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Simple Blood Test Checks Sickle Cell Anemia Symptoms Risk
Researchers from MIT, Harvard, and two Boston hospitals have devised a blood test that assesses the risk a patient with sickle cell anemia will encounter severe symptoms of the disease. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required). The research team also evaluated the test’s potential as…
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Intel to Invest $100M in Automotive Electronics R&D
Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of semiconductor maker Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California has established a $100 million fund for investments in equipment, software, and service developers in the automotive industry. The new fund was one of several programs in the automotive sector announced by Intel, including an automotive innovation/product development center, expanded…
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NIH Grant to Fund R&D on Pain Meds With Fewer Side Effects
Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida has received a grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of National Institutes of Health (NIH), for research on compounds that lead to new pain medications without the side effects of opiate drugs. The five-year, $3.1 million award will support a Scripps team led by neuroscientist Laura Bohn…
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Avanir, Concert in Licensing Deal for Neurological Drugs
The biopharmaceutical company Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Aliso Viejo, California and the biotechnology firm Concert Pharmaceuticals in Lexington, Massachusetts have agreed on a deal that licenses Concert’s drug-development technology to design treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. While the companies did not disclose financial details, the industry Web site Xconomy says the deal can provide…
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Welcome New Science Business Sponsor
We like to think Science Business readers are sound in body as well as mind, which is why we are excited about Electric Yoga joining Science Business as a sponsor. You can find the Electric Yoga logo in the left-hand column on each Science Business page. Electric Yoga features a fine selection of apparel for…
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Patent Issued for Protein-Engineered Flu Vaccine Technology
Fraunhofer USA in Newark, Delaware has been assigned a U.S. patent for its technology that binds proteins with antigens to fight influenza. The Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent 8,124,103 on 28 February to three inventors, including Vidadi Yusibov, executive director of Fraunhofer USA. Yusibov also serves as the chief scientific officer of iBio Inc.,…
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Lab-on-a-Chip Developed to Test Malaria Treatments
Researchers at University of British Columbia in Vancouver and McGill University in Montreal, Canada have developed a miniature testing device that can analyze the changes in red blood cells caused by common malaria parasites. The work of UBC engineering professor Hongshen Ma and colleagues appear in the journal Lab on a Chip (paid subscription required).…
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FDA Issues New Label Requirements for Statins
The Food and Drug Administration has issued new labeling regulations for statins, a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels. When taken in combination with changes in diet and exercise, statins can can reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol in the blood. LDL cholesterol circulating in the blood can deposit on…
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Research Institute, XCOR Partner on Suborbital Test Flights
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio says it will conduct suborbital space missions with SwRI payload specialist astronauts flying aboard one or two test missions in the XCOR Aerospace Lynx Mark I vehicle. The flights are expected to test capabilities of the Lynx vehicle with actual researchers and research experiments aboard. About one year…
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Universal Vaccines Assessed for Widespread Flu Prevention
Researchers In the U.S. and the U.K. have developed a simulation model to assess the ability of universal vaccines — those that cover a number of disease variations — to prevent the spread of influenza. The team from Princeton University and Duke University, Imperial College London, National Institutes of Health, and Food and Drug Administration…