Tag: physical sciences
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ARPA-E Challenge Seeks Bio Energy Measurement Techniques
A new challenge on InnoCentive, sponsored by Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, is seeking new ideas for measuring the potential energy output of biofuel feedstocks, without harming the plant material. The competition, which has a maximum prize of $30,000, requires a written proposal and has…
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Large Genomic Study Finds New Rheumatoid Arthritis Targets
An international consortium of 70 institutions and companies combined genome-wide analyses with current drug databases to uncover new genomic targets for rheumatoid arthritis, and identify drugs for other diseases with the potential to treat the disorder. The team led by Robert Plenge of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute and Yukinori Okada from the…
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Sugar Beet Genome Sequenced, Human Impact on Species Noted
Geneticists and computer scientists in Germany, Spain, and Sweden sequenced the genome of the sugar beet, a plant contributing a large segment of the world’s sugar production. The study offers an analytical reference for advances in biotechnology with implications for agriculture and renewable energy. The team led by biology professor Bernd Weisshaar at Bielefeld University…
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Bayer Acquires Cancer Drug Developer Algeta for $2.9B
The global pharmaceutical company Bayer Group based in Germany is buying the specialty drug company Algeta ASA in Oslo, Norway for NOK 17.6 billion (USD 2.9 billion). Algeta, developer of a radium-based drug to treat prostate cancer, says its board of directors approved the sale, subject to confirmation by shareholders. Bayer and Algeta collaborated on…
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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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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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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…
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FDA Approves Sale of High-Throughput DNA Sequencing Systems
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday cleared for marketing high-throughput sequencing systems by Illumina Inc. in San Diego to analyze a person’s DNA. In a commentary on this approval in New England Journal of Medicine, FDA director Margaret Hamburg and National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins say, “Access to these data opens the…