Feature Channels: Biotech

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The shortage of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a persistent problem for medical and other front-line workers as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic at close range day after day. A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a potential solution: a machine that uses ultraviolet (UVC) light to sterilize thousands of protective masks each day, rendering them safe for reuse.

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Cornell University researchers who build nanoscale electronics have developed microsensors so tiny, they can fit 30,000 on one side of a penny. They are equipped with an integrated circuit, solar cells and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that enable them to harness light for power and communication. And because they are mass fabricated, with up to 1 million sitting on an 8-inch wafer, each device costs a fraction of that same penny.

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Ultrasound is probably most associated with a parent’s first glimpse of a baby in the womb. However, a new video from the Acoustical Society of America showcases the technology’s abilities to do more than show images of our insides. This video is the second in a series celebrating the International Year of Sound.

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Psilocybin mushrooms have been found to have minimal harmful effects and could potentially benefit those with depression. But they remain illegal even though they offer a groundbreaking alternative to several under-treated psychological conditions.

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Rapid Testing and Cloud-based Networking Allow Real-Time Outbreak Alerts for Health Agencies

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Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have fine-tuned a method to pinpoint surfaces within large multi-protein complexes that are close to, and likely to be directly interacting with, one another.

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Biologist Zhen Wang’s team recently published a pair of papers detailing characteristics of cardiac glycosides in two foxglove species. “This kind of study is important because we first have to know the accurate structure of natural compounds before we can explore their medicinal effects,” she says.

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Research findings suggest gut microbes can effect allergic immune responses. Tasuku Ogita who has recently joined Shinshu University is an expert on teas and their effects on gut bacteria.

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The Global Preclinical Data Forum (GPDF), a partnership of Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB), a non-profit research biotech, and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), is pleased to announce the opening of submissions for the 2020 Best Negative Data Prize competition.

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A biomanufacturing company spun out of Cornell research is seeking to rapidly translate an antibody therapy against COVID-19 by using cell-free biotechnology based on glycoengineered bacteria. And it could scale up the production 10 times faster than conventional methods.

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A University of Utah-led consortium to improve the design of medical devices welcomes Rice University as its newest partner. The Human Factors MEdical DevIce Consortium (hfMEDIC) serves as a consulting resource for medical device manufacturers looking to improve usability and safety of their products.

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Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928 by Sir Alexander Fleming, antibiotics have saved millions of lives from fatal infections world-wide. However, with time bacteria have developed mechanisms to escape the effects of antibiotics - they have become resistant.

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Biohydrogels have been studied closely for their potential use in biomedical applications, but they often move between sols and gels, depending on their temperature, changes that can pose issues depending on the intended use. In Physics of Fluids, researchers discuss their work studying the effect of temperature on hydrogels. They found that creating hydrogels at room temperature or below results in more robust materials that function more effectively when used in the body.

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A professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is part of an effort led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee that applies the power of supercomputers to screen compounds for effectiveness against the pandemic COVID-19 virus.

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Partnering with five diagnostics manufacturers, UC San Diego is significantly ramping up testing for COVID-19, projecting capacity to complete up to 1,500 tests daily within two to three weeks.

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LSU researchers are using neutron scattering at ORNL to study crystallization-driven self-assembly, a technique for forming nanoscale solid materials from solutions to understand how the technique could be used to craft controlled-shape nanostructures from polymers known as polypeptoids.

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Surgisphere Corporation announces the availability of a rapid diagnostic tool for novel coronavirus.

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Today, AnaBios announced a Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study adult human primary cardiomyocytes as a reference for cellular properties and drug-induced effects on cardiac function.

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Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee achieved a rare look at the inner workings of polymer self-assembly at an oil-water interface to advance materials for neuromorphic computing and bio-inspired technologies.

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To date, work done within the Tri-I TDI has resulted in the launch of two New York City–based companies and the licensing of six therapeutic discovery programs.

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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to peer deep into the nanostructure of biomaterials without damaging the sample. This novel technique can confirm structural features in starch, a carbohydrate important in biofuel production.

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Teeth damaged by trauma or disease require treatment to look and feel as good as new, but the restorative materials available to dentists don’t always last and can be costly for patients. Researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center's College of Dentistry are using neutrons at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor to change that.

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A team of Cambridge scientists working on the intersection between biology and computation has found that random gene activity helps patterns form during development of a model multicellular system.

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Economists and business leaders agree that innovation is a major force behind economic growth, but many disagree on what is the best way to encourage workers to produce the “think-outside-of-the-box” ideas. New research from UC San Diego indicates that competitive “winner-takes-all” pay structures are most effective.

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VICC is the first cancer center to enroll a patient in a clinical trial for this new technology developed by SQZ Biotechnologies of Watertown, Massachusetts. The investigational product is generated from the company’s technology that uses high-speed cell deformation to squeeze cells, creating a temporary disruption of their membranes and offering a window for the insertion of tumor antigens.

