Tag: chemistry
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Biotech Targets “Undruggable” Cancer Gene
9 November 2015. A biotechnology company says it plans to focus its technology platform on a cancer-causing gene previously considered beyond the direct reach of today’s cancer drugs. Warp Drive Bio, in Cambridge, Massachusetts told an American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Boston on Saturday the company plans to target the Ras oncogene, a…
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Compound Found to Reverse Lens Clouding in Cataracts
6 November 2015. A biochemical and medical research team discovered a steroid that when given as eye drops to mice, reverses the accumulation of protein formations in cataracts. Researchers from the labs of protein chemistry professor Jason Gestwicki at University of Michigan and ophthalmology professor Usha Andley at Washington University in St. Louis published their…
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Platelets Engineered to Deliver, Transcribe RNA
5 November 2015. A biochemistry lab at University of British Columbia developed a technique for supercharging blood platelets with genetic material, enabling these cells to deliver therapies through the blood stream. The team led by biochemist and molecular biologist Christian Kastrup published its findings this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (paid subscription required).…
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Technique Developed to Extend Peptide Lifetimes
3 November 2015. A pharmacy lab at University of the Pacific developed a technique for extending the longevity of peptides, short amino acid chains found in many biologic drugs. The discovery from the lab of pharmacy professor Mamoun Alhamadsheh is described in this month’s issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, and earlier in Nature Chemical…
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New Design Advances Lithium-Air Battery
30 October 2015. A research group at University of Cambridge in the U.K. unveiled a new design that meets some of the obstacles plaguing lithium-air batteries, considered a major improvement over lithium-ion batteries now used to power mobile devices, computers, and electric cars. The team from the lab of chemistry professor Clare Grey published its…
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Trial Underway Testing Breast Cancer Surgical Aid
29 October 2015. An early-stage clinical trial is recruiting participants to test a peptide that illuminates tumor cells to be removed in breast cancer surgery. The study is testing the experimental product made by Avelas Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company in La Jolla, California. The clinical trial is enrolling individuals with primary, non-recurring breast cancer,…
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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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Institute, GlaxoSmithKline ID Tuberculosis Candidates
13 October 2015. A biomedical research institute partnered with a lab backed by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to identify candidates for drugs that act on bacteria causing tuberculosis. The team from Center for Infectious Disease Research in Seattle and Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation, a lab in Spain sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, published its findings in a…
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Breakout Labs Adds Four Science-Based Start-Ups
6 October 2015. Breakout Labs, an incubator of new enterprises based on discoveries from academic science labs, is adding four more companies to its portfolio. The new additions include companies developing advanced materials and sensors to measure food freshness, as well as discovering new therapies for diseases associated with the aging process. Breakout Labs is…
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Self-Propelled Particles Designed to Stop Bleeding
2 October 2015. A biochemistry lab designed microscale particles that travel on their own through the body to stop heavy bleeding in trauma victims, surgery, and childbirth. Researchers at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada led by biochemistry and engineering professor Christian Kastrup, published their findings in today’s issue of the journal Science Advances.…