Category: New products
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Biotech Targets “Undruggable” Cancer Gene
9 November 2015. A biotechnology company says it plans to focus its technology platform on a cancer-causing gene previously considered beyond the direct reach of today’s cancer drugs. Warp Drive Bio, in Cambridge, Massachusetts told an American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Boston on Saturday the company plans to target the Ras oncogene, a…
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Compound Found to Reverse Lens Clouding in Cataracts
6 November 2015. A biochemical and medical research team discovered a steroid that when given as eye drops to mice, reverses the accumulation of protein formations in cataracts. Researchers from the labs of protein chemistry professor Jason Gestwicki at University of Michigan and ophthalmology professor Usha Andley at Washington University in St. Louis published their…
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Platelets Engineered to Deliver, Transcribe RNA
5 November 2015. A biochemistry lab at University of British Columbia developed a technique for supercharging blood platelets with genetic material, enabling these cells to deliver therapies through the blood stream. The team led by biochemist and molecular biologist Christian Kastrup published its findings this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (paid subscription required).…
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Wearable Asthma Trigger Detector in Development
4 November 2015. A wearable device that detects conditions triggering asthma attacks in children is being developed by a team of engineers and behavioral scientists. The four-year project brings together sensor designers at University of Maryland-Baltimore County and psychologists at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, funded by a $2 million grant from National Institute of…
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3-D Printing Devised for Blood Vessel Implants
3 November 2015. A medical and engineering team developed a technique for three-dimensional printing of blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients quickly to regenerated tissue. Researchers from Rice University in Houston and University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia published a description of their work in a recent issue of the journal Tissue Engineering Part C:…
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Artificial Kidney Implant Gains $6 Million Funding
3 November 2015. A collaboration of engineering and medical researchers is developing an implantable artificial kidney to reduce the need for dialysis in people with kidney failure awaiting a transplant. The four-year project combining teams from University of California in San Francisco with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, is funded by a $6 million grant from…
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Technique Developed to Extend Peptide Lifetimes
3 November 2015. A pharmacy lab at University of the Pacific developed a technique for extending the longevity of peptides, short amino acid chains found in many biologic drugs. The discovery from the lab of pharmacy professor Mamoun Alhamadsheh is described in this month’s issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, and earlier in Nature Chemical…
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Computer Model Devised to Predict Drug Side Effects
2 November 2015. A systems biology lab developed a prototype computer model that can test for potential side effects of drugs from an individual’s blood sample. The team led by bioengineering professor Bernhard Palsson at University of California in San Diego published its proof-of-concept results last week in the journal Cell Systems. Palsson and first…
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New Design Advances Lithium-Air Battery
30 October 2015. A research group at University of Cambridge in the U.K. unveiled a new design that meets some of the obstacles plaguing lithium-air batteries, considered a major improvement over lithium-ion batteries now used to power mobile devices, computers, and electric cars. The team from the lab of chemistry professor Clare Grey published its…
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Trial Underway Testing Breast Cancer Surgical Aid
29 October 2015. An early-stage clinical trial is recruiting participants to test a peptide that illuminates tumor cells to be removed in breast cancer surgery. The study is testing the experimental product made by Avelas Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company in La Jolla, California. The clinical trial is enrolling individuals with primary, non-recurring breast cancer,…