Feature Channels: Biotech

• share
• favorite_border

In the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, five people died from exposure to anthrax-laced letters, and several more were infected. Fifteen years on, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars to fortify the nation’s biodefenses against future attacks, but is it enough? The cover story of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, examines whether the U.S. is really ready for another Amerithrax

• share
• favorite_border

In a groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota biomedical engineers, artificial blood vessels bioengineered in the lab and implanted in young lambs are capable of growth within the recipient. If confirmed in humans, these new vessel grafts would prevent the need for repeated surgeries in some children with congenital heart defects.

• share
• favorite_border

New research, led by the University of Southampton, has demonstrated that a nanoscale device, called a memristor, could be the ‘missing link’ in the development of implants that use electrical signals from the brain to help treat medical conditions.

• share
• favorite_border

Iowa State engineers are working with Chevron U.S.A. to develop a pilot plant and study a biorenewables technology called solvent liquefaction. The technology produces a bio-oil that can be processed into fuels or chemicals and a biochar that can enrich soils.

• share
• favorite_border

To fill in the blanks on mitochondria, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison deleted 174 genes, one by one, in yeast. They then subjected the yeast to high-intensity mass spectrometry to measure unprecedented detail on thousands of metabolic products, including proteins, intermediate chemicals called metabolites, and lipids.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have built a three-dimensional map of the anthrax toxin that may explain how it efficiently transfers its lethal components into the cytoplasm of infected cells. The study, “Structure of anthrax lethal toxin prepore complex suggests a pathway for efficient cell entry,” which will be published online September 26 ahead of print in The Journal of General Physiology, suggests that the bacterial protein acts as a “conveyer belt” that allows toxic enzymes to continuously stream across cell membranes.

• share
• favorite_border

In order to discover the true colors of ancient animals, scientists are using X-rays to closely examine the chemical details of modern bird feathers. The researchers were able to map elements that make up pigments responsible for red and black colors in feathers. They hope to use this information to find traces of the same pigments in fossil specimens of extinct animals, such as dinosaurs. This latest discovery means that scientists may be able to go beyond monochrome in their depictions of fossilized creatures, and make steps towards portraying their colors more accurately.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers with the Virginia Tech Center for Drug Discovery have identified a compound that blocks the growth of a fungus that causes deadly lung infections and allergic reactions in people with compromised immune systems.

• share
• favorite_border

The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), the premier global, non-profit organization serving molecular diagnostics professionals, recently participated in two events designed to help educate lawmakers and congressional staff about laboratory developed procedures (LDPs) and the vital role they play in precision medicine and patient care. Both the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Hearing and the Co-hosted Congressional Briefing provided bipartisan forums for AMP leaders to discuss how LDPs are currently designed, validated, regulated, and used in a variety of clinical settings.

• share
• favorite_border

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago was selected to participate in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Prematurity-Related Ventilatory Control (Pre-Vent) study consortium. Physicians and researchers at Lurie Children’s will partner with investigators from other leading national hospitals to expand knowledge of neurorespiratory maturation in premature infants. Lurie Children’s site-specific study will investigate how autonomic, neurologic control of breathing matures in infants born at less than 29 weeks of gestation.

• share
• favorite_border

To prevent heart failure and restore heart function, researchers will work to create a bioengineered, human heart-tissue patch that is large, standardized and highly functional. This preclinical work will be supported by a seven-year grant just awarded by the NHLBI.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from the University of Chicago have described the three-dimensional, atomic structure of an important cell receptor molecule linked to the development of several diseases.

• share
• favorite_border

A study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has helped to de-mystify the molecular workings of the multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera®. The drug is the most widely prescribed pill-based therapy for MS, but its biological mechanism remains mysterious.

• share
• favorite_border

Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D., a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will present a Plenary Lecture entitled "Precision Medicine - From Iodine-131 to CRISPR Genome Editing" at the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), on September 23rd, in Denver, CO.

