Month: October 2015
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Gene Editing Boosts Red Blood Cell Output in Lab
23 October 2015. A research team developed a technique with stem cells and gene editing to increase lab production of red blood cells by 3 times, a process that could help people with rare blood types needing transfusions. The researchers led by pediatrics professor Vijay Sankaran at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School published…
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First Results Released from Lung Fibrosis Registry
22 October 2015. The first results from a registry of individuals with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis show most people in the group have limited lung function and show symptoms for about a year before the disease is diagnosed. These findings and other characteristics of people taking part in the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – PRospective Outcomes (IPF-PRO)…
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Trial Testing Aspirin to Prevent Cancer Recurrence
22 October 2015. A new late-stage clinical trial is underway in the U.K. testing the ability of a daily aspirin to prevent the recurrence of solid tumor cancers. The trial is financed by the advocacy group Cancer Research UK and National Institute for Health Research, a medical research funding agency. The study, led by oncologist…
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Gates Grant Funding Whooping Cough Antibody Test
21 October 2015. A protein engineering lab at University of Texas in Austin is evaluating the potential of an engineered antibody to prevent pertussis, also known as whooping cough, among newborn infants. The study and lab are led by chemical engineering professor Jennifer Maynard, who is testing the antibody under a $400,000 grant from the…
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Delivery Technique Devised to Cross Blood-Brain Barrier
21 October 2015. Medical researchers developed a technique that allows drugs for treating neurological disorders to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, a difficult obstacle up to now. The team led by ear, nose, and throat, or ENT, specialist Benjamin Bleier at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital and Harvard Medical School described its methods with lab mice…
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Immunotherapy Start-Up Gains $102M in Venture Funds
20 October 2015. A new enterprise founded by researchers in the U.S. and Europe that aims to provide personalized cancer therapies harnessing the immune system raised $102 million in its first round of venture financing. The company Gritstone Oncology — in San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts — says it plans to focus initially on developing…
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Evotec, Foundation Partner on Rare Juvenile Disease
20 October 2015. The drug discovery company Evotec AG and Beyond Batten Disease Foundation are collaborating on discovery of new drugs to treat juvenile Batten disease, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Financial details of the partnership were not revealed. Batten disease is a rare genetic condition of the nervous system that in most cases begins…
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Novartis Licensing Depression Therapy Technology
19 October 2015. Luc Therapeutics, a biotechnology company designing treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders, is licensing part of its technology to the pharmaceutical company Novartis to develop treatments for depression. Dollar amounts paid under the agreement to Luc Therapeutics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were not disclosed. Depression is a widespread condition, which when it becomes…
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Help Us Do Science
Updated 21 November 2015. The survey is now closed. Thank you for taking part. 19 October 2015. We’ve teamed up with researcher Paige Brown Jarreau to create a survey of Science and Enterprise readers. By participating, you’ll be helping me improve Science and Enterprise and contributing to the science of blog readership. For completing the survey, each participant…
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On the Road Again
15 October 2015. Science & Enterprise will be traveling today and Friday, so there will be no posts on either of those days. We will resume our regular posting on Monday, 19 October. * * *