NextVolume 11.26 July 12, 2010Previous

Taking a Hard Look at Soft-Tissue Sarcomas
Researchers made three genomic discoveries that could affect the way certain soft-tissue sarcomas are treated. [Press release from the Broad Institute discussing online prepublication in Nature Genetics]
Article

Genetic Mechanism Once Thought Rare May Allow Rapid Cell Production
Researchers showed that when the gene TIF1 gamma is mutated, the machinery that allows red blood cells to form from their progenitors is left in suspended animation. [Press release from PR Newswire discussing online prepublication in Cell]
Article

NIH-Led Scientists Find Antibodies that Prevent Most HIV Strains from Infecting Human Cells
Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this feat. [Press release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases discussing online prepublication in Science]
Article

Lab Reveals Connection Between Mutation and Malignancy
Researchers have found that the process of repairing DNA damage unexpectedly increases the rate of mutations and changes the kinds of mutations that arise. [Press release from Brandeis University discussing online prepublication in Science]
Article

Researchers Create HIV-Resistant Cells
Researchers have successfully transplanted blood stem cells modified to be resistant to HIV into mice, allowing the animals to control HIV infections. [Press release from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California discussing online prepublication in Nature Biotechnology]
Article

Protein That Predicts Prognosis of Leukemia Patients May Also be a Therapeutic Target
Researchers have identified a protein, called Musashi 2, that is predictive of prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia patients. [Press release from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research discussing online prepublication in Nature Medicine]
Article

Mount Sinai Hospital Scientists Uncover Important Clues in the Biology of Stem Cells
Researchers uncovered a number of genes and cellular signaling pathways that change over time and hypothesized that, through manipulation of these genes, they could improve the efficiency and speed of reprogramming. [Press release from Mount Sinai Hospital discussing online prepublication in Cell Stem Cell]
Article

Cancer Stem Cells Are Not One Size Fits All, Lung Cancer Models Show
Researchers have identified cancer stem cells in a model of the most common form of human lung cancer and, more significantly, have found that the cancer stem cells may vary from tumor to tumor, depending upon the tumor's genetic signature. [Press release from Children's Hospital Boston discussing online prepublication in Cell Stem Cell]
Article

Normal Adult Blood Can Generate Pluripotent Stem Cells, Study Reports
In findings likely to make it easier and faster for stem cell biologists to generate patient-specific embryonic-like stem cells, researchers have reprogrammed adult blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. [Press release from Children’s Hospital Boston discussing online prepublication in Cell Stem Cell]
Article

New Microscope Lets Scientists Make Movies of Early Animal Development
A new imaging method, which combines two established microscopy techniques, will allow researchers to study speedy cell processes over hours and days rather than seconds, and to examine how morphological defects arise in developing animals. [Press release from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute discussing online prepublication in Nature Methods]
Article

‘Stem Cell Detectives’ Uncover Potential Cancer Cause
Australian researchers have uncovered a new mutation in stem cells that may be linked to the development of leukemia, breast and colon cancer. A major finding of the new study was the discovery of a novel DNA mutation in the c-Myb gene. [Press release from the Australian National University discussing online prepublication in Blood]
Article

Biologists Find Way to Lower Tumor Risk in Stem Cell Therapies
Researchers report that they have identified a new signaling pathway critical for unlimited self propagation of embryonic stem cells. [Press release from the University of California, San Diego discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]
Article

Stem Cell Researchers Successfully Treat Spinal Cord Injuries in Mice
Researchers have succeeded in restoring the mobility of mice with damaged spinal cords using induced pluripotent stem cells. [Press release from The Mainichi Daily News discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]
Article

A New Spin on Gene Delivery
Researchers have discovered how to greatly enhance the delivery of DNA payloads into cells. [Press release from Virginia Polytechnic Institute discussing online prepublication in Lab on a Chip]
Article

Scientists Design New Delivery Device for Gene Therapy
Scientists have designed a nanoparticle that appears to effectively deliver genetic material into cells with minimal toxic effects. [Press release from Ohio States University discussing online prepublication in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics]
Article

Cell Signaling Classification System Gives Researchers New Tool
A new study has demonstrated how knowledge of biological systems can be derived by computational interrogation of genomic sequences. [Press release from Oak Ridge National Laboratory discussing online prepublication in Science Signaling]
Article

Study Shows Hope for Gene Therapy
Researchers have launched a new gene therapy trial for children with a rare disease known as "bubble boy syndrome.” Scientists plan to enroll 20 boys with severe combined immunodeficiency, X-linked. [The Wall Street Journal]
Article

