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Pfizer acquires Idun Pharmaceuticals

Pfizer today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Idun Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapies to control apoptosis, a process of cell death that occurs in a broad range of diseases.

24 Feb 2005

Link between heart disease and periodontal bacteria

Researchers report this week that older adults who have higher proportions of four periodontal-disease-causing bacteria inhabiting their mouths also tend to have thicker carotid arteries, a strong predictor of stroke and heart attack.

7 Feb 2005

Eye thermal radiation can indicate a disease even before clinical signs appear

The eyes are not only a mirror of a soul, but also a medical record. Their thermal radiation can indicate a disease even before clinical signs appear. Investigations in this area conducted by Russian scientists have been supported by the research program of the Russian Academy of Sciences called “Abstract Sciences for Medicine”.

7 Feb 2005

Novel nanotechnology detects human DNA mutations

Researchers at Nanosphere, Inc. have reported unprecedented benefits in the company's technology for the medical analysis of human DNA.

26 Jan 2005

New blood tests to soon replace painful bone marrow biopsies for leukemia and lymphoma patients

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated announced today that The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has granted the company exclusive use of five proprietary blood testing methods, which, once available in the form of laboratory diagnostic tests, may eliminate the need for painful and expensive bone marrow and other tissue extractions.

24 Jan 2005

Home HIV-AIDS test could be a reality within two years

A portable device similar to a home pregnancy test that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles as well as biological agents such as Ricin and anthrax, is the goal of a new joint research project

17 Jan 2005

New portable infectious disease detector

A portable device similar to today's home pregnancy tests that can quickly detect the presence of infectious diseases, including HIV-AIDS and measles, as well as biological agents such as ricin and anthrax, is the object of a new joint university/industry research project.

10 Jan 2005

Diagnosis of tuberculosis in young children can be confirmed by a straightforward sputum test

Diagnosis of tuberculosis is difficult in infants and young children and can be complicated by HIV infection. Heather Zar (School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues studied 250 children aged 1 month to 5 years who were admitted for suspected pulmonary tuberculosis in Cape Town. Sputum induction and gastric lavage were done on three consecutive days according to a standard procedure.

7 Jan 2005

Bio-Rad receives FDA approval for new HIV rapid test

Bio-Rad Laboratories announced today that it recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new Multispot HIV-1/HIV-2 Rapid Test.

4 Jan 2005

Major step forward in using saliva to detect oral cancer

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research reported taking a major step forward in using saliva to detect oral cancer.

21 Dec 2004

Messenger RNA not only are measurable in saliva but can indicate a developing tumor

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research reported today taking a major step forward in using saliva to detect oral cancer.

20 Dec 2004

Millennium Pharmaceuticals discovers protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection of rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Millennium Pharmaceuticals today announced the discovery of a panel of protein biomarkers that could play a role in the early detection, prognosis and monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

14 Dec 2004

New approach to genomic testing identifies women with low risk of breast cancer recurrence

An initial validation study presented by Exagen Diagnostics at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium suggests it may soon be possible to distinguish good prognosis from poor prognosis in any newly diagnosed breast cancer patient based on DNA changes in the patient's tumor.

13 Dec 2004

Escalating costs and lengthy clinical trials are major concerns for researchers in the field of drug discovery

Escalating costs and lengthy clinical trials are major concerns for researchers attempting to boost productivity and efficiency in the field of drug discovery. Biomarkers are emerging as the solution to these problems with their ability to reduce drug development costs and time.

7 Dec 2004

Electrochemical DNA chip that is able to detect DNA at very low concentrations

Toshiba Corporation has announced the development of a highly sensitive electrochemical DNA chip that is able to detect DNA at very low concentrations, a capability that will support advances in gene detection and analysis for individual treatment regimes, and the monitoring of healthy individuals for any predisposition to certain diseases.

6 Dec 2004

Nanogen issued new patent for active biological sample preparation

Nanogen announced today that it was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,824,740, "Apparatus for Active Biological Sample Preparation," by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

6 Dec 2004

Scientist develops way to deliver promising genetic tool into living cells

By exploiting an HIV protein that readily traverses cell membranes, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have developed a new way to introduce a gene-like molecule called a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) directly into live mammalian cells, including human embryonic stem (ES) cells.

6 Dec 2004

New virtual microscopy system

Researchers at the universities of Helsinki and Tampere (Finland) have developed a new virtual microscopy system, which allows users digitize entire microscope glass slide specimens, and then create a virtual slide with the quality and resolution similar to the original glass slide viewed on a microscope.

29 Nov 2004

Effective research could prevent half of the world's deaths

Health systems research has the potential to produce dramatic improvements in health worldwide and to meet some of the major development challenges in the new millennium.

11 Nov 2004

Research aims to understand how genetic information translates into biological activity

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a new $6.25 million, five-year program to explore and address challenges in measurement, validation and quality control for the rapidly growing field of gene expression profiling.

11 Nov 2004