Category: New products
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Company, Institute Partner on Cancer Drug Candidate Catalog
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and Reaction Biology Corporation in Malvern, Pennsylvania have compiled an index of 178 candidate drugs capable of blocking the activity of one or more of 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved with cancer. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Biotechnology, and are also scheduled for publication…
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Open-Source Software Models Human Muscle Movements
A software package called OpenSim, developed by biomedical engineers at Stanford University in California, enables researchers and clinicians to simulate movements of human muscles. A participatory exhibit developed around OpenSim is now open at The Leonardo, a new Salt Lake City science and technology museum. OpenSim builds musculo-skeletal models used in research on ergonomics, rehabilitation,…
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Synthesized Methods Developed for Anti-Coagulant Drugs
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill have developed a new method for producing the anti-coagulant drug fondaparinux that is purer, faster, and less expensive. Their findings, which the authors say offer a template for the discovery of other drugs, appear in the 28 October issue…
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Utah Engineering Program Develops Paraglider for Disabled
The University of Utah’s Ergonomics and Safety Program is partnering with an organization for paragliding and hang-gliding by the disabled to develop a paraglider that paraplegics can fly on their own. The program, part of the university’s engineering department, produced the Phoenix — that had its maiden flight this summer — with the organization Able…
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Students Engineer Bread Yeast to Yield More Nutrients
Undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have genetically engineered yeast cells used in making bread to produce more beta carotene. The project that the students call VitaYeast is the university’s entry in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) contest held 5-7 November at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yeast helps make bread rise, but…
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Blood Pressure Meds at Bed Time Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Researchers at University of Vigo in Spain have found that taking blood pressure medicines at bed time appears to reduce risk of heart disease as well as keep blood pressure under control. They describe their research online this week in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (paid subscription required). Hypertension affects about one-third…
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Stretchable Sensory Material Created with Carbon Nanotubes
Stanford University chemical engineers have developed a stretchable, transparent skin-like sensor that can be stretched to more than twice its original length and return to its original shape. The material — that can sense pressure from a firm pinch to thousands of pounds — is described online in the 23 October issue of the journal…
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FDA Approves Advance of ALS Stem Cell Trial
Neuralstem Inc. in Rockville, Maryland says the Food and Drug Administration has approved the progression of a clinical trial to broaden treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with neural stem cells. Based on the FDA’s approval, the trial at Emory University in Atlanta can expand stem cell transplant region for treating ALS, also known as…
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Online Resource Helps Responders Identify Chemical Hazards
An online tool, developed by a University of Virginia faculty member, will help emergency medical staff and other first responders identify more quickly the group of chemicals causing patients to become ill. Mark Kirk, a professor of emergency medicine with the University of Virginia Health System, led development of the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management…
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Genetics Identified for Bed Bug Insecticide Resistance
Researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg have discovered the genetic mechanisms that bolster bed bugs’ recent resistance to current insecticides. The entomologists and other life scientists published their findings in the 19 October issue of the online journal PLoS One. Bed bugs in the past few years have developed a resistance to pyrethroids, a class…