Articles
Have your say and stop bomb chemicals getting into the wrong hands
The Attorney-General’s Department’s Chemical Security program requires chemical manufacturers’ and users’ input to develop systems to prevent common chemicals being misappropriated and used in illegal bomb manufacture. [ + ]
Comment: Medical research doesn’t have the numbers
The critical lack of talented mathematicians engaging with biology is threatening the future of medical research, says Walter and Eliza Hall Institute head Doug Hilton. [ + ]
Proteomics and the formation of long-term memories
Memories are maintained by synapses, the connections between neurons, but how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory. [ + ]
UK scientists produce world's first magnetic soap
Scientists from Bristol University have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap’s magnetic properties were proved with neutrons at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) to result from tiny iron-rich clumps that sit within the watery solution. [ + ]
Vale Malcolm Simons
Malcolm Simons, pioneer of so-called ‘junk’ DNA, has passed away, succumbing to multiple myeloma at the age of 73. [ + ]
Rapid identification of Golden Staph infections
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a laboratory test that can rapidly identify the bacterium responsible for staph infections. The test takes advantage of unique isotopic labelling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification to rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus. [ + ]
Researchers discover particle which could ‘cool the planet’
Criegee biradicals may have the potential to play a significant role in offsetting global warming by cooling the planet. [ + ]
Educating stem cells reverses Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking its pancreatic islet beta cells and requires daily injections of insulin to regulate the patient’s blood glucose levels. A new method described in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Medicine uses stem cells from cord blood to re-educate a diabetic’s own T cells and consequently restart pancreatic function reducing the need for insulin. [ + ]
Mars rover finds signs of water
In the eighth year of its Mars expedition, rover Opportunity has found evidence that water once existed on Mars. [ + ]
Point-of-care blood poisoning testing
A biochip developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques will enable physicians to analyse blood on site to determine if a patient is suffering from blood poisoning within 20 minutes. [ + ]
Imaging mass spectrometry
The technique of imaging mass spectrometry is a new analytic method that allows the direct, spatially resolved measurement of a variety of analytically relevant substances and achieves spatial resolution in the micron range. [ + ]
Free software to speed drug development
Pharmaceutical, organic electronic and catalysis researchers will be able to speed their development processes using the latest computer modelling software developed at Georgia Tech. The computer program can study larger molecules faster than any other program in existence and is designed to improve knowledge about why certain molecules are attracted to each other and how those relationships can be ‘tuned’ to improve drug development. Rather than selling the software, the developers have decided to distribute their code free of charge as part of the open-source computer program PSI4. [ + ]
Life science conferences in Lorne next February
Proteomics, protein structure and function, cancer, genomics - whatever your life-science field of interest there is an international-standard conference sure to interest you in Lorne in February.
[ + ]DNA base modification detection using single-molecule, real-time sequencing
Base modifications are important to the understanding of biological processes such as gene expression, host-pathogen interactions, DNA damage and DNA repair.
[ + ]Minimising challenges in biological modelling
Modelling has long played a key role in the drug discovery process, from isolating drug targets to screening and pharmacokinetics. Many pharmaceutical companies are currently facing patent expirations without replacement candidates in the pipeline or are struggling with high candidate attrition. Leaner pipelines results in necessary cost decreases, which can often lead to staff reductions. These struggles underscore the need for successful modelling in pharmaceutical R&D. [ + ]