Press monitoring

Plants in forest emit aspirin chemical; discovery may help agriculture

Plants in a forest respond to stress by producing significant amounts of a chemical form of aspirin, scientists have discovered. The finding, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), opens up new avenues of research into the behavior of plants and their impacts on air quality, and it also has the potential to give farmers an early warning signal about crops that are failing.
[25.9.2008]  

Czech GM maize area tops 8,000 ha in 2008

The area of genetically-modified maize fields in the Czech Republic exceeded 8,000 hectares this year, a growth of more than 3,000 hectares against 2007, Agriculture Ministry said in a press release Thursday.
[24.9.2008]  

Dual-purpose “nanoships” for imaging and drug delivery

Researchers at the University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a dual-purpose micellar hybrid nanoparticle capable of simultaneous magnetofluorescence imaging of, and drug delivery to, tumours whilst avoiding attack by the immune system. The nanoparticles are about 50nm in diameter and are functionalised with a protein called F3 which can bind to cancer cells. The particles are hybrid in that they carry two types of smaller nanoparticles: superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIOs), which permit tracking and imaging under MRI and fluorescent quantum dots which can be imaged using a fluorescence scanner, along with molecules of the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin.
[23.9.2008]  

Scientists Turn Human Skin Cells Into Insulin-producing Cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have transformed cells from human skin into cells that produce insulin, the hormone used to treat diabetes.
[22.9.2008]  

Scientists turn human skin cells into insulin-producing cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have transformed cells from human skin into cells that produce insulin, the hormone used to treat diabetes.
[21.9.2008]  

Muscle stem cell identity confirmed by Stanford researchers

A single cell can repopulate damaged skeletal muscle in mice, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, who devised a way to track the cell's fate in living animals. The research is the first to confirm that so-called satellite cells encircling muscle fibers harbor an elusive muscle stem cell.
[20.9.2008]  

Researchers Discover Nanoparticles Can Break On Through

In a finding that could speed the use of sensors or barcodes at the nanoscale, North Carolina State University engineers have shown that certain types of tiny organic particles, when heated to the proper temperature, bob to the surface of a layer of a thin polymer film and then can reversibly recede below the surface when heated a second time.
[19.9.2008]  

Technology could make cheaper drugs

Costly drugs for illnesses such as cancer and arthritis could be made more cheaply with a method developed by scientists.
[18.9.2008]  

World's first synthetic tree is no giant redwood, but may lead to technologies for heat transfer, soil remediation

In Abraham Stroock's lab at Cornell, the world's first synthetic tree sits in a palm-sized piece of clear, flexible hydrogel -- the type found in soft contact lenses.
[17.9.2008]  

New Synthetic Form of Protein Holds Promise to Stop Cancer Spread

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have a pending patent on a new synthetic form of a protein involved in certain types of cancers and immune system diseases.
[16.9.2008]