• share
• favorite_border

A special stretch of ribonucleic acid (RNA) called COOLAIR is revealing its inner structure and function to scientists, displaying a striking resemblance to an RNA molecular machine, territory previously understood to be limited to the cells’ protein factory (the ‘ribosome’) and not a skill set given to mere strings of RNA.

• share
• favorite_border

A new analytical test has been launched in the UK that provides sensitive, specific and efficient predictive analysis of a rare form of cancer from a simple urine sample. The ACC steroid analysis service will be marketed by Birmingham-based AltaBioscience, which has an exclusive licence on this patented technology from the University of Birmingham.

• share
• favorite_border

A new, inexpensive method for detecting salt concentrations in sweat or other bodily fluids has been developed by Penn State biomaterials scientists. The fluorescent sensor, derived from citric acid molecules, is highly sensitive and highly selective for chloride, the key diagnostic marker in cystic fibrosis

• share
• favorite_border

To mark 25 years of research into chemicals that disrupt the body’s hormones, the Endocrine Society will sponsor a Congressional briefing Sept. 21 exploring the latest breakthroughs in the field.

• share
• favorite_border

Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) gathers 100+ biomedical research experts from around the world next week at the scientifically historic Asilomar Conference Grounds in California for a workshop to discuss, define and vote on the first detailed standardized guidelines for validating research antibodies. Antibody Validation: Standards, Policies, and Practices will build upon the conceptual framework published September 5, in Nature Methods, in order to establish practical, applicable and implementable antibody validation guidelines. A webcast press briefing will present broad consensus-based outcomes September 28. Follow along on Twitter with #AbValidate.

• share
• favorite_border

Cell-Free RNA BCT® CE, Streck's direct-draw tube for the collection, stabilization and transport of cell-free plasma RNA, is now available.

• share
• favorite_border

Abundant, chock full of energy and bound so tightly that the only way to release its energy is through combustion — lignin has frustrated scientists for years. With the help of an unusual soil bacteria, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories believe they now know how to crack open lignin, a breakthrough that could transform the economics of biofuel production.

• share
• favorite_border

Materials scientists have developed a new strategy for crafting one-dimensional nanorods from a wide range of precursor materials. Based on a cellulose backbone, the system relies on the growth of block copolymer “arms” that help create a compartment to serve as a nanometer-scale chemical reactor.

• share
• favorite_border

In 2014, scientists made a huge news splash when they reported the ability to grow bacteria with an expanded genetic code. Critics feared the rise of unnatural creatures; others appreciated the therapeutic potential of the development. Now researchers have found that the expanded code might have an unforeseen limitation. A study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports that these novel components can damage cells when they are exposed to light.

• share
• favorite_border

In a World View opinion column published in Nature, a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher calls for animal-human embryo research to proceed – but only with strong animal protections in place.

• share
• favorite_border

Eight artists from around the world will travel to the University at Buffalo to explore life’s greatest questions through biological art residencies in the Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts.

• share
• favorite_border

From seed to closet, transforming the fashion industry through plant science.

• share
• favorite_border

Tufts University researchers have discovered a new technique for generating rapidly-differentiating human neural stem cells for use in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including a three-dimensional model of the human brain, according to a paper published today in Stem Cell Reports.

• share
• favorite_border

William G. Kaelin, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, has been named a winner of the 2016 Lasker Award for medical science by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.

• share
• favorite_border

The many faces of bats — and their extraordinary diversity in flight, form and function — are the focus of the 10th Annual Indiana Bat Festival at Indiana State University and Dobbs Park Nature Center on Saturday, Sept. 24.

• share
• favorite_border

Using high-tech human heart models and mouse experiments, scientists at Johns Hopkins and Germany’s University of Bonn have shown that beams of light could replace electric shocks in patients reeling from a deadly heart rhythm disorder.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Utah researchers have found that the structure of an insulin molecule produced by predatory cone snails may be an improvement over current fast-acting therapeutic insulin.

