Month: April 2013
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Surgical Agents Developed for Biopsies in Confined Spaces
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore created and tested microscopic devices powered by body heat that collect tissue samples from patients for biopsies. A team led by Johns Hopkins physician Florin Selaru and engineer David Gracias published its findings in the April issue of the journal Gastroenterology, as well as the 25 January issue…
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Oregon Health, Intel Partner on Genome Analysis Computing
Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and Intel Corporation are developing new computing technologies to increase the speed and precision of analyzing a patient’s genome, while reducing their time and cost. Financial aspects of the multi-year collaboration were not disclosed. The agreement calls for engineers and scientists from Oregon Health and Intel to develop…
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Video Game Adapted, Tested as Lazy Eye Treatment in Adults
Vision researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with colleagues from China and New Zealand, adapted the video game Tetris in a treatment for adults with amblyopia, a condition commonly known as lazy eye. Ophthalmology professor Robert Hess and colleagues reported their findings in today’s issue of the journal Current Biology (paid subscription required). Amblyopia…
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European Researchers to Develop Lab Cancer Bio-Model
Researchers in the U.K. and Switzerland are building a simulated environment to grow cancer cells in the lab for a better understanding of the way cancer cells develop and spread. The CANBUILD project draws faculty from Queen Mary, University of London — including the principal investogator Frances Balkwill — as well as colleagues from Cancer…
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Solar Nanoscale Protein Filter Cleans Antibiotics from Water
Engineers at University of Cincinnati in Ohio developed a nanoscale filter powered by sunlight that can clean biochemical compounds, such as antibiotics, from lakes and rivers. Environmental engineering professor David Wendell and Ph.D. candidate Vikram Kapoor published their findings online last week in the journal Nano Letters (paid subscription required). The presence of antibiotics from…
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Early Trial Shows Arthritis Drug Can Treat Dry Eye Disease
Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital, Brigham and Women’s hospital, and Harvard Medical School, found eye drops made of anakinra, a biologic agent to treat arthritis, could safely reduce symptoms associated with dry eye disease. The team led by Mass Eye and Ear ophthalmologist and immunologist Reza Dana published its findings yesterday in the…
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Low Cost Soft-Touch Robotic Sensor Circuits Commercialized
Computer scientists at Harvard University developed and are taking to market circuits for robotic devices and potentially other electronic products that can sense the slightest application of pressure. The team led by Ph.D. candidate Leif Jentoft and postdoctoral fellow Yaroslav Tenzer in Harvard’s Biorobotics Laboratory started a company to commercialize the technology, and are licensing…
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Venture Funding Declines in Q1, Health Companies Buck Trend
Venture capital funding in the U.S. declined in the first quarter of 2013, continuing a trend begun in 2011, but companies in the health care sector, particularly those based on scientific discovery, played a prominent role in the quarter’s venture transactions. VentureSource, a service of financial publishers Dow Jones, released the first quarter data today.…
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On the road again [Update: Or maybe not]
Update: 18 April 2013: Because of monstrous thunderstorms in the Midwest, our flights today were cancelled, so we’ll be back to posting this afternoon. 17 April: We’ll be traveling for the next two days, so there will be no Science Business posts until next Monday, 22 April. * * *
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Forum: Focus Research Funding on Scientists Not Science
Elazer Edelman, a health sciences and technology professor at MIT called for a different funding formula during tight economic times that finances scientists rather than big scientific initiatives. Edelman made his remarks at a forum today on biomedical innovation in Washington, D.C. put on by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He also…