-
FDA Approves Trial Testing Stem Cells for Brain Injuries
Updated 10 June 2016. Gordie Howe died today at age 88. 18 May 2016. A company developing stem cell therapies says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its application for a clinical trial testing stem cell treatments for traumatic brain injury. The intermediate-stage trial, sponsored by Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc. is part of a research…
-
Fast, Inexpensive Test for Water Bacteria Developed
18 May 2016. A team at York University in Toronto designed a water-testing kit connecting to a smartphone that makes testing for water-borne bacteria faster and less expensive. The Mobile Water Kit, from the lab of engineering professor Sushanta Mitra, is described in a recent issue of the journal Analyst (free registration required). Developers of the…
-
ReWalk, Wyss Institute Developing Soft Exoskeleton Robot
17 May 2016. A robotics company is licensing technology from a bioengineering lab at Harvard University to develop systems for people needing help with mobility, such as those with multiple sclerosis or suffering a stroke. Financial aspects of the deal between ReWalk Robotics Ltd. in Yokneam Ilit, Israel and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired…
-
Braeburn to Continue N. Carolina Facility Despite HB2
17 May 2016. Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, a developer of treatments for opioid addiction, will continue with its plans to build a research and manufacturing facility in North Carolina, despite its opposition to a recent state law overturning local ordinances prohibiting discrimination against the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) individuals. The company says the state’s Attorney…
-
Zika Virus Cloned for Drug, Vaccine Development
17 May 2016. Researchers in Texas produced a genetically-engineered clone of the Zika virus to provide a testing platform for developers of diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments for the growing outbreak. The team from University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, led by geneticist Pei-Yong Shi, reported its findings yesterday in the journal Cell Host and Microbe.…
-
Biogen, UPenn Partner in $2B Gene Therapy Research Deal
16 May 2016. The biotechnology company Biogen is collaborating with University of Pennsylvania’s medical school on research into gene therapies and editing, with payments to the university totaling as much as $2 billion. The partnership will fund research in the labs of University of Pennsylvania medical professors James Wilson and Jean Bennett, who study gene…
-
Smartphone App Helps Deal with Negative Moods
13 May 2016. A smartphone app created at two university psychology departments in the U.K. was shown to reduce the intensity of negative moods among its users. The team from University of Liverpool and University of Manchester reported its findings in the May 2016 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry Open. The app, called…
-
Ingestible Robot Designed for Stomach Objects, Wounds
13 May 2016. An engineering team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a tiny robotic device for swallowing into the stomach to remove foreign objects and repair wounds. Researchers that include team members at University of Sheffield and University of York in the U.K., as well as Tokyo Institute of Technology, will describe the device…
-
Collaborations Study Microbiome in Cancer, Metabolic Disease
12 May 2016. The biopharmaceutical company Seres Therapeutics is sponsoring research into the role of gut microbes in cancer and metabolic disorders, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and University of Pennsylvania. Financial ]aspects of the agreements between Seres, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Memorial Sloan Kettering and Penn were not disclosed. Seres Therapeutics discovers and…
-
Portable Genome Device to Combat Wildlife Trafficking
12 May 2016. A handheld device for analyzing DNA can be used on the scene to identify products with endangered wildlife, to help stop poachers and smugglers of those species. A team from University of Leicester in the U.K. that devised this solution is the recipient of a $10,000 prize in the Wildlife Crime Tech…