Science and Enterprise

Month: January 2011

  • Greener Process Developed for Producing Industrial Chemical

    A U.S.-U.K. chemistry and engineering team has developed a more environmentally friendly process for producing benzyl benzoate, a common chemical found in food additives, insecticides, fragrances, and used in other industrial chemical processes. The research was partially funded by the Dow Chemical Company and the findings are published in this week’s issue of the journal…

  • Disc Prosthesis Developed for Bad Backs in Dogs

    Humans and their canine best friends sometimes share a common affliction, back pain caused by slipped spinal discs. A doctoral candidate at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Swedish acronym SLU) has developed a disc prosthesis that can help dogs and maybe humans with slipped discs. Niklas Bergknut (pictured right) studied disc degeneration in dogs…

  • Bird-Flu Stopping Transgenic Chickens Produced

    Genetically modified chickens with molecular structures designed to prevent the spread of bird flu have been developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh University in the U.K. The study is published in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required). The team of scientists successfully developed genetically modified or transgenic…

  • U.K. Partnership to Test Cancer Drug Combinations

    Cancer Research U.K., a London-based organization supporting cancer research, has signed an agreement with the global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to take combinations of experimental cancer drugs into early phase clinical trials. The trials will be held at hospitals in the U.K. taking part in the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) Network. The agreement is expected…

  • Biofuel Developer to Build Commercial-Scale Ethanol Plant

    Mascoma Corporation, a biofuels company in Lebanon, New Hampshire, said today it has secured financing to build a commercial-scale refinery to produce wood-based cellulosic ethanol. The company says the plant, located in Kinross Charter Township, Michigan, will be one of the first of its kind. Mascoma Corporation was founded by Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman,…

  • U.S. Cancer Care Costs to Rise 39 Pct by 2020

    The cost of caring for U.S. cancer patients is expected to rise sharply in the 2010 to 2020 decade, according to an analysis published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The combination of population aging and rising expense rates are projected to push the cost for cancer care to $173 billion, a…

  • Partnership Will Develop Green Training for Pharmacists

    University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Practice Greenhealth (PGH) in Reston, Virgina will collaborate to develop and promote sustainability training for pharmacists, pharmacy students, and related professionals. PGH is a membership organization for institutions in health care that have made a commitment to environmentally-friendly practices. The university and PGH will develop training modules…

  • New Math Tools Developed to Monitor Power Grid

    University and company engineers have developed new mathematical tools for monitoring and measuring electrical power grid performance. The team that developed the tools — from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and Southern California Edison in Los Angeles — published their results in the online issue of IEEE…

  • U.K. University Hosts Environmental Tech Training Center

    The University of Leicester in the U.K. will soon launch a new €3.5 million ($4.54 million) research center to train environmental researchers in using current satellite technologies. The new European Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation Research Training or GIONET is set to begin on 18 January 2011. The center plans to train 14 researchers…

  • Sanofi-Aventis to Support UCSF Research Program

    The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-aventis said today it will take part in a program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) that encourages innovative biomedical research. Sanofi-aventis will be the first industry partner in UCSF’s Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research that awards funding to projects of potentially high impact and greater creativity. Sanofi-aventis will…