Month: April 2012
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Taking a Break
Science Business will be taking a break for a few days, with limited posting through Tuesday, 1 May. We will resume our regular schedule on Wednesday, 2 May. * * *
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Glare-Free Water-Resistant Nanotech Glass Developed
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new type of glass that eliminates almost all reflection and causes water to bounce off. The team of MIT graduate students, faculty, and former postdoc — now at North Carolina State University — published their findings earlier this month in the journal ACS Nano (paid subscription…
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Clinical Trial to Test Varied Hypertension Drug Dosage
Researchers at University of Rochester Medical Center in New York are testing if a lower dose of an common blood pressure medicine can provide the same benefits as a standard dose in people with mild hypertension. The new clinical trial is funded with a $1.9 million grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute,…
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DNA Bar Code Identifiers Developed for Species Tracking
Botanists at University of Bonn, with researchers from 10 other German institutions, are devising a system of standard identifiers based on DNA sequencing to identify plant and animal species more efficiently. The German Barcode of Life (GBOL) project is coordinated by the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn. “In the DNA of living beings,…
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White House Issues Outline for Bioscience-Based Economy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House today released a national Bioeconomy Blueprint that it says will harness biological research to address national priorities. The plan outlines actions to be undertaken by federal agencies. No mention is made of new legislation, although the administration’s latest budget submission identified as a priority…
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Start-Up Commercializing Genetic Microfluidic Chip
Aquila Diagnostic Systems in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is taking to market a technology that collects small blood samples on a microfluidic chip for multiple genetic tests. The technology, now in prototype, was developed at University of Alberta, also in Edmonton, and licensed to Aquila for commercialization when the company was formed in 2009. The chip…
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Damage, Security Sensors Added to New Bridge Construction
Engineers at Iowa State University in Ames have added gauges and sensors to detect for damage on a reconstructed bridge in Iowa Falls, some 50 miles north of Ames. The project is serving as a prototype for similar systems with other bridge construction projects in the state. The project involves Iowa State’s Bridge Engineering Center,…
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Patent Issued on Antibody for Brain, Spinal Cord Treatments
Lpath Inc., a biotechnology company in San Diego, has been awarded a patent for its monoclonal antibody against lysophosphatidic acid, a factor in neurological disorders such as traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Patent 8,158,124 was issued last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to four inventors, including Lpath’s chief scientist Roger Sabbadini,…
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Vibrating Steering Wheel Helps Maintain Driver Attention
Research at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and AT&T Labs in Florham Park, New Jersey reveals that a vibrating steering wheel helps keep a driver’s eyes safely on the road by providing an additional means to convey directions from a car’s navigation system. The team’s findings will be presented in June at the International Conference on…
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Government-Industry Consortium Selects U.K. Cereals Studies
A committee of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) selected nine new research projects for funding that involve the U.K.’s main cereal crops: oilseed rape, barley and wheat. The funds for the research total some £4 million ($6.45 million) from Crop Improvement Research Club, a consortium of BBSRC, Scottish government, and 14 private…