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Amira identifies novel pre-clinical candidate for autotaxin lysophosphatidic acid related program

Amira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has successfully identified a novel pre-clinical candidate for its newest lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-related program, autotaxin. Autotaxin is an enzyme upstream from LPA receptors and has been implicated in a number of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, glioblastoma, lung, breast, ovarian and thyroid cancers.

17 Dec 2010

Possible stem cell cure for AIDS

An explosion of stem cell breakthroughs, including a possible cure for AIDS, is reshaping the possibilities for curing deadly and debilitating diseases around the globe, says Emerging Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Cindy Morrissey.

17 Dec 2010

Sustainable Phosphorus Summit, Feb. 3-5, 2011

What element is commonly found in every living creature on Earth yet may become scarce in our lifetimes? If you answer phosphorus, you-d be one of only a few individuals in tune with scientists and governments aware of limitations in this mined resource.

17 Dec 2010

23andMe project aims at validating highly scalable pharmacogenomics research

23andMe has launched a project funded by the National Institutes of Health which is aimed at validating 23andMe's highly-scalable platform for pharmacogenomics research. The company received $190,000 in stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for "Web-based Phenotyping for Genome-Wide Association Studies of Drug Response" from NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute.

17 Dec 2010

Astonishing diversity of microbes inhabit the human body

A mounting tide of scientific evidence suggests that the old adage from Aesop's fables - "You are known by the company you keep" - also applies to the trillions of microscopic bacteria and viruses that live on the human body. Humanity's invisible but constant companions - more bacteria hang out on the palms of your hands than there are people on Earth - is the topic of an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

17 Dec 2010

Celator granted U.S. Patent covering CombiPlex technology platform

Celator Pharmaceuticals today announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S Patent No. 7,850,990. This patent adds to the intellectual property surrounding Celator's innovative technology platforms and products.

17 Dec 2010

Researchers contribute important expertise to new landmark study of medulloblastoma

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children. The large multicenter study defines the genetic landscape of this cancer, and holds intriguing clues to gene changes on signaling pathways that may become fruitful targets for future therapies.

17 Dec 2010

Researchers discover new way to prevent spread of cancer

Scientists now know that some cancer cells spread, or metastasize, throughout the body the old-fashioned way -- by using their feet. But researchers at Duke Cancer Institute have discovered a way to short-circuit their travels by preventing the development of these feet, called invadopodia. This discovery is even more important because preventing the development of these "feet" also eliminates the action of proteins present in the feet that burn through intact tissue and let cancer cells enter new cells.

17 Dec 2010

BioMimetic granted Canadian notice of patent allowance covering rhPDGF-BB platform technology formulations

BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. announced today the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has allowed patent application No. 2,583,823 titled "Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) Compositions and Methods of Use Thereof". The new patent will remain in force until October 2025, during which time it will prohibit the marketing of similar or generic versions of the Company's Augment™ orthopedic product line and certain other rhPDGF-BB product formulations.

17 Dec 2010

Gene variant affects brain function long before brain begins accumulating amyloid: Study

People with a known, high risk for Alzheimer's disease develop abnormal brain function even before the appearance of telltale amyloid plaques that are characteristic of the disease, according to a new study.

17 Dec 2010

'Histone code' needs to be used with caution

The function of histones -- the proteins that enable yards of DNA to be crammed into a single cell -- depends on a number of chemical tags adorning their exterior. This sophisticated chemical syntax for packaging DNA into tight little coils or unraveling it again -- called the "histone code" -- is the latest frontier for researchers bent on understanding how genetics encodes life.

17 Dec 2010

Whitehead Institute Founding Member named recipient of 2011 Warren Triennial Prize of MGH

Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch has been named a recipient of the 2011 Warren Triennial Prize of Massachusetts General Hospital.

17 Dec 2010

Prions responsible for BSE can survive in new host environment

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown that prions, bits of infectious protein that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or "mad cow disease," have the ability to adapt to survive in a new host environment.

17 Dec 2010

Emotional intelligence and cognitive skills sharpen after 60

Older people have a hard time keeping a lid on their feelings, especially when viewing heartbreaking or disgusting scenes in movies and reality shows, psychologists have found. But they're better than their younger counterparts at seeing the positive side of a stressful situation and empathizing with the less fortunate, according to research from the University of California, Berkeley.

17 Dec 2010

Pediatric cancer researchers study medulloblastoma for new treatment

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children.

17 Dec 2010

Human fetal immune system entirely different from adult immune system

UCSF researchers have shown for the first time that the human fetal immune system arises from an entirely different source than the adult immune system, and is more likely to tolerate than fight foreign substances in its environment.

17 Dec 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals progress in delivery and translation of RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a leading RNAi therapeutics company, presented new data at the 2010 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, being held in Honolulu, Hawaii, December 15-20.

17 Dec 2010

Genetic biomarker linked to increased risk for breast cancer found in 'junk' DNA

A new genetic biomarker that indicates an increased risk for developing breast cancer can be found in an individual's "junk" (non-coding) DNA, according to a new study featuring work from researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and their colleagues.

17 Dec 2010

Amygdala plays central role in generating fear reactions in humans too

A new study, published online on December 16 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, offers new insight into the emotional life of a unique individual who completely lacks the function of an almond-shaped structure in the brain known as the amygdala. Studies over the last 50 years have shown that the amygdala plays a central role in generating fear reactions in animals from rats to monkeys.

17 Dec 2010

Scientists decipher genetic code for pediatric medulloblastoma

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have deciphered the genetic code for medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain cancer and a leading killer of children with cancer.

16 Dec 2010