In attempt to identify biological markers, or biomarkers, that can signal the presence of cancer and help oncologists determine the best course of therapy when cancer is present, teams of investigators are scouring stored tissue samples obtained from thousands of cancer patients. Such studies are laborious and suffer from limited sensitivity, making it difficult to quantify rare biomarkers and develop data that might reveal a correlation among specific patterns of protein expression and specific...Monday, 4-Dec-2006 / [ Details... ]
Vito Quaranta clicks on a small black dot on his computer screen. The dot - which represents about a thousand cancer cells - begins to "grow," morphing into a mass with finger-like projections that looks like an invasive tumor. The Vanderbilt professor of cancer biology envisions a future when computer simulations like this will be used to predict a tumor's clinical progression and formulate individualized treatment plans. For the last two ye...Saturday, 2-Dec-2006 / [ Details... ]
Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood to engineer a molecular complex that uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, says research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. This molecular complex can use energy from the sun to create hydrogen gas, providing an alternative to electrolysis, the method typically used to split water into its constituent parts. The breakth...Saturday, 2-Dec-2006 / [ Details... ]
Saving the life of a poisoning victim is often a matter of minutes. It is best when the emergency doctor can perform a reliable diagnosis on the spot to determine which poison or what type of drug overdose a patient is suffering from. Complicated laboratory analyses and a complex apparatus are out of place in the emergency room. A team at the University of Illinois in Urbana has now laid the foundation for a new generation of rapid diagnostic test...Tuesday, 21-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]
Given that cancer is a disease in which genetic errors play a major role, it should come as no surprise that many experts envision a time when gene therapy will play an equally important role in the treatment of cancer. But before that day can come, researchers much overcome a major hurdle: safely delivering therapeutic genes and other nucleic acid-based regulatory agents into malignant cells. Enter nanotechnology.With the ability to sequester a wide variety of molecules and deliver them in a ta...Monday, 20-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]
Whether the goal is to separate different types of cells or molecules, methods that rely on the age-old principle of magnetism are a staple among researchers. Now, two reports show that the use of magnetic nanoparticles in bioseparations could have a significant impact on both clinical oncology and basic cancer research.Reporting its work in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, a research team headed by Maciej Zborowski, Ph.D., demonstrated that magnetic nanoparticles, combined w...Monday, 20-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]
Quantum dots are rapidly becoming biomedical researchers' tool of choice for adding a fluorescent label to a wide variety of biomolecules. Now, thanks to work from a multi-institutional team of investigators, researchers may have a simple, generic method for attaching quantum dots to proteins in a highly controlled manner. Amy Blum, Ph.D., of the Naval Research Laboratory, led this team, which published its results in the journal Nanotechnology. The investigators took advantage of the fac...Monday, 20-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]
Researchers have found that a class of RNA molecules, previously thought to have no function, may in fact protect sex cells from self-destructing. These findings will be published in the November 17 issue of the journal Cell. Central to this discovery is the fundamental process of gene expression. When a gene is ready to produce a protein, the two strands of DNA that comprise the gene unravel. The first strand produces a molecule called messenger ...Monday, 20-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found a set of "master switches" that keep adult blood-forming stem cells in their primitive state. Unlocking the switches' code may one day enable scientists to grow new blood cells for transplant into patients with cancer and other bone marrow disorders.The scientists located the control switches not at the gene level, but farther down the protein production line in m...Thursday, 8-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
Carnegie Mellon University's Philip LeDuc predicts the use of artificially created cells could be a potential new therapeutic approach for treating diseases in an ever-changing world. LeDuc, an assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering, penned an article for the January edition of Nature Nanotechnology Journal about the efficacy of using man-made cells to treat diseases with...Wednesday, 7-Feb-2007 / [ Details... ]
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