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Clinical Trial Tests Diuretic Drug on Neurologic Disorder
A Michigan State University physician is testing a common diuretic as a treatment for a neurological disorder that affects younger, overweight women. The six-month clinical trial is funded by National Institutes of Health and conducted at 50 sites nationwide. Eric Eggenberger, professor of neurology and ophthalmology, is leading a team focusing on idiopathic intracranial hypertension…
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Project Seeks Potatoes Resistant to Climate Change
Spain’s Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (Neiker-Tecnalia) is leading an international project to find potatoes tolerant of climate change and develop new potato varieties as needed. The potatoes should be suitable for growing under adverse environmental conditions, and help ensure their supply in the least favorable regions of the world. The potato is…
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Court Rules for Companies in University Collaborations
Bloomberg News reports that the Supreme Court ruled today in favor of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, against a suit filed by Stanford University in Palo Alto, California that contended Roche violated the university’s patent rights under the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act. The 7-2 vote affirmed a lower court decision that Roche became co-owner of the…
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HP, Non-Profit Partner on Malaria Surveillance
Computer maker HP and non-profit organization Positive Innovation for the Next Generation (PING) are collaborating to improve the quality and efficiency of disease surveillance in Botswana. The project involves mobile health monitoring technology that HP and PING believe can help better protect populations against major malaria outbreaks. The initiative uses HP’s webOS operating system for…
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Stem Cell Bandage Approved for Clinical Trial
The U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved for clinical trial a new type of stem cell bandage to treat torn knee cartilage. The experimental bandage is made by Azellon Ltd, a spin-off company from University of Bristol in the U.K. The bandage developed by Azellon repairs torn meniscal cartilage in the knee, a…
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NIH Approves Two Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines
BioTime Inc., a biotechnology company in Alameda, California, says that two human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines developed by a subsidiary have been approved by National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry. Approval by NIH allows the use of these cell lines in federally funded research; only hES cell…
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$1M Challenge Aims to Monitor DNA/RNA Sequencing of a Cell
Life Technologies in Carlsbad, California unveiled a competition to enhance its current genomic sequencing capabilities to monitor the genome and transcriptome — corresponding ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules — derived from a single human cancer cell. The company is offering a $1 million prize through a challenge on InnoCentive, a company that runs these crowd-sourcing competitions.…
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U.S. Cosmetics Company Opens China R&D Center
Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in New York (ELC) is opening its Asia Innovation Center in Shanghai, China. The new center expands on the company’s research lab that opened in China in 2005. ELC has been doing business in China since 1993. The company says the center will help develop products tailored to the needs of…
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Study Highlights Crop Regions At Risk from Climate Change
A study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) identifies food production regions in the world most at risk from disruption due to climate change. Some of these populations, in Africa and South Asia for example, are already facing food shortages, while other food-producing regions including China and Latin America run the risk…
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Early Trial Evaluates Drug Combo for Blood Cancers
Researchers at the Massey Cancer Center of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond have completed a phase 1 clinical trial evaluating a combination of the drugs Bortezomib and Alvocidib in patients with relapsed or refractory blood cancers. The team, which included contributors from several universities and research institutes, reported its results in the 15 May 2011…