Feature Channels: Biotech

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Diarrheal disease is the second-leading cause of death in children under five years old – killing as many as 1.5 million children worldwide every year. These startling statistics from the World Health Organization (2009) point to the reason why a group of undergraduate students from Arizona State University is working to develop a low-cost biosensor – a simple device that would detect contaminated drinking water.

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The injection of a tiny capsule containing heat-generating cells into the abdomens of mice led those animals to burn abdominal fat and initially lose about 20 percent of belly fat after 80 days of treatment.

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A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell function and binding to cancers without harming surrounding tissue.

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A monoclonal antibody developed by MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, prevents infection by the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

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A new synthetic protein can pinpoint cancer and other diseases in the body by finding nearby damaged collagen.

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Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a method to simplify the pharmaceutical production of proteins used in drugs that treat a variety of diseases and health conditions, including diabetes, cancer, arthritis and macular degeneration.

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Pathogens can slip through leaf pores and begin infecting a plant. However, University of Delaware research shows that this invasion is halted when a beneficial bacterium is present in the soil where the plant is rooted.

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In the first human study of its kind, researchers found that using stem cells to re-grow craniofacial tissues—mainly bone—proved quicker, more effective and less invasive than traditional bone regeneration treatments.

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Jianhua Xing, a Virginia Tech assistant professor of biology, and his colleagues recommend further study of how rope-like polymers called microtubules function. They computational comparations of two models of microtubules, a component of cell cytoskeletons.

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In an effort to improve public understanding of modern food production, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation has released five videos featuring leading physicians in the fields of pediatrics, food allergy and obstetrics who answer frequently asked questions about food biotechnology.

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The blood-brain barrier may be poised to give up some of its secrets as researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created in the laboratory dish the cells that make up the brain’s protective barrier. The Wisconsin researchers describe transforming stem cells into endothelial cells with blood-brain barrier qualities.

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– Dr. Balaji Sitharaman, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University, and a team of researchers developed a new, highly efficacious, potentially safer and more cost effective nanoparticle-based MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) contrast agent for improved disease diagnosis and detection. The most recent findings are discussed in detail in his team’s research paper “Physicochemical characterization, and relaxometry studies of micro-graphite oxide, graphene nanoplatelets, and nanoribbons,” published in the June 7 edition of the journal PLoS ONE.

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The Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center and the Weill Cornell Cancer Center will co-host the first annual Brain Tumor Biotech Summit 2012 on June 8 from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Weill Cornell Medical College. This first of its kind, one-day conference will gather together the nation's leading brain tumor and biotech industry experts who are joining forces to accelerate more effective treatments for brain tumors and promote funding for the latest emerging therapies.

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A study led by researchers from McGill University provides new insights into the structure of muscle tissue in the heart – a finding that promises to contribute to the study of heart diseases and to the engineering of artificial heart tissue.

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Bioengineers have developed the first structure to grow small human blood vessels, creating a 3-D test bed that offers a better way to study disease, test drugs and perhaps someday grow human tissues for transplant.

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A new study led by University of Kentucky researchers shows a new way to precisely detect a single chemical at extremely low concentrations and high contamination.

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Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria, an achievement that could pave the way for the development of an inexpensive way to protect billions of people from one of the world’s most prevalent and debilitating diseases. Initial proof-of-principle experiments suggest that such a vaccine could prevent malaria transmission.

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Latest edition of Physiology has a Review article that examines what’s known about regenerative biology and applies it to regenerative medicine.

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Biomedical engineers have demonstrated the first all-polymeric bone scaffold that is fully biodegradable and offers significant mechanical support during repair. The technique uses silk fibers to reinforce a silk matrix. Adding microfibers to the scaffolds enhances bone formation and mechanical properties. It could improve repair after accident or disease.

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Cancers shrank for about one third of the patients who could be evaluated, and disease stabilised for a further third. For one patient, all signs of their cancer disappeared.

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A new device designed to more effectively produce DNA samples for genetic testing from slide-mounted tissue samples is better equipped than most models on the market to help in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

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Researchers have devised a nanoscale sensor to electronically read the sequence of a single DNA molecule, a technique that is fast and inexpensive and could make DNA sequencing widely available.

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Mayo Clinic researchers have trained mouse immune systems to eradicate skin cancer from within, using a genetic combination of human DNA from melanoma cells and a cousin of the rabies virus.

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Researchers at Clarkson University have implanted a biofuel cell in a living snail. This is the first incidence of an implanted biofuel cell continuously operating in a snail and producing electrical power over a long period of time using the snail's physiologically produced glucose as a fuel.

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Plants subjected to a previous period of drought learn to deal with the stress thanks to their memories of the previous experience, new research has found. The findings could lead to development of crops better able to withstand drought.

