Science and Enterprise

Category: New products

  • Trial Shows Safety of Engineered Gene Therapy

    In an early-stage clinical trial, researchers at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill have demonstrated the safety of creating a genetically-engineered virus to treat a form of muscular dystrophy. The findings of pharmacologist Jude Samulski (pictured left) and colleagues are reported online in the journal Molecular Therapy; paid subscription required. With gene therapy, a…

  • Algorithm Predicts Auto Traffic Intersection Violators

    Aerospace engineers at MIT have developed an algorithm tested on real-life traffic data that predicts when an oncoming car is likely to run a red light at an intersection. The team’s research is expected to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems. Researchers from MIT’s Aerospace Controls Laboratory,…

  • Graphene-Based Nanotech Gas Detector Developed

    Engineers from the U.S. and China devised a foam substance made from graphene that is more sensitive in detecting potentially dangerous and explosive chemicals than current technologies. The researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang published their research in the journal Scientific Reports. The graphene-based…

  • Copper Compound Nanoparticles Advance Battery Electrodes

    Materials scientists at Stanford University in California have developed a new, longer-lasting battery electrode with crystalline nanoparticles of a copper compound. Their discovery, with implications for solar and wind energy storage on the power grid, is described this week in the journal Nature Communications (paid subscription required). According to the authors — materials science professor…

  • Liquid-Based Hydrogen Storage Material Developed

    Chemists at University of Oregon in Eugene have developed a liquid storage material for hydrogen that advances the prospect for hydrogen as a fuel that can replace gasoline. The Oregon researchers describe their findings online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (paid subscription required). A team led by materials science researcher Shih-Yuan Liu…

  • Genomics Testing Offered to Guide Cancer Treatments

    Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri now provides a test for mutations in 28 genes associated with cancer to help determine the best treatment for cancer patients. Genes in the test are expected to cover a variety of different tumors, including those from blood, lymph, lung, brain, bladder, kidney, skin, stomach, prostate and breast cancers.…

  • Process Developed for Delivering Appetite Control Hormone

    Researchers at Syracuse University in New York and Murdoch University in Australia have devised a method for binding an appetite-suppressing hormone to vitamin B12, a key step needed for delivering the hormone in gum or tablet form. Their process is described online in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (paid subscription required). Syracuse chemistry professor Robert…

  • Genetically Altered Algae Increases Biomass for Biofuels

    An Iowa State University biologist has developed a process for genetically altering a strain of algae to increase its biomass content by up to 80 percent. This discovery, which can lead to enhanced production of biofuels from non-food sources, is available for licensing from the university’s technology transfer office. Martin Spalding (pictured right), leads a…

  • University Develops, Licenses Autonomous Robotics Technology

    Engineers and computer scientists at Harvard University have developed small, inexpensive robots with algorithms that enable the devices to work on their own or together in groups. The technology for Kilobots, as they are called, has been licensed to a Swiss company for manufacture and marketing. The tiny robots, about the size of a quarter…

  • Industry, Academic Team Creates Ultralight Material

    Researchers at HRL Laboratories LLC in Malibu California, with colleagues from California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Irvine, have developed an ultralight material with a density of 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter (mg/cc). The substance, about 100 times lighter than Styrofoam packing material, is described in the November 18 issue of…