Tag: "purdue" at biology news

Purdue proves concept of using nano-materials for drug discovery

Researchers at Purdue University have built and demonstrated a prototype for a new class of miniature devices to study synthetic cell membranes in an effort to speed the discovery of new drugs for a variety of diseases, including cancer. .. .. The goal is to produce "laboratories-on-a-chip" less than a half-inch square that might contain up to...

Purdue researchers use enzyme to clip 'DNA wires'

Researchers at Purdue University have attached magnetic "nanoparticles" to DNA and then cut these "DNA wires" into pieces, offering the promise of creating low-cost, self-assembling devices for future computers. .. . DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, has an overall negative charge, so it might be used in a process...

Purdue scientists may have found key to halting spinal cord damage

Purdue University researchers may have isolated the substance most responsible for the tissue damage that follows initial spinal cord injury, a discovery that could also improve treatments for a host of other neurodegenerative conditions. . A research team led by Riyi Shi (REE-yee SHEE) has found that a chemical called acrolein, a known carcinogen, is present at high levels in spinal tissue for s...

Purdue researchers find key to rice blast fungus

Efforts to halt a fungus that deprives about 60 million people a year of food have led Purdue University scientists to discover the molecular machinery that enables the pathogen to blast its way into rice plants. .. The fungus, Magnaporthe grisea, which is known as rice blast fungus, is the most deadly of the pathogens that attack rice, reducing yields by as much as 75 percent in infected areas....

Purdue's gold nanorods brighten future for medical imaging

Researchers at Purdue University have taken a step toward developing a new type of ultra-sensitive medical imaging technique that works by shining a laser through the skin to detect tiny gold nanorods injected into the bloodstream. . .. Findings are detailed in a research paper that appeared online last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sc...

Purdue creates new low-cost system to detect bacteria

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new low-cost system that analyzes scattered laser light to quickly identify bacteria for applications in medicine, food processing and homeland security at one-tenth the cost of conventional technologies. . .. "Unlike conventional methods, we don't have to do any biochemical staining, DNA analysis or other types of manipulation," said Bartek Rajw...