Science and Enterprise

Month: September 2011

  • Microwave Technology Adapted to Cut Energy Waste

    Researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis have adapted technology similar to the familiar microwave oven to improve methods for capturing wasted heat and turn it into electric power. A team led by materials scientist Mas Subramanian published its findings online in the journal Materials Research Bulletin (paid subscription required). Subramanian and colleagues used a…

  • Superbug Therapy Based on University Research in Development

    MGB Biopharma, a biotechnology company in Glascow, U.K., is developing a new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including MRSA and Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff.) bugs. The company licensed the discoveries from labs at University of Strathclyde, also in Scotland, that they are developing into oral and IV -administered drugs. C. Diff. is a bacterium that…

  • University Licenses Cancer Drug Screening Technology

    A technology developed at University of Colorado in Boulder to screen drug compounds for potential cancer treatments has been licensed by the university to a Boulder start-up company. Suvica Inc. will develop the patented drug discovery technology into a marketable product. The drug discovery processes licensed to Suvica use a genetically modified Drosophila fruit fly…

  • Mayo Clinic, Korean Biotech to Collaborate on ALS Research

    Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida and SK Biopharmaceuticals in Seoul, South Korea have agreed to develop new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The collaboration will center around the work of Mayo Clinic’s Leonard Petrucelli, who heads the neuroscience research department at the Jacksonville campus. ALS results in…

  • Toxicity to Human Cells of Nanotubes, Nanowires Investigated

    A research team at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island has found some nanoscale materials interact with human cells much like asbestos fibers, making the materials toxic. Their research on carbon nanotubes and gold nanowires appears online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid subscription required). The team led by Huajian Gao, professor of engineering found…

  • Laser Technology Developed to Detect Improvised Explosives

    Scientists at Michigan State University in East Lansing have developed a laser that in lab tests has shown the potential to detect roadside bombs, a destructive weapon encountered by American and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The team led by MSU chemistry professor Marcos Dantus published its findings in the current issue of the…

  • Medication Poisoning of Young Children Rising Sharply

    An analysis by researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center shows the number of young children hospitalized from a potentially toxic dose of medication has risen markedly in recent years. The findings by Randall Bond and colleagues from Cincinnati Children’s appear online in the Journal of Pediatrics. Bond and his team reviewed more than 453,000…

  • America Invents Act Signed Into Law

    President Obama signed into law today the America Invents Act at a high school in Alexandria, Virginia, not far from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The bill that passed the Senate earlier this month and House of Representatives in June, changes patent procedures to recognize parties who are first to file their applications, a procedure…

  • Grant Awarded for Study of Blood Test to Spot Concussions

    Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio have received a grant from National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the effectiveness of a blood test that identifies concussions in college football players. Damir Janigro and Nicola Marchi of the Cleveland Clinic are the lead researchers on this study, in collaboration with Jeffrey Bazarian at the…

  • Smartphone Advance Can Improve Efficiency, Extend Battery

    Researchers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor have devised a more efficient “idle mode” for smartphones and Wi-Fi devices that reduces power use and can extend battery life. Computer science and engineering professor Kang Shin and doctoral student Xinyu Zhang will present their discovery, still in proof-of-concept stage, next week at the ACM International…