UM's Stem Cell Study on ALS Looks Promising
Researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) are seeing positive results from the earliest stages of experiments designed to determine whether stem cells can help patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). [The Detroit News]
Article

Compugen Discovered Protein Shown to Abolish Recurring Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis Animal Model
Compugen announced that administration of CGEN-15001 in an animal model of multiple sclerosis has been shown to completely abolish spontaneous relapses. [Compugen Limited Press Release]
Article

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

A New DAF-16 Isoform Regulates Longevity
Researchers show that DAF-16 isoforms functionally cooperate to modulate insulin/IGF-1 signaling-mediated processes through differential tissue enrichment, preferential modulation by upstream kinases, and regulating distinct and overlapping target genes. [Nature]
Article

Subtype-Specific Genomic Alterations Define New Targets for Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Therapy
Frequently mutated genes in soft-tissue sarcomas included TP53 (17% of pleomorphic liposarcomas), NF1 (10.5% of myxofibrosarcomas and 8% of pleomorphic liposarcomas) and PIK3CA (18% of myxoid/round-cell liposarcomas, or MRCs). [Nat Genet]
Article

TIF1 Gamma Controls Erythroid Cell Fate by Regulating Transcription Elongation
Genetic studies in the zebrafish tif1 gamma mutant moonshine  showed that loss of function of RNA polymerase II-associated factors PAF or DSIF rescued erythroid gene transcription in tif1 gamma-deficient animals. [Cell]
Article

Rational Design of Envelope Surface Identifies Broadly Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibodies to HIV-1
By expressing immunoglobulin genes from individual cells, researchers identified three monoclonal antibodies, including a pair of somatic variants that neutralized over 90% of circulating HIV-1 isolates. [Science]
Article

Structural Basis for Broad and Potent Neutralization of HIV-1 by Antibody VRC01
Researchers determined the crystal structure of VRC01 in complex with an HIV-1 gp120 core. VRC01 partially mimics CD4 interaction with gp120. [Science]
Article

Increased Mutagenesis and Unique Mutation Signature Associated with Mitotic Gene Conversion
Observations suggest that increased double-strand break frequencies in oncogene-activated mammalian cells may also increase the probability of acquiring mutations required for transition to a cancerous state. [Science]
Article

Human Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells Modified by Zinc-Finger Nucleases Targeted to CCR5 Control HIV-1 In Vivo
The demonstration that a minority of CCR5-/- hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells can populate an infected animal with HIV-1-resistant, CCR5-/- progeny supports the use of zinc-finger nuclease-modified autologous hematopoietic stem cells as a clinical approach to treating HIV-1. [Nat Biotechnol]
Article

Musashi-2 Regulates Normal Hematopoiesis and Promotes Aggressive Myeloid Leukemia
Expression levels of MSI2 in human myeloid leukemia directly correlate with decreased survival in patients with the disease, thereby defining MSI2 expression as a new prognostic marker and as a new target for therapy in acute myeloid leukemia. [Nat Med]
Article

Functional Genomics Reveals a BMP-Driven Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition in the Initiation of Somatic Cell Reprogramming
Researchers explored somatic cell reprogramming by exploiting a secondary mouse embryonic fibroblast model that forms induced pluripotent stem cells with high efficiency upon inducible expression of Oct4, Klf4, c-Myc, and Sox2. [Cell Stem Cell]
Article

Primary Tumor Genotype Is an Important Determinant in Identification of Lung Cancer Propagating Cells
Primary tumors that differ in genotype at just one locus can have tumor-propagating cell populations with distinct markers. [Cell Stem Cell]
Article

Reprogramming of Human Peripheral Blood Cells to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Researchers derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from frozen human peripheral blood samples. Some of the iPSCs had rearrangements of the T cell receptor, indicating that T cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency. [Cell Stem Cell]
Article

Back to Top

Britain Delays Controversial Assessment Scheme for Research
Britain's new science minister made good a manifesto pledge today when he announced that the coalition government would delay for one year the implementation of the controversial Research Excellence Framework, a system of assessing university departments for the distribution of funding. [Ministry of Universities and Science, United Kingdom]
Article

Spanish Science Spending Lockdown
Spain's science and innovation minister said that research funding will be "frozen or minimally reduced" as a result of government-wide austerity measures. [Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain]
Article

Bioethics Council Hears Pleas for More Oversight of Synthetic Biology
A presidential bioethics commission took up a burning new issue in science: the risks and benefits of synthetic biology. [Bioethics Council, United States]
Article

