Archive for the 'Research Reports' Category
July 23rd, 2010 by admin
A group of scientists have demonstrated that specially engineered stem cells could be used to fights off AIDS, successfully testing the approach in mice engineered to develop immune systems similar to humans. The investigators started with the observation that a small group of people who are virtually immune to HIV have disabled CCR5 receptors on their immune cells–a door the virus uses to infect the cells. The scientists engineered stem cells with the ‘door’ essentially locked, then inserted them into the mice, where they developed into immune cells that were able to guard the mice against HIV.
Continue reading ‘Specially Engineered Immune Cells Ward off AIDS’
July 14th, 2010 by admin
Chang Lu and his chemical engineering research group at Virginia Tech have discovered how to “greatly enhance” the delivery of DNA payloads into cells. The description of their work will be featured on the cover of Lab on a Chip, the premier journal for researchers in microfluidics. Lu’s ultimate goal is to apply this technique to create genetically modified cells for cancer immunotherapy, stem cell therapy and tissue regeneration.
Continue reading ‘New Spin on DNA Delivery: Enhanced Delivery Method of DNA Payloads into Cells’
July 9th, 2010 by admin
For someone with a severe, incurable lung disorder such as cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung transplant may be the only chance for survival. Unfortunately, it’s often not a very good chance. Matching donor lungs are rare, and many would-be recipients die waiting for the transplants that could save their lives.
Continue reading ‘Scientists Grow New Lungs Using ‘Skeletons’ of Old Ones’
July 8th, 2010 by admin
Building on research work undertaken in Germany, City of Hope investigators near LA have used modified stem cells loaded with gene sequences to fight off HIV. And the scientists in the study say that the work points to a possible cure for the dread virus, which has killed millions of people around the world.
Continue reading ‘Antiviral Stem Cell Squad Dispatched to Fight Deadly HIV’
July 6th, 2010 by admin
A new, $50 million biomedical research lab has been completed at George Mason University near Washington D.C. and is being ramped up to study new therapies for infectious diseases–including a range of potential bioterror weapons. Once the 52,000-square-foot facility is licensed and fully operational in a few months, 50 people will be on site to handle the R&D work on infectious diseases as well as anthrax, plague, influenza and Rift Valley fever. It’s one of 13 biocontainment facilities that have been built with federal funds, and it features some state-of-the-art security systems as well as an air purification system that is designed to filter out any pathogens.
Continue reading ‘New Bio-terror Lab Will Target Infectious Disease Therapies’
July 5th, 2010 by admin
While the overall economy may be flagging, Maryland says that its biotech industry is booming. And the governor wants to keep the momentum going with a few new industry incentives. Gov. Martin O’Malley told reporters that the biotech industry added more than a thousand jobs in the last three months; that’s 10 percent of the state’s total tally of new jobs. And he touted a report from Battelle Technology Partnership Practice claiming that the state’s biotech industry has been expanding aggressively for the last several years.
Continue reading ‘MD Governor Touts a Booming Biotech Biz, New Jobs’
July 2nd, 2010 by admin
Craig Venter has never been reluctant to credit himself for a lead role in sequencing the human genome. And he’s certainly not the least bit shy about placing a high value on the overall significance of the work. “I think it’s far more important than walking on the Moon; not much has happened since walking on the Moon,” he tells the BBC on the tenth anniversary of the grand achievement, which took 2,000 scientists more than 10 years and $2.7 billion to accomplish.
Continue reading ‘Importance of Human Genome Sequencing Still Debated – 10 Years Later’
June 22nd, 2010 by admin
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature.
Continue reading ‘Stem Cells Used to Create Abnormal Heart Cells’
June 17th, 2010 by admin
The scramble to come up with a faster and cheaper way to sequence a genome just got a credible new contender which aims to do the job for the bargain basement rate of $30. The first time scientists sequenced a human genome, the price tag hit $3 billion. That price point has quickly plunged to about $20,000, putting sequencing genomes for the purposes of drug discovery work within the reach of biopharma companies. But this new company, a spinoff from Harvard University dubbed GnuBio, says the trick to bringing sequencing within reach of most people on the planet revolves around deciphering fragments of DNA from droplets streaming through a tiny tube.
Continue reading ‘Genome Sequencing for $30 – A Harvard Spin-off Promise’
June 11th, 2010 by admin
Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals has hauled in a $45 million C round–a hefty chunk of cash that will open a development runway stretching out up to two-and-a-half years. Over that time, CEO Guy Macdonald says the company will put its technology for developing a better breed of tetracycline antibiotics to the clinical development test, taking a lead program–TP-434–through Phase II and ushering two more into the clinic. By the end of this stretch, the biotech should be able to position itself for a collaboration deal and possibly even an IPO.
Continue reading ‘Tetraphase Hauls in $45M to Back Antibiotic Work’
