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Study reveals the importance of cholestrol derivative in brain cell formation

A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells outside the body.

2 Oct 2009

People with rare mutations of gene MUTYH at increased risk of bowel cancer

CANCER RESEARCH UK funded scientists have found that people who carry rare mutations within both copies of a gene called MUTYH are 28 times more likely to develop bowel cancer compared to the general population, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

1 Oct 2009

Epigentek Group releases SuperSense Methylated DNA Quantification kit

Epigentek Group Inc. today announced that it released the SuperSense(TM) Methylated DNA Quantification Kit to complete its line of methylated DNA quantification products. The SuperSense(TM) kit fluorometrically measures global DNA methylation shifts.

1 Oct 2009

Doris Duke Innovations award for sickle cell disease research

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today that research led by Donald B. Kohn, M.D., Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) and Pediatrics, the Director of the UCLA Human Gene Medicine Program and member of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center, and Philip Gregory, D. Phil., Sangamo's chief scientific officer and vice president, research, has been selected to receive a $486,000 Doris Duke Innovations in Clinical Research Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

1 Oct 2009

Grand Opportunity grant to pursue "whole-genome" sequencing of patients with autism

Children's Hospital Boston, with the Broad Institute and Harvard Medical School, has been awarded a Grand Opportunity grant from the National Institute of Mental Health as part of the federal stimulus package, to pursue "whole-genome" sequencing of patients with autism, using new technologies for rapid DNA sequencing to better understand autism's causes.

1 Oct 2009

Public lecture to highlight what causes cell division to go wrong and lead to cancer

University of Leicester research which substantially increases our understanding of what causes cell division to go wrong and lead to cancer will be highlighted in a public lecture at the University on Wednesday 14th October at 5.30-6.30pm.

1 Oct 2009

Stem cell therapy aims to prevent permanent damage from heart attacks

All patients arriving at UCSF's Emergency Department with heart attack will continue to be treated with standard measures. Patients who meet the medical criteria for the trial will be able to elect to receive the stem cell therapy within seven days after their heart attack.

1 Oct 2009

PharmaNova to announce new technology breakthroughs at the 2009 AAPS annual meeting

PharmaNova, a leader in nanotechnology-based Drug Delivery Systems, is due to exhibit at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) scheduled in Los Angeles, CA, from November 8 - 12.

1 Oct 2009

Membrane-bound Fas ligand is essential for cell death: Researchers

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers have put an end to a 10-year debate over which form of a molecular messenger called Fas ligand is responsible for killing cells during programmed cell death (also called apoptosis).

1 Oct 2009

Scientists make advance to overcome one of the key challenges in nanotechnology

Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting an advance toward overcoming one of the key challenges in nanotechnology: Getting molecules to move quickly in a desired direction without help from outside forces.

1 Oct 2009

Rush University receives grants to study how epigenomic changes define cognitive decline

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Rush University Medical Center approximately $5.5 million in grants to study how epigenetic changes - chemical modifications to genes that result from diet, aging, stress, or environmental exposures - define and contribute to memory formation and cognitive decline. Results from the studies could profoundly alter the way the medical community understands, diagnoses, and treats Alzheimer's disease, according to the researchers.

1 Oct 2009

New research on brain and fear may help PTSD victims

The brain is a complex system made of billions of neurons and thousands of connections that relate to every human feeling, including one of the strongest emotions, fear. Most neurological fear studies have been rooted in fear-conditioning experiments. Now, University of Missouri researchers have started using computational models of the brain, making it easier to study the brain's connections.

1 Oct 2009

OICR completes evaluation of NEB's new reagents for use with the Illumina Genome Analyzer

Dr. John McPherson, Platform Leader, Cancer Genomics and High-Throughput Screening, and Dr. Kamran Shazand, Project Manager, of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) led a team of scientists who have completed a thorough evaluation of the NEBNext(TM) DNA Sample Prep Reagents for use with OICR's Illumina® Genome Analyzer II.

From New England Biolabs 1 Oct 2009

Gamida Cell publishes article evaluating Stemex for leukemia and lymphoma

Gamida Cell announced today the publication of an article evaluating carlecortemcel-l, the generic name of what is widely known as "StemEx", as a therapy for blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. The article, carlecortemcel-l, an ex vivo expanded umbilical cord blood cell graft for allogeneic transplantation, written by Dr. Ka Wah Chan and Dr. Demetrios Petropoulos, will be published in the November 2009 issue of Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy.

1 Oct 2009

Brdt protein in developing sperm cells direct tight re-packaging of sperm DNA

In the quest for speed, olympic swimmers shave themselves or squeeze into high-tech super-suits. In the body, sperm are the only cells that swim and, as speed is crucial to fertility, have developed their own ways to become exceptionally streamlined. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and Grenoble, the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) and the Institut Albert Bonniot, both also in Grenoble, have been studying the secrets of speedy sperm.

1 Oct 2009

NCI and NHGRI collaborate to characterize genetic and genomic changes that occur in cancers

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of twelve centers announced today by President Obama as part of an unprecedented large-scale, collaborative effort by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to systematically characterize the genomic changes that occur in cancer.

1 Oct 2009

Grants to research GanedenBC30 probotic effect on human immune cells

Ganeden Biotech Inc., makers of the patented probiotic strain GanedenBC30® (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086), today announced two grants for early investigators.

1 Oct 2009

Jagiellonian University to develop modern reagents for serological tests

Every year, 2 million patients in Poland are treated with blood and blood products. But only blood compatible with the recipient's blood type can be safely transfused.

1 Oct 2009

Trichodesmium has important role in nitrogen cycle and carbon sequestration

A new study of microscopic marine microbes, called phytoplankton, by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of South Carolina has solved a ten-year-old mystery about the source of an essential nutrient in the ocean.

1 Oct 2009

National Institutes of Health awards $16.8 million grant to Hutchinson Center/UW group

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a $16.8 million, seven-year grant to launch a bicoastal research partnership between Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Cancer Consortium and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

30 Sep 2009