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GE Global Research Biosciences technology celebrated fifth anniversary

From creating a new business in digital pathology to developing next generation diagnostic imaging agents and life sciences tools that are breaking new ground in the detection and treatment of disease, the Biosciences technology organization at GE Global Research today celebrated its fifth anniversary.

6 Aug 2009

Nanotechnology helps scientists measure the forces that hold proteins together

Rice University physicists have written the next chapter in an innovative approach for studying the forces that shape proteins -- the biochemical workhorses of all living things.

6 Aug 2009

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals starts phase I/II trial of novel advanced prostate cancer vaccine

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial of BP-GMAX-CD1, a novel pharmacologically regulated dendritic cell vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer. The disease-specific trial is being conducted under a Bellicum Investigational New Drug application allowed by the FDA in 2008. The company anticipates reporting initial results of the study in 2010.

6 Aug 2009

Genetic profiling of tumors could have 'immediate impact' on treating cancer

New work by MIT cancer biologists shows that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumors determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy.

6 Aug 2009

Physician practices help Michigan become a leading adopter of e-prescribing

Hundreds of physician practices in Michigan have teamed with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to help a movement that has made the state one of the national leaders of e-prescribing.

6 Aug 2009

Comparative effectiveness studies raise questions about vertebroplasty back pain treatment

New studies on treating back pain from a fractured spine could call more attention to the type of comparative effectiveness research health policy experts and President Barack Obama have embraced in their quest to increase quality of care while lowering costs.

6 Aug 2009

HIV genome decoded

"Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have decoded the entire HIV genome, opening the door to understanding how viruses infect humans – knowledge that could lead to new antiviral drugs," the Triangle Business Journal reports. The building block of HIV is a single stranded RNA, not a double stranded DNA (Gallagher, 8/6).

6 Aug 2009

President Obama hosts Senate 'gang of six' at the White House for a health reform update

President Barack Obama's Thursday meeting with six members of the Finance Committee was just an opportunity for an update and was not a "negotiating session," the White House said, according to The Associated Press (8/6).

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of cells responsible for bladder cancer spread

Johns Hopkins scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings, reported in the July Stem Cells, could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.

6 Aug 2009

Health reform still worth fighting for

The news about health care is a little confusing these days. While polls show that Americans still support the key elements of health care reform that President Obama and his allies are trying to enact, there have been numerous reports of conservative activists showing up at congressional town halls across the country, protesting those same plans with an energy not matched by the other side.

6 Aug 2009

Protein unfolding key to understanding blood clot mechanics

Fibrin, the chief ingredient of blood clots, is a remarkably versatile polymer. On one hand, it forms a network of fibers -- a blood clot -- that stems the loss of blood at an injury site while remaining pliable and flexible. On the other hand, fibrin provides a scaffold for thrombi, clots that block blood vessels and cause tissue damage, leading to myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. How does fibrin manage to be so strong and yet so extensible under the stresses of healing and blood flow?

6 Aug 2009

Obama to drug industry: We still have a deal

"Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion," The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and - ideally - its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects.

6 Aug 2009

Distinctive gene expression in brains of relapsing heroin-addicted rats

A group of genes whose expression is significantly altered following exposure to drug paraphernalia after an enforced 'cold-turkey' period have been identified. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience studied gene expression in the brains of heroin-addicted rats, identifying those genes that may be involved in precipitating a relapse.

6 Aug 2009

Insurance industry speaks up on health reform

The insurance industry expresses what they want to get out of health care reform as efforts progress and attacks against them increase.

6 Aug 2009

Scientists create stem cells from developing sperm

The promise of stem cell therapy may lie in uncovering how adult cells revert back into a primordial, stem cell state, whose fate is yet to be determined. Now, cell scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified key molecular players responsible for this reversion in fruit fly sperm cells.

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of 'tell-tale' viral signature in blood that identifies underlying viral infection

Scientists have identified a genomic "signature" in circulating blood that reveals exposure to common upper respiratory viruses, like the cold or flu, even before symptoms appear.

6 Aug 2009

Covidien receives FDA clearance for new ventilator leak compensation software

Covidien has announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Leak Compensation software feature for the Puritan Bennett 840 ventilator system. This option provides continuous levels of mechanical ventilation to patients requiring respiratory support, regardless of the level of gas leakage that might occur in the circuit or past a patient interface device in the clinical setting.

6 Aug 2009

Monographs address health reform issues

Monographs addressing individual mandates, tax exclusion and a public plan option were released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP).

6 Aug 2009

Congressman’s visit to The American Legion beneficial to veterans

During a recent visit to The American Legion headquarters here, U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said that the maintenance of high quality health care for veterans is at the very top of his list of priorities. Within a week, Filner, who is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has demonstrated his advocacy and response to Legion concerns by introducing legislation long championed by the Legion that would materially aid Medicare-eligible vets.

6 Aug 2009