Month: November 2010
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Researchers Discover Workings of Anti-Parasitic Drug
Scientists have determined the way an anti-parasitic drug kills the Brugia malayi worms (illustrated right) brought on by the filarial diseases river blindness and elephantiasis, a discovery that took decades of research. The diseases afflict about 140 million people worldwide, doing much of their damage in equatorial Africa. Charles Mackenzie, a professor of veterinary pathology…
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Student, Company Produce Nanotech for Solar Cells
A collaboration between a University of Copenhagen Ph.D. candidate in Denmark and nearby solar technology company SunFlake A/S produced a discovery of using nanotechnology to improve the efficiency of solar cells and other nanoscale electronics. Nanowires are chains of single crystals a few nanometers across (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter) with unique…
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Survey: U.K. Businesses Benefit from Academic Collaboration
Improving business performance is the main focus for companies collaborating with universities, rather than technological innovation, according to results of surveys of businesses and academic institutions released today. The surveys were conducted by the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.…
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Institutions, Companies Form Psychiatric Trial Database
An international academic-industry collaboration brings together data on 23,401 anonymous patients from 67 trials on 11 compounds in over 25 countries, to form the largest database of clinical trial data ever created in psychiatric research. The project known as NEWMEDS — Novel Methods leading to NeW MEdications in Depression and Schizophrenia — is led by…
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Fuels Developer Claims Large-Scale Hydrogen from Algae
OriginOil Inc. in Los Angeles, California, a developer of a technology to transform algae into renewable fuels, says it has used solar energy to produce hydrogen from algae at a level comparable to conventional photovoltaic solar panels. The company used its Hydrogen Harvester device to generate the hydrogen. The device, according to the company, achieved…
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Economic Model Computes Value of Workplace Flu Shots
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania developed an economic model to calculate costs and benefits of employers providing flu vaccinations as an employee benefit. The team from the university’s Graduate School of Public Health showed employers can save substantial funds offering vaccinations, and the sooner in the flu season the shots are offered…
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Mass. Biotechs Give Postdocs a Look at Business
The business Web site Xconomy today tells about a year-old program for postdoctoral researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston that gives postdocs a first-hand look at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In Xconomy, Sylvia Pagán Westphal tells about Mass. General’s Post Doc Industry Experience Program. Westphal says there are some 1,100 labs affiliated with Mass.…
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Patent Awarded for Engineered Soybean to Control Parasite
A Kansas State University research team in Manhattan, Kansas received a patent for a genetically engineered soybean plant that aims to control a devastating parasite causing millions of dollars in crop damage each year. The engineered soybean plant was developed by four current or former K-State faculty: Harold Trick, Timothy Todd, Michael Herman, and Judith…
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GE Plans $500 Million R&D Investment in China
General Electric Company plans to invest another $500 million in China for research and development, including regional R&D hubs to serve the Chinese market. GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt announced the investment today, as part of a $2 billion plan that includes joint ventures in technology, energy, financial services, and transportation. Immelt (pictured left)…
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Fast Food Wrapper Chemicals Likely Migrating to Humans
Scientists at University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada have found that chemicals used to line fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are probably migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood. The chemicals, called perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of…