Cambridge, MA (Scicasts) – Several years ago, researchers sequencing lung cancer genomes encountered a peculiar problem. After combing through thousands of genes in a large number of patients, they had come up with a list of likely genetic suspects tied to the disease.
Sydney, Australia (Scicasts) – UK and Australian scientists have been able to show ways in which we can markedly improve drug targeting of solid tumours, using tiny ‘biosensors’ along with new advanced imaging techniques.
Gaithersburg, MD (Scicasts) – It's not reruns of "The Jetsons", but researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscopy technique that uses a process similar to how an old tube television produces a picture―cathodoluminescence―to image nanoscale features.
Toronto, ON, Canada (Scicasts) – A University of Toronto team – including researchers from Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering – has created an electronic chip that can analyze blood and other clinical samples for infectious bacteria with record-breaking speed.
Zurich, Switzerland (Scicasts) – Motivated by extraordinary requirements for neuroscience, IBM Research, EPFL, and ETH Zürich through the Swiss National Supercomputing Center CSCS, are exploring how to combine different types of memory – DRAM, which is standard for computer memory, and flash memory that is akin to USB sticks – for less expensive and optimal supercomputing performance.
Daejeon, Republic of Korea (Scicasts) – Today's technological innovation enables smartphone users to diagnose serious diseases such as diabetes or lung cancer quickly and effectively by simply breathing into a small gadget, a nanofibre breathing sensor, mounted on the phones.
Cambridge, MA (Scicasts) – Researchers at Whitehead Institute have identified a protein that is the target of glucocorticoids, the drugs that are used to increase red blood cell production in patients with certain types of anaemia, including those resulting from trauma, sepsis, malaria, kidney dialysis, and chemotherapy.
Hinxton, UK (Scicasts) – More than 60 leading health care, research and disease advocacy organizations from across the world are joining together to form an international alliance dedicated to enabling secure sharing of genomic and clinical data.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY (Scicasts) – In our daily lives, clutter is something that gets in our way, something that makes it harder for us to accomplish things. For doctors and scientists trying to parse mountains of raw biological data, clutter is more than a nuisance; it can stand in the way of figuring out how best to treat someone who is very sick.
Washington, DC (Scicasts) – As antiretroviral drugs that treat HIV have become more commonplace, the incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma, a type of cancer linked to AIDS, has decreased in the United States.
Washington, DC (Scicasts) – To test the severity of a viral infection, clinicians try to gauge how many viruses are packed into a certain volume of blood or other bodily fluid. This measurement, called viral load, helps doctors diagnose or monitor chronic viral diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Berkeley, CA (Scicasts) – Every chemist's dream, to snap an atomic-scale picture of a chemical before and after it reacts, has now come true, thanks to a new technique developed by chemists and physicists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Atlanta, GA (Scicasts) – Paper is known for its ability to absorb liquids, making it ideal for products such as paper towels. But by modifying the underlying network of cellulose fibres, etching off surface "fluff" and applying a thin chemical coating, researchers have created a new type of paper that repels a wide variety of liquids – including water and oil.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have designed tiny spherical particles to float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue.
Dallas, TX (Scicasts) – A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signalling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.
Cambridge, UK (Scicasts) – Scientists led by the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have developed a new drug that could help reduce the tissue damage that occurs following a heart attack, stroke or major surgery.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have devised a powerful new technique for finding antibodies that have a desired biological effect.