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Univ Lab, Spin-Off Developing Drug from Turmeric
28 October 2015. A university biochemistry lab and spin-off enterprise developing drugs from plants are collaborating on a process for extracting a key ingredient for an anti-inflammatory compound from the common spice turmeric. The project, bringing together the lab of biochemistry professor David Gang at Washington State University and Botanisol LLC in Scottsdale, Arizona, is…
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Mobile App Collecting Placenta Health Data
27 October 2015. A new iPhone app allows women to report on the health of their placentas as their pregnancies develop, in a research study of placenta health to help reduce fetal death. The app is designed by researcher Harvey Kliman at Yale University medical school, director of the school’s reproductive and placental research unit.…
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Survey ends 20 November 2015
Updated 21 November 2015. The survey is now closed. Thank you for taking part. 26 October 2015. Our survey conducted with with researcher Paige Brown Jarreau ends this Friday, 20 November 2015. If you planned on taking part in the survey, please do so today. By participating, you’ll be helping me improve Science and Enterprise and…
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Gene Editing Licensed for Inherited Disease Treatments
26 October 2015. A Boston biotechnology company is licensing gene-editing technologies from a nearby start-up to design treatments for cystic fibrosis and inherited blood disorders, including sickle cell disease. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in Boston, received rights to techniques known as CRISPR-Cas9 in a deal that could bring CRISPR Therapeutics, founded in April 2014, as much as…
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Two Current Drugs Shown Also to Promote Hair Growth
23 October 2015. Research originally designed to study hair loss from an autoimmune disorder, uncovered two drugs now on the market that in lab tests show they may also regrow hair. Findings of the study led by molecular dermatology professor Angela Christiano at Columbia University in New York appear in today’s issue of the journal…
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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…