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Rollerball Pen Enables Hand-Drawn Electrical Circuits
Materials scientists and engineers at University of Illinois in Champaign have developed a rollerball pen (pictured left) capable of writing electrical circuits and interconnects on paper, wood, and other surfaces. The team of faculty, postdoc, and students published their findings in the online issue of the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). While it looks…
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BARDA Gets SIGA Smallpox Antiviral Drug, Protest Withdrawn
SIGA Technologies Inc. in New York says the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will acquire 1.7 million courses of SIGA’s smallpox antiviral drug ST-246. SIGA competitor Chimerix Inc. of Durham, North Carolina dropped its protest of Barda’s sole-source contract award in May to SIGA.…
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Patients Get Lab-Grown Blood Vessels From Donor Skin Cells
For the first time, according to the American Heart Association, human blood vessels grown in the lab from donor skin cells have been successfully implanted into patients. The findings were presented today (27 June) in the American Heart Association’s Emerging Science Series webinar. The research involves the work of Cytograft Tissue Engineering Inc. in Novato,…
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Genentech Gets Rights, Can Buy Out Biotech Research Program
The biotechnology company Forma Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts says it has an agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, granting Genentech exclusive rights to acquire one of Forma’s pre-clinical small molecule cancer research programs. The specific cancer target of the therapy under development is not disclosed. The agreement begins as a research collaboration…
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U.S., Australian Universities Collaborate on Biofuels R&D
Clemson University in South Carolina and University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia have agreed to exchange research and create a joint biofuels development program. The institutions will raise public and private funds to advance biofuel research, and further development and commercialization of ethanol and biodiesel production. Cellulosic biofuel technology uses the plant’s cell walls to…
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Nanoscale Nuclear Testing Capability Developed
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of California at Berkeley, and Los Alamos National Lab have devised a testing technique for irradiated materials at nanoscale that offers insights into the full-scale properties of those materials. The team’s findings appear in the current online issue of the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). The technique…
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White House Unveils Manufacturing Partnership, Investments
At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh today, President Obama launched an initiative that aims to invest in emerging technologies leading to high quality manufacturing jobs. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) is expected to combine resources from industry, universities, and the federal government to encourage progress in information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, and other advancements…
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Trial Tests Heart Valve Replacement Without Opening Chest
A clinical trial at several medical centers in the U.S., including Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, is testing a new approach for implanting an aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery. This technology is designed for patients with conditions such as severe aortic stenosis — constriction of the left heart ventricle — who are considered…
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Genomic Software Offers Faster Interpretations for Diagnosis
Software developed by scientists from University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Omicia Inc. in Emeryville, California, improves the speed and ability to identify and interpret genetic variations for the diagnosis of disease. The researchers that developed the software describe their findings in the current issue of the journal Genome Research. The team led…
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Sensitive Underwater Microphone Works at All Depths
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a microphone for use at any depth and water pressure in the ocean, and is sensitive to a wide range of sounds. The research on the microphone, funded by Litton Systems, a subsidiary of Northrop-Grumman Corp., is published in the Journal of the Acoustic Society of America (paid subscription…