Month: February 2014
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Science-Based Enterprises: Great Ideas Beat Venture Capital
14 February 2014. Three entrepreneurs starting companies based on science described how they got their businesses off the ground, with ground-breaking science in many cases more important than a large stash of venture capital. San Diego entrepreneurs John Newsam, Irwin Jacobs, and Han Cao told of their start-up business experiences today at a session of…
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AAAS Pres: Science Drives Innovation, Economic Growth
13 February 2014. Phillip Sharp, professor of molecular biology at MIT and president of American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), underscored the tight connection between scientific advancement, entrepreneurship, and economic growth, in the opening plenary session of the AAAS annual conference in Chicago. Sharp described the way scientific discovery feeds the economic engines of…
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Bio-Inspired Cooperative Robotic Control System Developed
13 February 2014. Computer scientists and bio-engineers at Harvard University created a system inspired by termites that controls the work of autonomous robots in complex construction tasks. The team led by computer scientist Radhika Nagpal published its findings in the new issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required), and will also be presented at…
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Health Research Collaborative Adds Seven New Members
13 February 2014. Optum Labs, a partnership to increase sharing of solutions and data to improve health care, says seven more organizations from the private, university, and not-for-profit sectors became members of the collaboration. The new participants join current Optum Labs members Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, Mayo Clinic, and AARP. The Optum Labs…
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Ticket to Ride
12 February 2014. Starting tomorrow, Science & Enterprise will report directly from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Chicago. Of course, I need to get there first, which in today’s climate-changed weather will be something of a challenge. In the meantime, here’s a video (7 minutes) with some of…
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Start-Up Developing Gene Therapies Lands $45M in Early Funds
12 February 2014. Voyager Therapeutics, a new start-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts creating gene therapies for disorders of the central nervous system, gained $45 million in first-round financing. Third Rock Ventures, a venture capital company specializing in life science enterprises, provided the funds for the company founded by researchers at University of Massachusetts Medical School, University…
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Cancer Drugs Shown With Potential Against HIV-Related Fungus
11 February 2014. Medical researchers at University of Rochester in New York found two drugs treating breast cancer have properties that point to their potential as a treatment for Cryptococcus, a fungus causing meningitis in people with HIV/AIDS. The team led by Rochester’s Damian Krysan, with colleagues from Temple and Duke universities and University of…
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Belgium-U.S. Consortium Developing Lung Image Technology
11 February 2014. A group of companies and universities in Belgium and the U.S. are collaborating on an advanced imaging technology to spot signs of lung transplant rejection earlier in a patient’s recovery. Fluidda nv in Kontich, Belgium is leading the collaboration, with additive manufacturing company Materialise in Leuven, Belgium, and universities in Belgium (University…
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Engineered Hemp Delivers High Volume of Healthy Oleic Acid
10 February 2014. Biologists at University of York in the U.K. developed a new form of hemp plant that produces seeds with oil containing a high volume of oleic acid, a nutritious fatty acid like that found in olive oil. The team led by York’s Ian Graham, who heads the university’s biology department, published its…
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Trial Underway Testing Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy
10 February 2014. Aduro BioTech Inc. in Berkeley, California started treating ist first patients in an intermediate-stage clinical trial of immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer. The trial is expected to enroll 240 patients at 20 sites in the U.S. and Canada, and is still recruiting participants. Pancreatic cancer is often difficult to diagnose in its early…