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Patent Awarded for Engineered Soybean to Control Parasite
A Kansas State University research team in Manhattan, Kansas received a patent for a genetically engineered soybean plant that aims to control a devastating parasite causing millions of dollars in crop damage each year. The engineered soybean plant was developed by four current or former K-State faculty: Harold Trick, Timothy Todd, Michael Herman, and Judith…
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GE Plans $500 Million R&D Investment in China
General Electric Company plans to invest another $500 million in China for research and development, including regional R&D hubs to serve the Chinese market. GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt announced the investment today, as part of a $2 billion plan that includes joint ventures in technology, energy, financial services, and transportation. Immelt (pictured left)…
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Fast Food Wrapper Chemicals Likely Migrating to Humans
Scientists at University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada have found that chemicals used to line fast food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags are probably migrating into food and being ingested by people where they are contributing to chemical contamination observed in blood. The chemicals, called perfluorinated carboxylic acids or PFCAs are the breakdown products of…
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Phase 3 Results Boost Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug
Results from a Phase 3 clinical trial show the drug tasocitinib made by Pfizer Inc. in New York, New York met two out of three end-points for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tasocitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for treating RA that targets the intracellular signaling pathways operating as hubs in the inflammatory cytokine network.…
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Graphene-Based Material Developed with Teflon Properties
Scientists from University of Manchester in the U.K. and elsewhere have created a new material which could replace or compete with Teflon in thousands of everyday applications. The team, including Manchester’s Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov who won the 2010 Nobel Prize for their research on graphene –- the world’s thinnest material — has now…
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Engineered Plant Produces Compounds for Plastics
Plants may have in theory the kinds of raw materials for plastics obtained from petroleum-based chemicals, but in reality, getting plants to accumulate these desired products in any meaningful quantity has been an elusive goal. In a step toward industrial-scale green production, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New…
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New Processes Reduce Cotton Pests Without Pesticide
Researchers at University of Arizona in Tucson discovered a new strategy for controlling cotton pests that combines the planting of pest-resistant cotton and releasing large numbers of sterile moths. The scientists say this approach has virtually eliminated the pink bollworm, one of world’s most destructive cotton pests, without spraying insecticides. Caterpillars of the pink bollworm…
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Dengue Vaccine in Phase 3 Clinical Trial
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis, says that its dengue vaccine is in the final stage of clinical development — its first phase 3 clinical study in Australia. Phase 3 trials involve large groups of patients to confirm a drug’s effectiveness, monitor side effects, and compare it to commonly used…
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Real-Time Alerts Reduce Unnecessary Blood Testing
An electronic message sent to physicians the moment they ordered a blood test for elderly patients reduced unnecessary use of a test that is often false-positive. Physicians received the alert in Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health record when ordering a D-dimer test for patients aged 65 and older. The D-dimer test, combined with a clinical risking…
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FDA Approves Depression Drug for Musculoskeletal Pain
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its drug Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain. FDA already approved Cymbalta to treat major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and to manage diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. The…