New in Biological News

Climbing to new heights in the forest canopy

With summer in full swing, many plants are at their peak bloom and climbing plants, like clematis, morning glories, and sweet peas, are especially remarkable. Not only are these plants beautiful, but their ability to climb walls and trellises is an impressive feat of biological engineering that ha...

First human gets new antibody aimed at hepatitis C virus

Boston, Mass. Building upon a series of successful preclinical studies, researchers at MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) today announced the beginning of a Phase 1 clinical trial, testing the safety and activity of a human monoclonal antibody they developed ...

Pinhead-size worms + robot = new antibiotics

In an advance that could help ease the antibiotic drought, scientists in Massachusetts are describing successful use of a test that enlists pinhead-sized worms in efforts to discover badly needed new antibiotics. Their study appeared in ACS Chemical Biology , a monthly journal. Frederick Ausu...

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique

Early relatives of spiders that lived around 300 million years ago are revealed in new three-dimensional models, in research published today in the journal Biology Letters . Scientists at Imperial College London have created detailed 3D computer models of two fossilised specimens of ancient c...

ComCam Selected by ePortation on New Maritime Domain Awareness Project

WEST CHESTER, Pa., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ComCam International, Inc. (Pink Sheets: CMCJ), a leader in IP video analytics and control products, solutions and services, today announced that it has been selected by Philadelphia-based ePortation, Inc. to provide critical hardware, softw...

Neuropathic pain: The sea provides a new hope of relief

A compound initially isolated from a soft coral ( Capnella imbricata ) collected at Green Island off Taiwan, could lead scientists to develop a new set of treatments for neuropathic pain chronic pain that sometimes follows damage to the nervous system. Currently this form of pain is very poorly ...

Opening a new window on daylight

A new approach to windows that could let in more light and cut indoor lighting needs by up to 99% in buildings in Tropical regions without losing the cooling effect of shades. Details are reported in the International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation this month. Lerdlek...

Got zinc? New zinc research suggests novel therapeutic targets

Everyone knows that vitamins "from A to zinc" are important for good health. Now, a new research study in the August 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology ( http://www.jleukbio.org ) suggests that zinc may be pointing the way to new therapeutic targets for fighting infections. Spe...

UCSF researchers identify new drug target for Kaposi's sarcoma

UCSF researchers have identified a new potential drug target for the herpes virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma, re-opening the possibility of using the class of drugs called protease inhibitors against the full herpes family of viruses, which for 20 years has been deemed too difficult to attain. ...

Fujitsu Expands Support for Ethernet Networks With New Additions to XG Switch Product Line

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., a leading supplier of innovative computer products including hard disk drives, peripherals and biometric security solutions, today launched a new aggregated series of 24-port and 48-port 1Gb/10Gb Ether...

Researchers team up to provide new hope for childhood hunger

ST. LOUIS, MO, July 28, 2009 A St. Louis-based team of plant and physician-scientists with a vision of eradicating malnutrition throughout the developing world today announced the formation of the Global Harvest Alliance (GHA), a humanitarian effort involving St. Louis Children's Hospital, The Don...

Scientists closer to making implantable bone material, thanks to new research

Scientists are closer to understanding how to grow replacement bones with stem cell technology, thanks to research published today in the journal Nature Materials . Many scientists are currently trying to create bone-like materials, derived from stem cells, to implant into patients who have d...

Music is the engine of new U-M lab-on-a-chip device

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Music, rather than electromechanical valves, can drive experimental samples through a lab-on-a-chip in a new system developed at the University of Michigan. This development could significantly simplify the process of conducting experiments in microfluidic devices. A paper on...

University of Minnesota research leads to new technology to protect human health

Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota's BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific's new MaxDiscovery Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine contamination in food. Melamine is an industrial chemical that ...

UCLA researchers discover new molecular pathway for targeting cancer, disease

A UCLA study has identified a way to turn off a key signaling pathway involved in physiological processes that can also stimulate the development of cancer and other diseases. The findings may lead to new treatments and targeted drugs using this approach. In the study, which is currently ava...

Promising new treatment for Alzheimer's suggested based on Hebrew University research

Research carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has resulted in a promising approach to help treat Alzheimer's disease in a significant proportion of the population that suffers from a particularly rapid development of this disease. In the research at the Silberman Institute of Life...

UK bioscience sparkles with new Diamond fellowship

UK bioscience has received a major boost following the announcement of 16 new fellowships by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) including the first ever Diamond Fellowship, so named because the post will be based at the new Research Complex at Harwell, adjacent to t...

Munich researchers discover new target for tailored antibiotics

This release is available in German . More and more strains of bacteria are developing resistance to previously life-saving antibiotics. Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have shed light on a metabolic step that appears in many aggressive microorganisms -- such as t...

Kornberg Associates Architects Selected to Develop Design for New Stanford University Imaging Center

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Kornberg Associates | Architects ( www.kornberg.com ) has been selected by Stanford University to design a new Cognitive & Neurobiological Imaging Center. Ken Kornberg, president and founder, made the announcement. The firm has worked with Sta...

