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Herbalscience research throws light on causes of allergic rhinitis

Most people might think of nettle as simply a common and aggressive weed that can sting and cause skin irritation. But nettle has also been used for hundreds of years to treat seasonal allergies and other inflammatory diseases, although the precise nature of its anti-inflammatory effect was unknown. Now, scientists with HerbalScience have identified specific bioactives in nettle leaf extracts that inhibit in vitro receptors and enzymes known to be key in generating symptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever.

26 Aug 2009

Chemical components of elderberry, cinnamon and green tea extracts block HIV viruses from infecting cells

The development of new antiviral drugs has had a tremendous impact on the quality of life and life expectancy of HIV-positive and AIDS patients, as the drugs effectively disrupt the replication cycle of the HIV virus. Yet the regular use of those drugs - such as zidovudine (also known as azidothymidine or AZT), protease inhibitors, and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) involving multidrug therapies - has led to resistant HIV strains.

20 Aug 2009

Xceleron to acquire an Accelerator Mass Spectrometry instrument under agreement with GlaxoSmithKline

XCELERON, a leader in the field of ultra-sensitive bioanalytical studies supporting clinical research, today announced that it has signed a second Master Service Agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. Under the terms of this agreement, Xceleron will provide analytical support to GlaxoSmithKline and its affiliated research organizations. As part of the deal, Xceleron will increase capacity through the acquisition of an Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) instrument.

19 Aug 2009

Labcyte awarded 2nd Japanese patent for acoustic-based cell sorting system

Labcyte, the company that developed and commercialized the acoustic transfer of liquids today announced that the Japanese patent office has granted patent 4309131 that covers the design of an acoustic-based system that can sort cells based upon acoustic or other properties and then eject them specifically from a mixed population.

18 Aug 2009

Metabolon awarded patent for metabolomics software

Metabolon, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a patent for its metabolomics software, Ion Tracker™, which provides a mechanism for creating new chemical library entries.

11 Aug 2009

LDTD Technology at BASi increases speed of sample analysis

BASi provides clients with increased sample analysis speed and quick turnaround with the LDTD technology. Fast screening is combined with accurate quantification results, to benefit any bioanalytical studies.

7 Aug 2009

New microchip technology may accelerate drug discovery for cancer, other diseases

Flasks, beakers and hot plates may soon be a thing of the past in chemistry labs. Instead of handling a few experiments on a bench top, scientists may simply pop a microchip into a computer and instantly run thousands of chemical reactions, with results - literally shrinking the lab down to the size of a thumbnail.

From Siemens Healthineers 3 Aug 2009

Common food additive lecithin may help control blood lipids and reduce disease risk

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a substance in the liver that helps process fat and glucose. That substance is a component of the common food additive lecithin, and researchers speculate it may one day be possible to use lecithin products to control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease using treatments delivered in food rather than medication.

31 Jul 2009

Electronic nose detects vapours emitted by human skin in real time

A team of researchers from the Yale University (United States) and a Spanish company have developed a system to detect the vapours emitted by human skin in real time. The scientists think that these substances, essentially made up of fatty acids, are what attract mosquitoes and enable dogs to identify their owners.

21 Jul 2009

Research suggests core nuclear pore elements shared by all eukaryotes

For perhaps 1.8 billion years after life first emerged on Earth, a sort of evolutionary writer's block stalled the development of organisms more complicated than single cells. Then, a burst of experimental creativity about 1.7 billion years ago brought the cell nucleus onto the scene, stashing the cell's genetic material inside a protective inner membrane and setting the stage for the evolution of more sophisticated creatures from yeast, say, to plants and human beings.

12 Jul 2009

Biomarker in urine for appendicitis

Appendicitis is the most common childhood surgical emergency, but the diagnosis can be challenging, especially in children, often leading to either unnecessary surgery in children without appendicitis, or a ruptured appendix and serious complications when the condition is missed.

23 Jun 2009

Cannabis smoke damages DNA – cancer risks

A new study published by University of Leicester researchers has found "convincing evidence" that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.

16 Jun 2009

Discovery of protein profile that may predict whether a cancer will be tamoxifen resistant.

Tamoxifen is a widely used and highly successful drug in the treatment of breast cancer, though resistance to tamoxifen is still a concern in recurrent disease (affecting 25-35% of patients), since therapy resistant metastatic tumor cells are a major cause of death.

10 Jun 2009

A new method for breast cancer biomarker discovery

Three researchers from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed and evaluated a new one-step bioanalytical approach that allows them to profile in detail complex cellular extracts of proteins. The method has allowed the scientists to look at how the levels of proteins change in breast cancer cells when they are treated with hormones or cancer drugs like tamoxifen.

9 Jun 2009

Discovery of proteins underlying devastating brain diseases

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered a set of brain proteins responsible for some of the most common and devastating brain diseases.

19 May 2009

Biological timekeeper studies reveal new temperature regulator and track clock protein across a day

Dartmouth Medical School geneticists have made new inroads into understanding the regulatory circuitry of the biological clock that synchronizes the ebb and flow of daily activities, according to two studies published May 15.

17 May 2009

Urine proteome pattern may predict coronary artery disease

Proteome analysis, a screening requiring only a patient's urine specimen, shows promise as a reliable and noninvasive way to diagnose atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease in the future, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Annual Conference 2009.

30 Apr 2009

New sequencing technique looks at medical potential of King Kong toxin

King Kong toxin, a component of the venom in some poisonous marine snails, has a peculiar power to go with its peculiar name.

29 Apr 2009

Discovery of 12 proteins associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis

A group of 12 proteins associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered for the first time by a team of neurology and pathology researchers at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

22 Apr 2009

Newly discovered epidermal growth factor receptor active in human pancreatic cancers

Finally some promising news about pancreatic cancer, one of the most fatal cancers, due to the difficulties of early detection and the lack of effective therapies: Johns Hopkins University pathologist Akhilesh Pandey has identified an epidermal growth factor receptor aberrantly active in approximately a third of the 250 human pancreatic cancers studied.

20 Apr 2009