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A team of Australian scientists involving the University of Adelaide has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils.

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When QB3 opened its “garage” for bioscience entrepreneurs in 2006, detractors deemed it a quixotic venture, sure to fill with aspiring startups that would never leave campus.

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University of California, San Diego bioengineers have developed a self-healing hydrogel that binds in seconds, as easily as Velcro, and forms a bond strong enough to withstand repeated stretching.

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For years, scientists have known that the genetic material called small RNA is key to our genetic makeup. But finding out what small RNA does hasn’t been easy. Now there's a way to turn off small RNAs and find out just how important they can be.

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A drug once taken by people with HIV/AIDS but long ago shelved after newer, modern antiretroviral therapies became available has now shed light on how the human body uses its natural immunity to fight the virus—work that could help uncover new targets for drugs.

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Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to stimulate wound healing. The peptides act by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels and promoting re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a treatment for chronic and acute wounds. The study was published in PLoS ONE.

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A new study led by nanotechnology and biotechnology experts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is providing important details on how proteins in our bodies interact with nanomaterials. In their new study, published in the Feb. 2 online edition of the journal Nano Letters, the researchers developed a new tool to determine the orientation of proteins on different nanostructures. The discovery is a key step in the effort to control the orientation, structure, and function of proteins in the body using nanomaterials.

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Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- Indiana University biologists are showing how freeloading, mutant derivatives of these plasmids benefit while the virulent, disease-causing plasmids do the heavy-lifting of initiating infection in plant hosts. The research confirms that the ability of bacteria to cause disease comes at a significant cost that is only counterbalanced by the benefits they experience from infected host organisms.

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Although endocrine therapy for breast cancer has shown excellent results in controlling the disease, responsiveness to the therapy depends on whether or not there is expression of estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells. Research from the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, a nonprofit cancer, cardiovascular and diabetes research center located in Philadelphia, PA, reports on the effectiveness of a new molecule, Scriptaid that restores receptivity to endocrine therapy in breast cancer cell lines that had tested negative for the expression of estrogen receptors. The findings are reported in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.

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Intestinal worm infections may not be all bad, according to a new study by William Gause and colleagues at UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School. In research on mice, published in Nature Medicine, immune reaction to the presence of intestinal worms was found to promote wound healing in the lungs.

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In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain. It’s exactly what University at Buffalo researcher Shermali Gunawardena was hoping to see.

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Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have solved the three-dimensional structure of a newly discovered type of gene-targeting protein that has shown to be useful as a DNA-targeting molecule for gene correction, gene therapy and gene modification. The findings are published online in Science Express on Jan. 5.

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A national clinical trial testing the efficacy of a novel brain tumor vaccine has begun at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, the only facility in the Southeast to participate.

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New silk-based microneedles can painlessly deliver precise doses of drugs over time and without refrigeration. Made under normal temperature and pressure using water, the microneedles can be loaded with sensitive biochemicals and maintain their activity. The biocompatible, biodegradable system could be applied to other biological storage needs.

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Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a jelly-like material and wound treatment method that, in early experiments on skin damaged by severe burns, appeared to regenerate healthy, scar-free tissue.

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A survey of more than 200 human embryonic stem cell researchers in the United States found that nearly four in ten researchers have faced excessive delay in acquiring a human embryonic stem cell line and that more than one-quarter were unable to acquire a line they wanted to study.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to design antibodies aimed at combating disease. The surprisingly simple process was used to make antibodies that neutralize the harmful protein particles that lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

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A key protein that controls how the deadly plant poison and bioweapon ricin kills, has finally been identified by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, Austria. The discovery was made using a revolutionary new technology that combines stem cell biology and modern screening methods.

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Using reprogrammed cells and microthreads, scientists at WPI and CellThera open the door for a new clinical therapy to treat major muscle trauma.

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Tailor-made synthetic tracheal scaffold called “an urgent clinical need.”

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The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) opposed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposal to exclusively license the subject matter of a cancer-related proteonomics patent application filed by the Agency.

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A team of Vanderbilt chemists have designed and successfully synthesized the largest artificial protein using a new approach that greatly expands scientists’ ability to create proteins unknown in nature.

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A compound that mimics the effects of adiponectin, a beneficial protein that is produced by fat tissue in healthy weight individuals and may exhibit protective effects against cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory conditions and insulin resistance has been developed by an international consortium.

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Any way you slice it, bread with critical nutrients could help combat severe malnutrition in impoverished regions. That is the goal of a group of Johns Hopkins undergraduate students who are enhancing common yeast so that it produces bread that yields Vitamin A. .

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Injectable substance made with proteins enables tissue to grow new blood vessels.