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Researchers develop molecule to confuse insects' ability to detect plants

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published this week in Chemical Communications, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers to use Intravenous Immune Globulin for slowing AD progression

Researchers from the Memory and Cognition Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center will begin testing an intriguing new approach to slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using Intravenous Immune Globulin (IGIV), also known as gammaglobulin.

25 Sep 2009

Research to improve the targeting of chemotherapeutic drugs to specific cells

Kenneth Longmuir, associate professor of physiology & biophysics, and Richard Robertson, professor of anatomy & neurobiology, used liposomes, small spheres (less-than 100 nanometer in diameter) of naturally-occurring lipid molecules, as "packages" for the cancer chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin, and a small peptide molecule to "address" the package to the targeted tissue.

25 Sep 2009

Research to develop small-molecule drug that blocks excess iron absorption

Excess iron in the body, if left unchecked, can form toxic deposits in major organs leading to serious conditions including heart failure, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, arthritis, and even infertility. Iron overload can be a consequence of a genetically mutated gene known as hereditary hemochromatosis, or a consequence of red blood cell transfusions, required as life saving treatments, for patients with diseases such as thalassemia.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers study about abnormal gene functioning in mitochondria

Researchers are delving into abnormal gene function in mitochondria, structures within cells that power our lives. Mitochondria are the place where energy is generated from the most basic molecules of food. Because this function is essential to life, defects in mitochondria may affect a wide range of organ systems in humans and animals.

25 Sep 2009

Neuroscience professor receives Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award

Leon Reijmers, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, is one of 55 recipients of the National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. Reijmers is investigating the way memories are stored in the brain, specifically focusing on the proteins involved in long-term memory storage.

25 Sep 2009

Current stem cell applications to be discussed at NJIT

Stem cell researcher Treena Livingston Arinzeh will discuss current stem cell applications at NJIT, including the regeneration of bone and cartilage for bone fracture and osteoarthritis treatments, spinal cord repair, and liver regeneration at NJIT's first Research Caf.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers develop a process to tag cancer cells

Scientists label cells with coloured or glowing chemicals to observe how basic cellular activities differ between healthy and cancerous cells. Existing techniques for labelling cells are either too slow or too toxic to perform on live cells. Now, a study reviewed by Philip Dawson, a member of Faculty of 1000 Biology and leading authority in chemistry and cell biology, describes a novel labelling technique that uses a chemical reaction to make live cancer cells light up quickly and safely.

25 Sep 2009

Chronic sleep deprivation linked to early incidence of Alzheimer's brain plaques

Chronic sleep deprivation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease makes Alzheimer's brain plaques appear earlier and more often, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report online this week in Science Express.

25 Sep 2009

Moderately elevated levels of ROS positive in fruit flies

It has been known for decades that reactive oxygen species (ROS) - ions or very small molecules that include free radicals - damage cells. But much to their surprise, Jonsson Cancer Center researchers found that in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, moderately elevated levels of ROS are a good thing.

25 Sep 2009

Clostridium difficile's five genetic regions identified

Five genetic regions have been identified that are unique to the most virulent strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), the hospital superbug. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology studied the genome of the bacterium, looking for genes relating to motility, antibiotic resistance and toxicity.

25 Sep 2009

Matrix metalloproteinase-8 enzyme increases the risk of heart diseases

Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have made an important discovery in understanding what causes arteries to clog up. They have discovered that an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase-8 plays a crucial role in raising blood pressure and causing abnormal build-up of cells in the arteries - both of which increase the risk of heart disease.

25 Sep 2009

Study on mitochondria function

For such crucial biological actors, much remains unknown about exactly how mitochondria function. A new study, published Aug. 12 in the online journal PLoS One, sheds light on mitochondrial biology. Using genetic engineering, researchers interrupted the activity of individual genes directly involved in the production of energy within mitochondria. "If we knock down the function of specific system components, what happens?" said study leader Marni J. Falk, M.D., who directs the Mitochondrial-Genetics Disease Clinic at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Our ultimate goal is to translate the knowledge into targeted therapies, that is, effective ways to intervene. But first we need to understand the underlying disease mechanisms."

25 Sep 2009

Direct RNA sequencing performed using Helicos’ True Single Molecule Sequencing technology

Helicos BioSciences Corporation a life science company focused on innovative genetic analysis technologies, today announced the publication of a landmark study in which Helicos’ True Single Molecule Sequencing (tSMS)™ technology was used to directly sequence individual molecules of RNA. The paper appeared yesterday in the on-line edition of Nature and will appear in an upcoming 2009 print issue of Nature.

24 Sep 2009

Researchers study functional similarity between zebrafish and humans to fight infections

Since the human response to infection is highly complex, research to understand how people fight infection is facilitated by studying how similar processes occur in simpler organisms. Zebrafish are becoming an important model for human disease, since they are easily handled, maintained and manipulated and many fundamental processes between zebrafish and humans are conserved.

24 Sep 2009

La Jolla Institute scientist Hilde Cheroutre earns the 2009 NIH Director's Pioneer Award

A scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has received one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s top awards -- the 2009 NIH Director's Pioneer Award. The prestigious prize carries with it funding for total costs of up to $4.7 million over five years, and is designed to support the work of exceptionally creative scientists, whose novel proposals offer the potential to make extraordinary contributions to human health.

24 Sep 2009

CICbioGUNE develops Tandem-repeated Ubiquitin Binding Entities for purifying ubiquitylated proteins

LifeSensors, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in protein expression technologies and ubiquitin pathway research tools, announced today their worldwide, exclusive license for high affinity ubiquitin traps. These new research tools, developed by Dr. Manuel S. Rodriguez of the proteomics unit of the CICbioGUNE in Spain, will be launched in October 2009.

24 Sep 2009

Opexa Therapeutics' endeavor in the field of stem cell technology

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a company developing Tovaxin®, a personalized T-cell immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that it has achieved its first technology transfer milestone in connection with the company’s recently announced exclusive stem cell agreement with Novartis, one of the world’s largest healthcare companies. The milestone was completed on schedule and triggers a payment of $500,000 to Opexa.

24 Sep 2009

How the human brain processes incoming sensory signals amidst background noise

The brain never sits idle. Whether we are awake or asleep, watch TV or close our eyes, waves of spontaneous nerve signals wash through our brains. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies studying visual attention have discovered a novel mechanism that explains how incoming sensory signals make themselves heard amidst the constant background rumblings so they can be reliably processed and passed on.

24 Sep 2009

NIH awards $2.5 million grant to University of Utah cardiologist

A pioneering model that a University of Utah cardiologist proposes as a cause of heart disease is the kind of creative thinking the National Institutes of Health (NIH) likes to see-and reward with one of its most prestigious honors, a $2.5 million 2009 Pioneer Award.

24 Sep 2009