Berwick Appointed to Head CMS Without Senate Vote
Pediatrician Donald Berwick, MD, a leading advocate of patient safety and quality improvement in healthcare, became the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today without a bruising Senate confirmation process. [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, United States]
Article

Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission Elects Margaret Conn Himelfarb as Chair
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced that it has elected Margaret Conn Himelfarb as chair and Bowen P. Weisheit, Jr. as vice chair. [Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission, United States]
Article

Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee (CLIAC); Notice of Meeting [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States]
Link

Back to Top

GSK and Aptuit Finalize Agreement for Aptuit to Acquire GSK’s Research Operations in Italy
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Aptuit, Inc. announced that they have finalized an agreement for Aptuit to acquire operations at GSK’s Medicines Research Centre in Verona, Italy. [Aptuit, Inc. Press Release]
Article

Roche and IBM Collaborate to Develop Nanopore-Based DNA Sequencing Technology
Roche and IBM announced an agreement to develop a nanopore-based sequencer that will directly read and decode human DNA quickly and efficiently. [Roche Press Release]
Article

International Stem Cell Corporation and Sankara Nethralaya Launch Collaboration to Develop Stem Cell-Based Treatment for Corneal Vision Impairment
International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) and Sankara Nethralaya announced commencement of a collaboration to develop ISCO’s CytoCor™ stem cell-derived corneal tissue. [International Stem Cell Corporation Press Release]
Article

Adimab Announces Fifth Major Pharmaceutical Partnership in First Year After Launch of Novel Antibody Discovery Platform
Adimab, Inc. announced the initiation of a research collaboration with Novartis. [Adimab, Inc. Press Release]
Article

Phase III Meeting Scheduled with FDA Following Positive Results of Bone Marrow Regeneration Trial
Mesoblast Limited announced that based on positive results from its bone marrow transplant clinical trial, conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a formal meeting has been scheduled with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss a proposed Phase III clinical trial program. [PR Newswire]
Article

iPierian Closes $22 Million Series B Financing Led By Google Ventures
iPierian, Inc. announced the closing of a $22 million Series B equity financing. [iPierian, Inc. Press Release]
Article

Takeda Sets Aside 50 Billion Yen a Year for Product Acquisitions
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will set aside 50 billion yen ($569 million) annually for the next three years to buy new products. [Bloomberg Businessweek]
Article

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Awards Prestigious Fellowships to 18 Top Young Scientists
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.  The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. [Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Press Release]
Article

USF Issued Patent for Technology to Improve Treatment for Neurodegenerative Diseases
The University of South Florida’s (USF) Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair has been granted a patent for a cell transplantation procedure combining human umbilical cord blood cells and mannitol that may make a big difference in treating life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases. [University of South Florida Press Release]
Article

RegeneRx Awarded Australian Patent for New TB4 Applications
RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has received Notice of Acceptance from the Australian patent office for the use of Thymosin beta 4 (TB4), its analogues, isoforms and other derivatives in the treatment of infections and inflammatory disorders including colitis, ileitis, gastrointestinal ulcers and gingivitis, among others. [RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Press Release]
Article

Back to Top

Request for Information (RFI) on the National Institutes of Health Plan to Develop the Genetic Testing Registry; Notice
Link

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Notice of Closed Meeting
Link

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; Notice of Closed Meeting
Link

Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation; Notice of Meeting
Link

Back to Top

July 26-27, 2010: Blood Products Advisory Committee Meeting Waivers for Conflicts of Interest
Link

Roster of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee
Link

Back to Top

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (United States)

Genetic Testing Clamp Down
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told five genetic test manufacturers that their products need the agency's blessing before they can be sold to consumers.
Article

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Applications for Food and Drug Administration Approval to Market a New Drug: Patent Submission and Listing Requirements and Application of 30-Month Stays on Approval of Abbreviated New Drug Applications Certifying That a Patent Claiming a Drug Is Invalid or Will Not Be Infringed [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0174]
Link

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Focus Groups About Drug Products, as Used by the Food and Drug Administration [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0122]
Link

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment Request; Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products: Establishment Registration and Listing; Form FDA 3356; Eligibility Determination for Donors; and Current Good Tissue Practice [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0101]
Link

MEDICINES AND HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS REGULATORY AGENCY (United Kingdom)

MHRA Annual Report and Accounts 2009/10
The Annual Report and Accounts give a selective overview of the events that have had most impact on the Agency during the past year, highlighting the landmark events and the safety issues the Agency has had to deal with, including the rise and global spread of pandemic influenza H1N1.
Article

Back to Top