Researchers develop rapid diagnostic tool for pathogen identification
Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Genome Center have designed and developed a sensitive new diagnostic technology platform, called “Mass Tag PCR,?that can simultaneously screen for multiple infectious agents. The new technology is addressed in a paper published in the February issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Emerg...Product improves peptide identification for proteomics research
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced a high-performance ion trap mass spectrometer (MS) that allows pharmaceutical and academic life-science researchers to identify 60 to 80 percent more peptides than preceding models in proteomics applications, such as protein identification and biomarker discovery, potentially leading to a better understanding of diseases like cancer and speedin...Researchers develop new method for facile identification of proteins in bacterial cells
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a new method for identifying specific proteins in whole cell extracts of microorganisms using traditional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). The key to the new method, according to the researchers, is a "shortcut" for preparing samples that makes PMF faster and more economical. By reducing the cost of protein identi...Identification of specific genes predicts which patients will respond to Hepatitis C treatment
For the first time, physicians at University Health Network and University of Toronto have identified a small subset of genes that can predict whether a patient with chronic Hepatitis C will be able to respond to current treatments. The study, published in t...Quick identification needed to save Florida's citrus industry from devastating disease
The recent discovery of citrus greening (huanglongbing) in samples collected from trees in South Florida poses a definite threat to Florida's $9 billion commercial citrus industry. Proper identification and eradication methods are needed to reduce the amount of crop loss caused by this disease, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS). Citrus greening is a bacteria...World Trade Center identifications pushed forensic DNA technology
At the end of more than three years, New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) identified 58 percent of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack victims, thanks to innovative genetic analysis techniques, intergovernmental and family cooperation and the perseverance of dedicated forensic scientists, according to a recent book by Dr. Robert C. Shaler, professor of biochemistry and molecular...Genomatix technology facilitates de novo identification of new renal disease associated genes
Previously unknown molecules and regulatory pathways in human glomerular diseases have been identified by a joint effort of the Medizinische Poliklinik, Munich, the University of Bristol´s Children´s Renal Unit, the German Cancer Research Center, sanofi-aventis, and Genomatix Software GmbH. In a joint publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States o...Scientists create dual-modality microbeads to improve identification of disease biomarkers
Analyzing human blood for a very low virus concentration or a sample of water for a bioterrorism agent has always been a time-consuming and difficult process. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have developed an easier and faster method to detect these types of target molecules in liquid samples using highly porous, micron-sized, silica beads. The res...Automatic identification of protein's critical features from the structure
How we look is of the greatest importance nowadays since it express who we are, but is it really possible to tell the essence of an individual from its form? The answer to that question seems to be related to fashion and glamour, yet a group of scientists from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and the Buck Institute in the USA, were able to address it, although motivated by other reason...