Category: New products
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University Spin-Off Develops Bone Repair Technology
20 January 2015. A materials science research center and university spin-off company in Ireland are developing a technology using natural materials to repair bones in people and animals. The bone-repair technology is a product of Ireland’s Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (Amber) center at Trinity College in Dublin and SurgaColl Technologies in Cork, a spin-off…
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Trial Testing Gene Therapy for Rare Eye Disorder
20 January 2015. An early-stage clinical trial is underway testing a gene-repair therapy for choroideremia, a rare progressive genetic eye disorder that leads to blindness. The trial, conducted at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia began enrolling its first patients, according to Spark Therapeutics, also of Philadelphia, the biotechnology company leading the study. Choroideremia is associated with…
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New Process Expands Samples for Microscope Magnification
16 January 2015. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a process for expanding the size of tissue samples that makes possible high resolution images with ordinary laboratory materials and microscopes. The team led by MIT bioengineering professor Ed Boyden published its findings yesterday in the online journal Science Express (paid subscription required). Microscopes have…
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DNA Tools Being Devised to Determine Physical Appearance
15 January 2015. A genetics professor in Indiana is developing forensics techniques to determine physical appearance characteristics of people from samples of their DNA. The work of Susan Walsh, in the biology department at Indiana University – Purdue University in Indianapolis is funded by a $1.1 million grant from National Institute of Justice, a division…
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Trial Testing RNA Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Update: 15 January 2015. Comments on the article are offered at the end of the main text. 14 January 2015. A clinical trial is underway testing safety and effectiveness of synthetic RNA treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease affecting primarily males. The treatments are developed by Sarepta Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company in…
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Trial Shows Synthetic Insulin Reduces Alzheimer’s Symptoms
9 January 2015. A clinical trial shows a synthetic form of insulin delivered with a nasal spray can improve memory functions of people with mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s disease. Results of the study led by gerontology professor Suzanne Craft of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina appear in an advance…
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Computer Model Predicts Bacteria Mutations, Aids Drug Design
2 January 2014. Researchers at Duke University and University of Connecticut wrote a mathematical model with open-source software that predicts mutations in bacteria to help design treatments for bacteria resistant to antibiotics. A team of computer scientists and biochemists from the two universities published their findings on 31 December 2014 in Proceedings of the National…
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Project Aims to Boost Ebola Drug Production
31 December 2014. A research team at University of California in Davis aims to find new ways of boosting production capacity of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp. The 1-year project, led by UC-Davis chemical engineering and materials science professor Karen McDonald, is funded by a $200,000 rapid-response grant from National Science Foundation. The current Ebola…
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Pump Device Shown to Deliver Parkinson’s Drug
30 December 2014. A clinical trial testing a pump worn by Parkinson’s disease patients shows the device can continuously deliver drugs under the skin to treat severe forms of the disorder, which today requires a surgical implant. The pump made by NeuroDerm Ltd. in Rehovot, Israel is designed to overcome shortcomings of oral forms of…
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Vaccine Combo Produces Ricin, Anthrax Antibodies
29 December 2014. Tests of a vaccine to prevent ricin and anthrax poisoning shows it produces long-lasting antibodies against both toxins, making a single vaccine against both bioterror agents more feasible. Results of a study by biotechnology company Soligenix Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey are reported in the January 2015 issue of the journal Vaccine…