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Genomics in China

Ten years ago, the Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai (South Center, hereafter) was established in the Zhangjiang HiTech Park of Pudong District in Shanghai.

7 Jan 2009

Levitating nanomechanics shows potential to improve medicine

Magicians have long created the illusion of levitating objects in the air. Now researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University have actually levitated an object, suspending it without the need for external support.

7 Jan 2009

Gene named scrawny keeps stem cells healthy

Stem cells are the body's primal cells, retaining the youthful ability to develop into more specialized types of cells over many cycles of cell division.

6 Jan 2009

Biologist finds plant polymerases IV and V are really variants of polymerase II

It's a little like finding out that Superman is actually Clark Kent. A team of biologists at Washington University in St. Louis has discovered that two vital cellular components, nuclear RNA Polymerases IV and V (Pol IV and V), found only in plants, are actually specialized forms of RNA Polymerase II, an essential enzyme of all eukaryotic organisms, including humans.

6 Jan 2009

Antibodies take 'evolutionary leaps' to fight microbes

With cold and flu season in full swing, the fact that viruses and bacteria rapidly evolve is apparent with every sneeze, sniffle, and cough.

5 Jan 2009

New technique for fusing cells

MIT engineers have developed a new, highly efficient way to pair up cells so they can be fused together into a hybrid cell.

5 Jan 2009

Researchers use nanoparticles to make 3-D DNA nanotubes

Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu imagine and assemble intricate structures on a scale almost unfathomably small.

1 Jan 2009

Gold particles and infrared light for controlled drug delivery

Using tiny gold particles and infrared light, MIT researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that allows multiple drugs to be released in a controlled fashion.

1 Jan 2009

Human hair waste may be a viable option as fertilizer for edible crops

Agricultural crop production relies on composted waste materials and byproducts, such as animal manure, municipal solid waste composts, and sewage sludge, as a necessary nutrient source.

30 Dec 2008

Scientists reverse brain birth defects using stem cell therapy

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells.

29 Dec 2008

Magnetic nanotags allow sensitive detection of cancer biomarkers

The detection of cancer-associated proteins, or biomarkers, in blood samples is a potentially powerful tool for early diagnosis of cancer and monitoring of cancer treatment.

29 Dec 2008

Measuring nanoparticle behavior in the body using MRI

One of the key steps in the development of any drug or imaging agent intended for human use is measurement of the adsorption, metabolism, and excretion of the drug.

29 Dec 2008

Targeted nanoparticles deliver therapeutic DNA to cancer cells

Given that cancer is a disease caused by gene mutations, cancer researchers have been striving to develop gene therapies aimed at correcting these mutations. However, these efforts have been hobbled by the difficulty in safely and efficiently delivering anticancer genes to tumors. Nanoparticles, however, may solve these delivery issues, and two recently published studies, using two different types of nanoparticles, lend credence to that hypothesis.

29 Dec 2008