Reagents News and Research

RSS

University of Utah gets patent approval relating to methods of rapid nucleic acid amplification

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued the University of Utah U.S. patent No. U.S. 6,787,338 (the '338 patent) relating to methods of rapid nucleic acid amplification.

8 Sep 2004

Chiron acquires a variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease research company

Chiron Corporation has announced that it had acquired Prion Solutions Inc., a privately held company based in La Jolla, Calif., focused on research into variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and other prion-related diseases. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

1 Sep 2004

Call for increased political and financial commitment to the development of preventive and therapeutic AIDS vaccines

At the opening ceremony of the Lausanne, Switzerland, AIDS VACCINE '04 conference, leaders in the field of AIDS vaccine research called for increased political and financial commitment to facilitate the development of preventive and therapeutic AIDS vaccines as a public health imperative in fighting HIV/AIDS.

30 Aug 2004

Antibodies produced by shark immune systems could be used to detect human pathogens

A recent discovery shows that antibodies produced by shark immune systems could be used to detect a range of human pathogens some of which have the potential to be used as biological warfare agents.

20 Aug 2004

Signet Laboratories has announced the release of ACUITY mouse-on-mouse polymer detection system

Signet's ACUITY(TM) Mouse-on-Mouse Polymer Detection System is a sensitive biotin-free detection system for use with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies on mouse or rat tissue. ACUITY(TM) Mouse-on-Mouse provides cost savings by enabling researchers to use less antibody, while increasing staining intensity and eliminating background.

9 Aug 2004

New gene-silencing technique

A new gene-silencing technique that takes place in the nucleus of human cells, has been demonstrated by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

5 Aug 2004

Market research 'World RNAi Markets: Current and Future Outlook'

Gene silencing by RNAi has now been identified as a crucial technology for target validation and therapeutics. By targeting and interfering with messenger RNA (mRNA), RNAi technology blocks the expression of the proteins implicated in disease progression.

19 Jul 2004

Quality HIV/AIDS treatment eased through extended agreement about lowest-priced drugs and diagnostics

During the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, IDA ARV Procurement Services BV and Clinton Foundation announced the agreement that enables developing countries to purchase high-quality AIDS medicines and diagnostics at the lowest available prices.

15 Jul 2004

Real-Time Immuno-PCR has the ability to detect HIV infection earlier than all current methods

Researchers at the Institute of Human Virology have developed an ultra-sensitive testing technique that has shown the ability to detect HIV infection earlier than all current methods.

15 Jun 2004

Miniature ammonia sensor which detects ammonia in three steps

Dutch researcher Björn Timmer has developed a miniature ammonia sensor which detects ammonia in three steps. The sensor uses very small quantities of a reagent and is cheap to use.

15 Jun 2004

Patent issued for GHB, date rape drug test

A patent for a highly sensitive test to detect the presence of the "date rape" drug, GHB, has recently been granted to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

9 Jun 2004

Data suggests potential target for Alzheimer's disease treatment

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons have discovered at least one way in which beta-amyloid, the protein that forms stubborn plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, can kill nerve cells.

25 May 2004

Clinical use of immunoassays not recommended as a primary means of assessing environmental fungal exposure

Routine clinical use of immunoassays, a type of blood test for measuring antigen-specific IgE or IgG antibodies, is not recommended as a primary means of assessing environmental fungal exposure or its harmful effects according to a report published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

24 May 2004

WHO calls for Sudan humanitarian assistance

Intensified and urgent action is needed in the Greater Darfur Region of western Sudan to address one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies today. Given the current situation, the humanitarian crisis will last several months.

23 Apr 2004

University of Florida researchers have used a common gel to successfully deliver gene therapy to the diaphragm

The technique, described in the current issue of Molecular Therapy, could eventually lead to a method to correct genetic conditions in humans that cause diaphragm weakness and respiratory failure -- a leading cause of death in tens of thousands of patients with forms of muscular dystrophy, including Pompe’s disease. Thousands of Americans with muscle-weakening diseases are placed on ventilators each year, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

7 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

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

Tiny Ribozyme package could be future treatment of Hepatitis B virus

Penn State College of Medicine researchers have developed a tiny package that searches for and destroys up to 80 percent of hepatitis B virus in the livers of mice.

22 Mar 2004