Supply-Chain Council Announces New Board of Directors and Officers

WASHINGTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight supply chain professionals were elected in June by the membership of the Supply-Chain Council to the organization's Board of Directors, joining the seven existing members of SCC's board. Newly elected board members, whose terms run from July 1...

A complete view of complexity in science and society in a new authoritative reference work

A new unique work published by Springer, the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science , extends the influence of complexity and system science to a much wider audience than has been possible to date. In eleven volumes, available in print and electronically, it provides an authoritative sin...

AACR applauds nomination of Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the new NIH director

WASHINGTON, D.C. The American Association for Cancer Research applauds President Obama's nomination of Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "Dr. Collins is an excellent scientist and skillful administrator," said Tyler Jacks, Ph....

Data published in the New England Journal of Medicine support use of raxibacumab (ABthrax) for the treatment of inhalation anthrax

ROCKVILLE, Maryland July 9, 2009 Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) today announced publication by the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of two pivotal animal efficacy studies, which showed the life-saving potential of the Company's human monoclonal antibody drug raxibacum...

New crops needed for new climate

Global food security in a changing climate depends on the nutritional value and yield of staple food crops. Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia have found an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decreased yield in plants grown under high CO 2 and dr...

Dietary supplements manufacturers gain new tool to help ensure quality products

Rockville, Md., July 7, 2009 A first-of-its kind collection of standards designed to assist dietary supplements manufacturers in providing quality products to consumers is being released today by the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention. The USP Dietary Supplements Compendium (DSC) will also help ...

Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology: New patient radiation safety guidelines

FAIRFAX, Va."Society of Interventional Radiology 2009 Standards Division Guidelines" is the subject of a special supplement to the July issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology . SIRa national organization of physicians, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to...

GUMC discovery highlights new direction for drug discovery

Washington, DC In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults. In ...

Biological warfare in bacteria offers hope for new antibiotics

Scientists are to study a group of proteins that are highly effective at killing bacteria and which could hold the key to developing new types of antibiotics. Researchers from the Universities of York and Leeds have been awarded 3.3m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counc...

University of Leicester researchers discover new fluorescent silicon nanoparticles

Researchers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester have developed a new synthesis method, which has led them to the discovery of fluorescent silicon nanoparticles and may ultimately help track the uptake of drugs by the body's cells. Dr Klaus von Haeften expla...

Scientists find a biological 'fountain of youth' in new world bat caves

Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human historysignificantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal ( http://www.fasebj.org ), shows that pro...

Discovery may provide new treatments for alcohol dependence

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered a new brain mechanism involved in alcohol addiction involving the stomach hormone ghrelin. When ghrelin's actions in the brain are blocked, alcohol's effects on the reward system are reduced. It is an importa...

Can a new implant coating technique create a new six million dollar man?

Tel Aviv University researcher Prof. Noam Eliaz of the TAU School of Mechanical Engineering has developed an electrochemical process for coating metal implants which vastly improves their functionality, longevity and integration into the body. The new process could vastly improve the lives of ...

Ovarian transplantation: First baby is born after a new technique

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: A new technique for transplanting the ovaries of women who have lost their fertility as a result of cancer treatment was outlined to the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Monday 29 June). Dr. Pascal Piver, manag...

Ovarian transplantation: New technique gives greatly improved results in this delicate operation

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Ultra-fast freezing of ovarian tissue from women who have lost their fertility as a result of cancer treatment can lead to it being used in transplants with the same success rate as fresh tissue, a researcher told the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Hu...

DuoCort: New chronotherapy for adrenal insufficiency

Helsingborg Sweden June 29th 2009 / b3c newswire / - DuoCort publishes data from its Phase I study for the rare and life threatening disease adrenal insufficiency. The release profile of DuoCorts new form of treatment with once-a-day hydrocortisone dosing closely resembles the physiological secr...

New crops needed for new climate

Global food security in a changing climate depends on the nutritional value and yield of staple food crops. Researchers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia have found an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decreased yield in plants grown under high CO 2 and dr...

U of M study finds new insight on therapy for a devastating parasitic disease

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (June 23, 2009) University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm. The Schistosomasis parasite infects about 200 million ...

Children's Hospital Oakland scientists first to discover new source for harvesting stem cells

June 23, 2009Oakland, Calif. A groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns. The study also finds there are fa...

Humans related to orangutans, not chimps, says new Pitt, Buffalo Museum of Science study

PITTSBURGHNew evidence underscores the theory of human origin that suggests humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Museum of Science. Reporting in the June 18 edition of the Journal of Biogeography , the ...

UC Davis researchers visualize formation of a new synapse

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) A protein called neuroligin that is implicated in some forms of autism is critical to the construction of a working synapse, locking neurons together like "molecular Velcro," a study lead by a team of UC Davis researchers has found. Published online in the June issue of th...