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Over the past few decades, Iowa’s agriculture has experienced a period of consistently high yields. The perfect distribution and timing of humidity, rainfall and heat have led to bumper crops of corn and soybeans. This “Goldilocks” period is partly due to global warming, but experts believe farmers shouldn’t expect it to last. In Physics Today, scientists Eugene Takle and William Gutowski describe the challenges farmers could expect to see to maintaining high yields if global warming continues along predicted trends.

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With $4 million in matching funds from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Washington has created a new integrated center to match biomedical discoveries with the resources needed to bring innovative products to the public and improve health.

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Nearly everyone on Earth is familiar with corn. Literally. Around the world, each person eats an average of 70 pounds of the grain each year, with even more grown for animal feed and biofuel.

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The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) offers two, week-long, hand-on courses to help current or recent PhDs transition into biotechnology, medical technology, or pharmaceutical careers.

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Researchers from Aalto University, the University of São Paulo and the University of British Columbia have found a way to make a new kind of fibre from a combination of chitin nanoparticles, extracted from residual blue crab shells and alginate, a compound found in seaweed.

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Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula has been named Governor’s Chair of Advanced and Nanostructured Materials at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.

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Take biomass-derived acetone—common nail polish remover—use light to upgrade it to higher-mass hydrocarbons, and, voila, you have a domestically generated product that can be blended with conventional jet fuel to fly while providing environmental benefits, creating domestic jobs, securing the nation’s global leadership in bioenergy technologies, and improving U.S. energy security.

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The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s (IARPA) Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program has awarded a multi-phase contract worth up to $25 million to develop scalable DNA-based molecular storage techniques. The goal of the project is to use DNA as the basis for deployable storage technologies that can eventually scale into the exabyte regime and beyond with reduced physical footprint, power and cost requirements.

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A nanoparticle carrier system that could eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants, which are both expensive and difficult for patients to undergo. The University of Delaware's Emily Day, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is developing a platform that could treat stem cells directly without the need to remove them from the body.

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Researchers from the University Hospital Zurich, ETH Zurich, Wyss Zurich and the University of Zurich have developed a machine that repairs injured human livers and keeps them alive outside the body for one week.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide up to $75 million over five years for research to develop sustainable bioenergy crops tolerant of environmental stress and resilient to changing environmental conditions.

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Biomanufacturing – harnessing biological processes in cells and microbes to design and manufacture products – is revolutionizing how we make everything from futuristic consumer goods to sustainable fuels to breakthrough medicines. Every biomanufactured product can be traced back to discoveries in the lab, but translating that science into a real-world product can be tricky. Berkeley Lab helps move great ideas, like outdoor gear made from algae oil, from conception to commercialization.

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Northern Arizona University researcher Tim Becker hopes the new material can plug a ballooning aneurysm, help tissue to regrow over the material and heal the blood vessel itself, which should improve patient outcomes.

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Boyce Thompson Institute researchers discover 95 potential new human protein targets for salicylate compounds and provide a roadmap for future drug development against dozens of diseases.

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A wearable monitoring device to make treatments easier and more affordable for the millions of people with swallowing disorders is about to be released into the market.

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Researchers have developed a more efficient fabrication method for silk that allows them mold the material like plastic into solid forms for a wide range of applications, including medical devices. The properties of the end products can be “tuned”, and modified with bioactive molecules, such as antibiotics and enzymes.

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Hememics Biotechnologies Inc., ("Hememics" or the "Company") announced that AMVI Partners, a consortium of high net worth Vietnamese investors, has invested $2.5 million into Hememics. The company will use the funds to initiate clinical research for supporting a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submission of a novel point-of-care technology for detection of pathogens in under a minute.

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A new $45 million Adelaide China Biotech Investment Fund will accelerate the development and commercialization of health and bio-technologies from South Australia for the global market.

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In mere milliseconds trillions of chemical reactions ignite signals that travel across the billions of neurons in our brain. As we go through our daily lives and absorb new knowledge these neurons begin to modify themselves and change their signaling properties.

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Ge Wang, the Clark and Crossan Endowed Chair of biomedical engineering and director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

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Two biophysicists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have introduced a method that could turn protein hydrogels into smart materials with shape-memory capabilities. The work opens the door for a wider use of protein hydrogels in both conventional and new fields, like soft robotics.

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Neurobiologists solve long-standing question over how brains orchestrate complex behaviours. The scientists from the lab of Manuel Zimmer showed that such behaviours are controlled by hierarchical neural activity, as they now reported in the journal Neuron.

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is among a group of leading hospitals, universities, large pharmaceutical companies, small biotech firms and industry partners working together to create a new center for advanced biological innovation and manufacturing.