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Celera and Medco collaborate in KIF6 gene variant testing

Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MHS), today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to evaluate whether testing for a gene variant called KIF6 increases patient adherence with statin therapy. Current studies have suggested that only about 50 to 60 percent of the patients who receive a prescription for a lipid-lowering drug are taking the medication after six months.

23 Sep 2009

Declining performance of muscles linked to harmful byproducts of air we breathe

If you think the air outside is polluted, a new research report in the September 2009 issue of the journal Genetics (http://www.genetics.org) might make you to think twice about the air inside our bodies too. That's because researchers show how about 3 percent of the air we breathe gets converted into harmful superoxides, which ultimately harm our muscles.

23 Sep 2009

Integration of local motion signals allows for a larger global pattern motion

Researchers have long known of the brain's ability to learn based on visual motion input, and a recent study has uncovered more insight into where the learning occurs. The brain first perceives changes in visual input (local motion) in the primary visual cortex. The local motion signals are then integrated in the later visual processing stages and interpreted as global motion in the higher-level processes.

22 Sep 2009

Winners of the 2009 Biotechnology Vision Summit's Emerging Company Showcase announced

Six Wisconsin biotechnology companies have been selected the winners of the first Emerging Company Showcase. The showcase is part of the Biotechnology Vision Summit 2009, being held on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the Madison Marriott West in Madison, Wis. The summit and the showcase are being hosted by BioForward, the member-driven state association that is the voice of Wisconsin’s biotechnology industry.

22 Sep 2009

Molecule responsible for neuronal branches identifed

The human brain consists of about 100 billion (1011) neurons, which altogether form about 100 trillion (1014) synaptic connections with each other. A crucial mechanism for the generation of this complex wiring pattern is the formation of neuronal branches. The neurobiologists Dr. Hannes Schmidt and Professor Fritz G. Rathjen at the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered a molecule that regulates this vital process. At the same time they have succeeded in elucidating the signaling cascade induced by this molecule (PNAS, Early Edition, 2009, doi:10.1073).

22 Sep 2009

Antigen to block infection by genetically-diverse strains of HIV

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) report they have created the first antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of blocking infection of human cells by genetically-diverse strains of HIV. The new antigen differs from previously-tested vaccines by virtue of its chemically-activated property that enables close sharing of electrons and produces strong covalent bonding.

22 Sep 2009

Research to study how eukaryotic cells help in building proteins

Federal stimulus funding is helping a Kansas State University biologist continue to collaborate with the Harvard Medical School. Their research is creating a clearer picture of a certain cellular process that can play a role in chronic diseases like cancer.

22 Sep 2009

Tregs to set the pace of recovery after serious lung injury

After more than 50 experiments in mice, medical scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace of recovery after serious lung injury.

22 Sep 2009

Blood vessels around the brain now converted into production/delivery systems

The blood brain barrier is generally considered an obstacle to delivering therapies from the bloodstream to the brain. However, University of Iowa researchers have discovered a way to turn the blood vessels surrounding brain cells into a production and delivery system for getting therapeutic molecules directly into brain cells.

22 Sep 2009

UC professor argues on stem cell properties

Before it was learned that matter burns by taking up oxygen, most chemists sought to explain combustion as the release of a mysterious substance, which they named "phlogiston". Phlogiston theory was a conceptual breakthrough that helped chemists conduct experiments and share ideas. Only when it came to pinning down the distinctive physical properties of phlogiston did it become clear that no such thing exists.

22 Sep 2009

Study on mice reveals that short term stress can prevent cancer

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that, at least in laboratory mice, bouts of relatively short-term stress can boost the immune system and protect against one type of cancer. Furthermore, the beneficial effects of this occasional angst seem to last for weeks after the stressful situation has ended. The finding is surprising because chronic stress has the opposite effect -- taxing the immune system and increasing susceptibility to disease.

22 Sep 2009

Gene variant discovery could lead to future glaucoma treatments

An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the National Eye Institute, has discovered gene variants for glaucoma in a black population. The finding could lead to future treatments or a cure for this disease, which leads to blindness in two million Americans each year.

22 Sep 2009

Biochemists are developing a new system to better understand antibiotic resistance

Rice University biochemists are developing a system of "evolutionary forecasting" to better understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

22 Sep 2009

Mathematical model of an ischemic wound

Scientists expect a new mathematical model of chronic wound healing could replace intuition with clear guidance on how to test treatment strategies in tackling a major public-health problem.

22 Sep 2009

Signaling molecules have different effects on key inhibitory protein

Researchers have identified a mechanism that may keep a well known signaling molecule from eroding bone and inflaming joints, according to an early study published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

22 Sep 2009

Duke University awarded $19.5M to design a portable viral infection detection device

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an effort led by the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze.

22 Sep 2009

Novel cleavage sites for enzyme caspase-3 identified

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have identified novel cleavage sites for the enzyme caspase-3 (an enzyme that proteolytically cleaves target proteins). Using an advanced proteomic technique called N-terminomics, Guy Salvesen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Apoptosis and Cell Death Research program of Burnham's NCI-designated Cancer Center, and colleagues determined the cleavage sites on target proteins and found, contrary to previous understanding, that caspase-3 targets α-helices as well as unstructured loops.

22 Sep 2009

G proteins could help fight cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer

New data on signalling proteins, called G proteins, may prove important in fighting diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. For many decades scientists have puzzled on "How signalling proteins transport and organize in specific areas of the cell?" Researchers from Nano-Science Center and Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen provide yet unrecognized clues to solve this mystery.

21 Sep 2009

Junk DNA could accelerate development of gene therapies

Scientists have identified how a protein enables sections of so-called junk DNA to be cut and pasted within genetic code - a finding which could speed development of gene therapies.

21 Sep 2009

Geron and Corning develop synthetic surface that supports the growth and differentiation of hESCs

Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) and Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) today announced the successful development of novel synthetic surface matrices demonstrated to enhance and support the scalable manufacturing and growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

21 Sep 2009