Category: New products

  • Smartphone Biosensor Devised to Detect Toxins, Pathogens

    Engineers at University of Illinois in Urbana created a system harnessing an iPhone’s camera to turn the phone into a biosensor that can detect proteins, bacteria, viruses, and toxins. The team led by engineering professor and entrepreneur Brian Cunningham published its findings in a recent online issue of the journal Lab on a Chip (paid…

  • Inkjet Printing Process Devised for Graphene Circuits

    Materials scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois developed an ink made of a graphene solution that can print patterns for electronic circuits and maintain their conductivity even after folding. The team led by engineering professor Mark Hersam published its findings online in a recent issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (paid subscription required).…

  • Start-Up Creating Audio Technology from UC Davis Research

    A two year-old company spun-off from University California in Davis is designing a new type of audio experience based on research in the school’s engineering department. Dysonics Inc., located in San Francisco, was founded by three Davis engineering faculty members, bringing to market more than a decade of research on multi-dimensional audio from the university’s…

  • Clinical Trial Underway to Test MicroRNA Cancer Therapy

    Mirna Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company in Austin, Texas, recently began a clinical trial to test its lead candidate, MRX34 that simulates the tumor-suppression action of microRNA, as a therapy for cancer. The trial is an early-stage study mainly of MRX34’s safety with patients suffering from cancer of the liver or advanced or metastatic cancer…

  • New Contrast Dyes Improve Medical Images, Reduce Prep Time

    Chemistry researchers at University of Copenhagen in Denmark, with colleagues from two Texas universities, developed a new type of contrast dye for medical imaging that the inventors say cuts the time and labor needed for preparation. Their discoveries are described in a series of publications over the past five months, the most recent appearing in…

  • Preclinical Test Shows Vaccine Stops Cocaine Reaching Brain

    Medical researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York tested in primates a vaccine candidate against cocaine addiction, which showed the vaccine prevented cocaine from reaching the brain and inducing a dopamine high. The findings from the team led by genetic medical researcher Ronald Crystal, with colleagues from Weill Cornell, Columbia University, and Scripps…

  • Algorithm Identifies HIV Antibodies For Vaccine Design

    Biologists at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of National Institutes of Health, developed a mathematical model to highlight antibodies that neutralize viruses in people with HIV, which can help design a vaccine against HIV infection. The team from NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center, with colleagues from Columbia University and research institutes in…

  • Quality Check Technique Devised for Lithium-Ion Batteries

    Engineers at Purdue University in Indiana developed a method that can detect flaws in lithium-ion battery electrodes during their manufacture. The team led by mechanical engineering professor Douglas Adams and chemical engineering faculty James Caruthers will discuss its technique next month at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Mechanics near Chicago. Arrays of…

  • Antibiotic Resistance Biosensor Developed for Staph Bacteria

    Researchers at Auburn University in Alabama and Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi developed a bio-based sensor that can discriminate between strains of staph bacteria resistant and sensitive to antibiotics. The team led by Auburn veterinary medicine professor Vitaly Vodyanoy published its findings in the May 2013 issue of the online Journal of Visualized Experiments…

  • Silk, Cellulose Provide Useful Scaffold to Repair Cartilage

    Researchers at the universities of Bristol and Cambridge in the U.K. found natural silk and cellulose fibers effective as scaffolding to rebuild damaged cartilage with stem cells. The team led by Wa’el Kafienah in Bristol’s School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published its findings in a recent issue of the journal Biomacromolecules (paid subscription required).…