• share
• favorite_border

In research published in Science, a team of scientists describe a new therapeutic strategy to target a hidden Achilles’ heel shared by all known types of Ebola virus. Two antibodies developed with this strategy blocked the invasion of human cells by all five ebolaviruses. The team included scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Integrated Biotherapeutics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and The Scripps Research Institute.

• share
• favorite_border

In an important breakthrough for the forensic science community, researchers have developed the first-ever biological identification method that exploits the information encoded in proteins of human hair.

• share
• favorite_border

A world leader in pediatric genomics from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will address a major conference in precision medicine this month, as research and business experts exchange state-of-the-art progress in applying DNA discovery technology to advancing human health. Dr. Hakon Hakonarson will address the inaugural 2016 Advances in Genome Biology (AGBT) Precision Health Meeting on Sept. 22 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

• share
• favorite_border

The Exascale Computing Project today announced its first round of funding with the selection of application development proposals, including three Argonne-led projects.

• share
• favorite_border

They are the tiny motors present in many of the human body’s most complex systems. Cilia are hair-like structures that oscillate in waves, and are present in the brain, kidneys, lungs and reproductive system. They move liquids such as cerebrospinal fluid and mucus past the cell surface, and throughout the body. Flagella are whip-like structures that steer cells along.

• share
• favorite_border

New York University biologist Elodie Ghedin will study the host response to Zika virus infections under a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists from the University of Southampton have reengineered the fundamental process of photosynthesis to power useful chemical reactions that could be used to produce biofuels, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

• share
• favorite_border

Columbia University will award the 2016 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to Howard Cedar, PhD, and Aharon Razin, PhD, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Gary Felsenfeld, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health.

• share
• favorite_border

A recent study reveals different fungal species secrete a rich set of enzymes that share similar functions, despite species-specific differences in the amino acid sequences of these enzymes.

• share
• favorite_border

In herbivores' guts, fungi digest plant material. Researchers characterized several fungi involved in this digestion process and identified a large number of enzymes that work synergistically to degrade the raw biomass.

• share
• favorite_border

Hard labor might be the very thing we try to avoid on Labor Day. But our cells and their components don’t have the luxury of taking a day off. We at NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences give a shout out to some of these tireless cellular workers.

• share
• favorite_border

A paper published in ACS Nano, one of the top nanotechnology journals in the world, explores this topic. “Modeling and Analysis of Intercalant Effects on Circular DNA Conformation” focuses on the effect of the intercalating agent ethidium bromide (a mimic for many chemotherapy drugs) on the tertiary structure of DNA.

• share
• favorite_border

A collaboration of Chinese and U.S. chemists has laid out a highly efficient new method to convert abundant organic molecules into new medicines. Teams led by the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison describe a way to convert carbon-hydrogen bonds into nitriles, common components of bioactive molecules used in medicinal and agricultural applications.

• share
• favorite_border

Using a new, lightning-fast camera paired with an electron microscope, University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists have captured images of one of the smallest human proteins to be “seen” with a microscope.

• share
• favorite_border

Using sign language with intensive speech therapy may be an effective treatment for children with a rare speech disorder called apraxia of speech, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists discovered that the major developmental function of heterochromatin – a form of tight DNA packaging found in chromosomes – is likely the suppression of virus-like DNA elements known as transposons, which can copy and paste themselves throughout the genome, potentially causing diseases.

• share
• favorite_border

Sandia and UNM researchers developed a bio-inspired bubble-like membrane to capture CO2 from coal-fired power plants efficiently. The CO2 Memzyme could capture CO2 equivalent to planting 63 million trees and letting them grow for 10 years from just one power plant.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists invent a multi-view microscope that doubles the resolution of images without exposing them to an increased amount of light or prolonging the imaging process.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Joaquín Madrenas Brings Decades of Research Experience to the Institute