how toxin triggers motor neuron death

In most cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, a toxin released by cells that normally nurture neurons in the brain and spinal cord can trigger loss of the nerve cells affected in the disease, Columbia researchers reported today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

7 Feb 2014

Monitoring air pollution now possible with technological advances in air quality measurement methods

Launching a natural research experiment in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month using advanced monitoring methods to assess health risk from air pollution, environmental health scientist Rick Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst hopes to demonstrate for the first time in a real-world setting that air pollution can and should be regulated based on toxicology variables rather than simply on the volume of particles in the air.

9 Jan 2014

NYSCF and ISMMS scientists successfully generate stem cell model of familial Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute in collaboration with scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai successfully generated a stem cell model of familial Alzheimer's disease.

8 Jan 2014

E. coli evolution studies may lead to better treatments

Going back in time to compare evolutionary changes in several thousand generations of E. coli, a University of Houston biologist hopes to one day be able to isolate a bacterial pathogen and predict the likelihood it will become resistant to a particular antibiotic.

18 Dec 2013

Johns Hopkins researchers use lung cancer drug to shrink chordoma in mice

Johns Hopkins researchers say that a drug approved to treat lung cancer substantially shrank tumors in mice that were caused by a rare form of bone cancer called chordoma.

12 Dec 2013

UC Santa Barbara professor finds method for measuring cellular forces that shape tissues, organs

Like tiny construction workers, cells sculpt embryonic tissues and organs in 3D space. This task is complicated and requires constant communication between cells to coordinate their actions and generate the forces that will shape their environment into complex tissue morphologies.

10 Dec 2013

Biologists discover how nerve cells recycle tiny vesicles

University of Utah and German biologists discovered how nerve cells recycle tiny bubbles or "vesicles" that send chemical nerve signals from one cell to the next. The process is much faster and different than two previously proposed mechanisms for recycling the bubbles.

5 Dec 2013

NYSCF partners with NIH to generate stem cell for treating rare diseases

In what is anticipated to be a major step forward for rare disease research, The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute is partnering with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undiagnosed Disease Program (UDP).

22 Nov 2013

Oxford scientists use nanoparticles to study mechanisms underlying 'mystery' cases of infertility

A way of using nanoparticles to investigate the mechanisms underlying 'mystery' cases of infertility has been developed by scientists at Oxford University.

18 Nov 2013