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International Team Completes Draft Sequence of Potato Genome
The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium (PGSC), a global group of universities and research institutes, has published a draft sequence of the potato genome. Their work appears in the current issue of the journal Nature. PGSC began in 2006 at Wageningen University & Research Centre in the Netherlands, and has grown to include 29 research groups…
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Solar Panels Resembling Ivy to be Installed at University
Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology (SMIT), a company in Brooklyn, New York, has developed solar panels that resemble ivy leaves and assembles them in arrays to cover a building’s walls. The first U.S. installation of SMIT’s solar array is, of course, a college campus: University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Solar Ivy, as SMIT calls…
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Challenge Seeks Method to Estimate Powder Flow
InnoCentive, in Waltham. Massachusetts, that conducts crowdsourcing contests for sponsoring companies, has posted a new challenge seeking a method to estimate the “flowability” of powder blends based on the physical properties of the mixture. The challenge has a prize of $20,000 and a deadline of 7 September 2011. Powders can be difficult materials for which…
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Adult Stem Cells Help Cardiac Function in Angina Patients
A clinical trial by researchers at Baxter International in Deerfield, Illinois and Northwestern University medical school in Chicago found injections of individuals’ own stem cells reduced angina episodes and improved exercise tolerance time in patients with chronic, severe angina who did not respond to other treatments. The results of the research appear online in the…
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Generic Drugs Can Generate Sharp Health Care Cost Reductions
Researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and CVS Caremark have found that expanded use of generic medications for chronic disease can significantly reduce the cost of preventive health care. Their findings appear in the July issue of the journal Health Affairs (paid subscription required). The study concludes that preventive health care…
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University Culture Impacts Research Commercialization
A Baylor University management professor in Waco, Texas finds research universities with an organizational climate that supports commercialization and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers are more likely to produce invention disclosures and patent applications. The findings by Baylor’s Emily Hunter and colleagues from University of Houston and University of California at Davis appeared in the…
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NIH Study to Research Health Effects of BP Oil Spill
A network of researchers funded by NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will evaluate potential harmful effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on reproduction and birth outcomes, the cardiorespiratory system, and behavior and mental health. University and community participants will study the level of potentially harmful contaminants in air, water, and seafood, and…
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Medical Center Commercializes Nanotech Cancer Treatment
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany now offers for selected patients a nanomedicine method for the treatment of recurrent brain tumors. The science underlying the nanotechnology-based cancer therapy was developed by researchers at Charité, which is being marketed by MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, a Charité spin off company. The principle behind the therapy is the use…
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University Develops Tiny, Lens-Free Camera
A postdoc engineer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York developed a microscopic camera that fits on the head of a pin, contains no lenses or moving parts, and costs pennies to make. The prototype by Patrick Gill and his colleagues is described in the current issue of the journal Optics Letters (paid subscription required).…
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Global Study Identifies Top Mental Health Challenges
A large-scale study conducted worldwide has identified the top global challenges in mental health. A report of the study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health Initiative, led by the National Institutes of Health and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, identified the…