Science and Enterprise

Tag: biotechnology

  • Computer Model Helps Pinpoint Cancer Cell Targets

    Medical and computer scientists in Israel and the U.K. have developed a computer model of cancer cell metabolism, which can help predict which drugs are lethal to cancer cells. Their work was part of a research study reported online last week in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). Many cancer drugs are now designed to…

  • Consortium Awarded Grant for Bioweapon Defense

    A collaboration of universities, private company, and national lab have received a $2.4 million grant from National Institutes of Health to develop tools that detect and protect against biological weapon attacks. The grant, from NIH’s Partnerships for Biodefense Program, will fund work by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, University of Texas Medical Branch, University…

  • FDA Gives Accelerated Approval to Lymphoma Drug

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) developed by Seattle Genetics of Bothell, Washington, to treat two types of lymphoma. FDA approved Adcetris under an accelerated review procedure for promising drugs to treat serious diseases. Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the cells that play a role in…

  • NIH Approves Four More Embryonic Stem Cell Lines

    BioTime Inc. in Alameda, California says it has received approval from National Institutes of Health (NIH) for adding four human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines to the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry. Two of the company’s hES cell lines are already listed in that registry. All of the lines were developed by Biotime’s subsidiary ES…

  • Clinical Trial Shows Drug Improves Heart Muscle Functions

    A clinical trial conducted by University of Hull in the U.K. shows the drug omecamtiv mercabil improves the heart’s ability to pump blood in heart failure patients. The findings by Hull cardiology professor John Cleland and colleagues appear in the 20 August issue of the journal The Lancet (paid subscription required). Omecamtiv mercabil is one…

  • Lab Develops Automated DNA Construction Software

    A team of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California has written a software package that they say streamlines the process of DNA construction. The software, known as j5, is available for free for non-commercial users. DNA construction, also known as DNA cloning or recombinant DNA technology, has become a critical tool of modern…

  • USDA, Energy Fund Research to Accelerate Biofuel Crops

    The U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million for up to three years for research on improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops. Energy’s Office of Science will provide $10.2 million in funding for eight projects, while USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)…

  • New Technology Found to Treat Broad Range of Viruses

    Scientists at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts have designed a class of therapies to identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus — from the common cold to Ebola — then kill those cells to terminate the infection. Their findings appear in the journal PLoS One. The technology targets a type…

  • Bacteria Metabolism Reversed to Produce High-Speed Biofuel

    A new method developed by researchers at Rice University in Houston turns simple glucose into biofuels and petrochemical substitutes by reversing a metabolic process called beta oxidation using genetically modified bacteria. Engineering professor Ramon Gonzalez and colleagues published their findings online in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The beta oxidation process is a basic…

  • Challenge Seeks Process for Low-Abundance Protein Measures

    A challenge at InnoCentive seeks a sample processing technology or process that will reduce the concentration of high-abundance proteins in serum and plasma samples. The competition has a prize of $30,000 and requires a written proposal. The deadline for entries is 1 October 2011. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company the conducts open-innovation crowd-sourcing…