Month: November 2013
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Taking a Break
Science and Enterprise is taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday and the following two weeks, while we travel and recharge our intellectual batteries. We’ll be back to regular posting on 17 December. For those in the U.S., enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and safe travels. * * *
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Injectable Therapy for Rotator Cuff Injuries in Development
Biomedical engineers at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are developing a material to be injected into torn rotator cuff tendons, a common sports injury, to speed their healing. The five-year project is led by Georgia Tech’s biomedical engineering professor Johnna Temenoff and funded by a $1 million grant from National Institute of Arthritis and…
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Start-Up Licenses UMass Cancer Immunotherapy Technology
Agalimmune Ltd., a new start-up enterprise in London, U.K. and Irvine, California, licensed research discoveries from University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester to develop treatments for solid tumors that harness the power of the patient’s immune system. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. The technology licensed from UMass, called Alphaject by the…
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Planet Labs Launches Two More Earth Imaging Satellites
Planet Labs, a geoscience and data analytics company in San Francisco, launched two more earth imaging satellites in its Dove series, designed to demonstrate the company’s technologies. The satellites, Dove 3 and Dove 4, were launched as payloads on a Russian Dnepr rocket. The company launched Dove 1 and Dove 2 into orbit in April…
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Immunotherapy Shown Effective in Brain Tumor Animal Test
Researchers at University of Zurich in Switzerland tested a therapy in lab mice that harnesses the immune system to fight glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The team led by Zurich immunologist Burkhard Becher reported its findings yesterday online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (paid subscription required) and seeks commercial partners for accelerated…
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Graphic Labels Reduce Smoking More Than First Thought
Public health researchers at University of Illinois in Chicago and University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada found graphic warnings on cigarette packs can reduce smoking to a greater extent than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimated two years ago. The team led by Chicago’s Jidong Huang published its findings online earlier this month in…
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Genome Editing Start-Up Secures $43M in First Round Funds
The Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up Editas Medicine, developing therapies based on new research in genome editing, gained $43 million in its first financing round. The funding was led by venture companies Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Third Rock Ventures, with participation from Partners Innovation Fund, the venture funding arm of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and…
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Nanoparticles, Ultrasound Offer Option to Insulin Injections
Biomedical engineers at North Carolina State University in Raleigh developed a system of long-term insulin delivery for patients with diabetes, which tests in lab animals show can regulate blood glucose levels without painful injections. The team led by NC State engineering professor Zhen Gu published its findings online earlier this week in the journal Advanced…
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Neurotherapies Require Collaboration, Team Science, Big Data
In a briefing today on Capitol Hill, University of Pennsylvania biomedical engineer and neurologist Brian Litt outlined requirements for harnessing promising research for patients suffering from brain disorders. The briefing in Washington, D.C. was organized by the journal Science Translational Medicine and its publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science. Litt, who is on…
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New Process Speeds 3-D Printing of Multiple Materials
Engineers at University of Southern California in Los Angeles developed a new, faster technique for three-dimensional printing of objects made with multiple materials. Industrial engineering professor Yong Chen and colleagues from USC described their process yesterday at a meeting of the engineering organization ASME in San Diego. Despite the promise and potential of 3-D printing…