The Lead
Revolutionary New Microscope: Real-time Movies of Molecules
November 12, 2023 | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | Comments
A new microscope, using a new form of the much-hailed light sheet-based fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), makes visible— via stunning movies— countless biological processes once deemed utterly invisible: sub-cellular activity.
Ebola Health Lessons: A Wake-up Call
November 11, 2023 8:30 am | by Stephanie Guzowski, Editor, Drug Discovery & Development | Comments
After months of delayed, fragmented responses, the international medical community recognized...
Ebola and Marburg are Millions of Years Old, Not Thousands
November 6, 2023 2:19 pm | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | Comments
Ebola and Marburg are 16 to 23 million years old, not thousands of years old as once...
Google’s Next Business Venture: The Human Body
November 5, 2023 8:30 am | by Ryan Bushey, Associate Editor | Comments
Through a new, semi-secretive extension of the company...
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Fighting HIV with Stem Cells and Cutting-edge Genetics
November 10, 2023 2:34 pm | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | Comments“Berlin Patient” Timothy Brown was cured of HIV after he received stem cells from a naturally immune patient. His story inspired two companies to try and recreate that natural immunity in HIV patients using stem cells and cutting-edge gene-editing. Now Harvard has joined the race.
Special Report: Imagine Science Film Festival
October 31, 2024 3:00 pm | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | CommentsOne of the enduring images of this year’s Imagine Science Film Festival, held in New York on Oct. 17 to 24, was that of a girl in a black abeyya lugging a giant white telescope up a hill, escaping her cruel Iranian life to lose herself in the stars in the film “Sepideh.”
World-First Embryonic Stem Cell Trial for the Heart
October 30, 2024 9:37 am | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | CommentsThe first embryonic stem (ES) cell trial for severe heart failure is launching now in Paris. The long-awaited trial comes after much preclinical cell work on more than 350 rats, 50 immunodeficient mice and 32 non-human primates.
Patient-relevant Preclinical Models Using Image-guided Small Animal Irradiation
October 28, 2024 11:33 am | by Dr. Rajendra Kumari, Chief Scientific Officer, PRECOS Ltd., a Crown Bioscience Company | CommentsRadiotherapy is a primary, adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment for a number of different cancers, such as glioblastoma, breast, lung and prostate. Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is used to reduce the amount of radiation delivered to the normal tissue surrounding the targeted tumor. However, in the preclinical setting, the use of IGRT is less common.
Imaging and Analysis with Flying Colors: Part One
October 22, 2024 8:30 am | by Mark Clymer, Director of Marketing, Datacolor Inc. | CommentsResearchers are facing increasing demands from colleagues, peers and publishers for process documentation including adequate controls, and for extensive documentation of experimental parameters. Without such consideration, there would be little chance to repeat, or even validate, findings.
Seeing is Believing: Reproducible Proteomic Studies
October 21, 2024 1:03 pm | by Anton Posch, Senior Scientist, Bio-Rad Laboratories | CommentsFor scientists, the field of proteomics has always been a double-edged sword. On one hand, technologies such as 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) capture a vastly improved picture of protein expression in action. But when others try to reproduce the experiment? The findings can suddenly appear blurry.
Embryonic Stem Cells in Trial for Diabetes
October 16, 2024 11:44 am | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | CommentsAs San Diego’s ViaCyte was in the midst of launching the first FDA-approved embryonic stem (ES) cell clinical trial for diabetics last week, Boston’s Harvard University reported that cells made from ES cells “cured” diabetic mice.
Reversing Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
October 14, 2024 2:42 pm | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | CommentsLethal fibrosis in lungs of mice with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can be reversed, say researchers. No drug on the market can do this. But the crew pulled it off, in mice, by temporarily restoring (a mimic of) one of the body’s own anti-fibrosis agents, sharply reduced in IPF: microRNA-29.
Marburg, Ebola’s Relative, Cured in Monkeys
October 9, 2024 8:30 am | by Cynthia Fox, Science Writer | CommentsAn experimental drug saved the lives of 16 of 16 monkeys with the Marburg virus, a killer near-indistinguishable from Ebola, which caused the death of a Ugandan health worker Oct. 6.
Bioprinted 3-D Device Aids Blood Detoxification
October 8, 2024 10:45 am | by Skip Derra | CommentsA team of engineers has successfully developed a three-dimensional-printed device, which mimics the operation of the liver to remove dangerous toxins from the blood.
The Importance of Primer Validation in Real-time PCR and New Tools That Make It Easier
October 7, 2024 2:20 pm | by Jamie Donnelly, Product Manager, Gene Expression Division, Bio-Rad Laboratories | CommentsReal-time qPCR is one of the most ubiquitous laboratory techniques in modern life sciences, commonly used for gene expression analyses and diagnosing infectious diseases. But despite being more than two decades old, many researchers continue to perform qPCR incorrectly and overlook the important step of primer validation and optimization.
Cord Blood Stem Cells Increased Tenfold
September 29, 2024 2:34 pm | by Cynthia Fox | CommentsTen times more stem cells may soon be generated from umbilical cords than ever before, according to a new Science study. The potential advance was made via a little-known pyrimidoindole molecule called UM171.
Nobel Prize-winning ‘iPSC’ Stem Cell Method Vastly Improved
September 25, 2024 8:30 am | by Cynthia Fox | CommentsBy adding just three compounds to the Nobel Prize-winning induced pluripotent stem cell recipe, a research group is reporting a huge 90 to 100 percent stem cell haul in under a week.
Two Anti-Ebola Vaccines in Historic Race
September 11, 2024 3:38 pm | by Cynthia Fox | CommentsOne of the most rapidly fast-tracked vaccines in history— an anti-Ebola “ChAd3” vaccine— just started clinical trial in humans, and may be done as soon as November. But a second fast-tracked anti-Ebola vaccine— called an “rVSV” vaccine— is hot on its heels.
ZMapp: Best Anti-Ebola Treatment Yet
September 4, 2024 3:05 pm | by Cynthia Fox | CommentsZMapp, an experimental drug that may have already have saved a few patients in Africa, is the most effective anti-Ebola therapy yet, according to a recent Nature paper on rhesus macaques monkeys.
