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Technique Devised for Lowest Greenhouse Emissions Routing
Engineers from University at Buffalo in New York have developed a technique to route drivers to their destinations while minimizing their cars’ greenhouse gas emissions. The study involved simulations of traffic in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region, but could be applied to today’s GPS systems in the near future, according to the researchers. Buffalo engineering professor…
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Clinical Trial Tests New Cancer Radiation Treatment
A clinical study by Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, Canada is testing a new form of radiation therapy to treat cancerous tumors. The phase 2 trial aims to gauge effectiveness of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy or SABR on cancer patients in Canada and Europe. SABR delivers large concentrated doses of radiotherapy to precise areas,…
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GSK, University of Dundee Partner on Huntington’s Disease
University of Dundee in Scotland and the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will collaborate in research to tackle Huntington’s disease, an inherited brain disorder. The joint project is valued at more than £1 million ($US 1.6 million). Dundee medical professor Susann Schweiger, who has discovered a mechanism that controls production of the disease-causing protein involved in…
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Patent Awarded for Cell Life, Protein Production Technology
Immunomedics Inc., a pharmaceutical company in Morris Plains, New Jersey has been granted a U.S. patent for its discoveries that extend the lifetime of cell lines and improve production of therapeutic proteins. Patent number 8,076,140 — “Mammalian cell lines for increasing longevity and protein yield from a cell culture” — was issued yesterday by the…
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Stratolaunch Systems to Build Aircraft-Based Space Launcher
Stratolaunch Systems in Huntsville, Alabama announced plans to build a space launch aircraft and booster rocket with the capacity to replace the recently retired NASA space shuttle. The company, started by Microsoft founder Paul Allen, will partner with aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites, space vehicle developer Space Exploration Technologies, and aerospace engineering company Dynetics. The entire…
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Natural Lightweight Material Exhibits Strength, Toughness
Researchers at Harvard University have developed a new biodegradable material with the strength and toughness of an aluminum alloy, but only half the weight. Postdoctoral bioengineering fellow, Javier Fernandez and professor Donald Ingber in Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering describe their discovery in the advance online issue of the journal Advanced Materials (paid…
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Biotech Secures $20 Million in Early Stage Financing
ImmusanT Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts has received $20 million in early stage financing to develop its therapy and diagnostic tools for celiac disease. The funds from venture capital firm Vatera Healthcare Partners LLC are expected to support further research and development of the company’s Nexvax2 therapeutics and diagnostics to a proof-of-concept demonstration. ImmusanT’s Nexvax2 therapeutic…
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New Method Tests Natural Toxins to Help Wheat Battle Pest
A research team from Purdue University in Indiana and U.S. Department of Agriculture have devised a method of finding natural toxins to build wheat’s resistance to an insect pest. The researchers’ results appear online in advance of publication in the Journal of Insect Physiology (paid subscription required). Larvae from the Hessian fly attack and feed…
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Scientists Finding Problems Accessing Stem Cell Lines
A survey conducted by Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta of U.S. researchers working with stem cells suggests many scientists face road blocks, including rejected access, trying to acquire human embryonic stem cell lines. Results of the survey were published in the December issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required). The survey of…
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NSF Grant to Fund Smartphone App for Diabetes Control
A business and engineering team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts has received a $1.2 million grant to develop a smartphone application for people with advanced cases of diabetes. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration between Worcester’s Healthcare Delivery Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, also in Worcester.…