Spectrometry News and Research

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Safe, non-surgical method of identifying brain infections such as brain abscess

Researchers at Westmead Millennium Institute have discovered a safe, non-surgical method of identifying brain infections such as brain abscess, and an accurate and rapid way of diagnosing meningitis.

10 Sep 2005

Tools for studying the chemistry of the brain, neuron by neuron

The human brain is composed of billions of cells, each a separate entity that communicates with others. The chemical interaction of those cells determines personality, controls behavior and encodes memory; but much remains to be understood.

1 Sep 2005

Australian National University facility to help reveal secrets of life

High technology that will enhance the ability of biologists to conduct cutting-edge research has been opened at the Research School of Biological Sciences (RSBS) at the Australian National University.

30 Aug 2005

Excessive alcohol consumption increases risk of certain cancers

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new chemical analysis method that has assisted researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health, in demonstrating a potentially important chemical link between alcohol consumption and cancer.

11 Aug 2005

New insight into how protein E75 may control circadian rhythms and metabolic processes

University of Toronto researchers have gained new insight into how a specific protein may control circadian rhythms and metabolic processes, which has implications for treating cholesterol-related diseases.

28 Jul 2005

Forensic use of tandem mass-spectroscopy detects links between banknotes and drugs

Research published in this month’s edition of the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, describes a method that can detect a pattern of contamination on banknotes from drug related crime that is different from the pattern seen in general circulation. The process is significantly faster than other previous methods.

28 Jun 2005

Diagnostic test for Lou Gehrig's disease

Bowser is director of the ALS Tissue Bank and an Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who is using a key piece of biomarker discovery equipment known as SELDI to find new ways to identify and eventually treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease.

1 Jun 2005

Researchers identify new areas of gene regulation

Researcher Kangling Zhang at the University of California, Riverside is part of a team that has discovered a new way that yeast governs genetic expression and repression, a finding that could be repeated in cells of other organisms.

8 May 2005

Researchers develop new method for facile identification of proteins in bacterial cells

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a new method for identifying specific proteins in whole cell extracts of microorganisms using traditional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF).

4 May 2005

Faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjogren's syndrome

Researchers in Japan are developing a faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjögren’s (SHOW-grins) syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder characterized by chronically dry eyes and dry mouth.

11 Apr 2005

Garlic protects against severe chronic pulmonary hypertension

Small daily doses of allicin, the active metabolic in garlic, proved effective in preventing a severe form of pulmonary hypertension in rats

3 Apr 2005

Grapes inhibit cancer growth

Components in grapes, including some newly identified ones, work together to dramatically inhibit an enzyme crucial to the proliferation of cancer cells, say scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

29 Mar 2005

Doctors may soon be able to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) with a simple blood test

New research by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues suggests that one day, doctors may be able to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) with a simple blood test. The findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience.

15 Mar 2005

New detection system to test athletes for performance-enhancing drugs

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are leading the field in developing a new detection system that could be used to test athletes for performance-enhancing drugs.

16 Feb 2005

Claims about the experimental protein-based assay are not biologically plausible

In a new study, researchers present a "cautionary tale" about what may go wrong when using the fledgling science of proteomics to devise a diagnostic test for cancer.

15 Feb 2005

Available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated

Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

24 Jan 2005

Australia leads the way in new screening technology for babies

Australia is one of the first countries in the world to implement new screening technology across all States that will help detect an increased number of diseases in newborns.

21 Dec 2004

Millennium Pharmaceuticals discovers protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Millennium Pharmaceuticals today announced the discovery of a panel of protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection, prognosis and monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

14 Dec 2004

As mobile phone use rises, possibility of unseen biological impact is quietly troubling

Cell biologists are of two minds about the possible biological effects of mobile phone radiation. In the mid-1990s, studies describing possible pathological effects on tissues bombarded with low-level radio frequencies (RF) were first featured in the popular press and then discredited by scientists.

4 Dec 2004

Discovery might improve design, effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs

Working with an enzyme that degrades anti-cancer drugs in humans, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill biochemists and colleagues have made a discovery that they believe eventually could help improve such drugs’ design and effectiveness.

18 Oct 2004