Researchers from Rice University's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP), the radiology department at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are preparing to test a combined approach for diagnosing and treating pancreatic cancer with a specially engineered nanoparticle.

The five-year, preclinical testing program will be funded by a newly announced $1.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer program.

Researchers in India have demonstrated that producing nanoscopic crystals of a pharmaceutical product can allow the medication to be absorbed by the gut even if the drug is not soluble in water.

Tel Aviv University develops mini-gyroscopes to guide smartphones and medical equipment

Optical gyroscopes, also known as rotation sensors, are widely used as a navigational tool in vehicles from ships to airplanes, measuring the rotation rates of a vehicle on three axes to evaluate its exact position and orientation. Prof. Koby Scheuer of Tel Aviv University's School of Physical Engineering is now scaling down this crucial sensing technology for use in smartphones, medical equipment and more futuristic technologies.

A research team, co-headed by Dr. Woo Lee and Dr. Hongjun Wang of Stevens Institute of Technology, has published a paper describing a new method that generates three-dimensional (3D) tissue models for studying bacterial infection of orthopedic implants. Dr. Joung-Hyun Lee of Stevens, and Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan of the New Jersey Dental School, are co-authors of the research. Their paper, appearing in the journal Tissue Engineering, demonstrates a physiologically relevant approach for studying infection prevention strategies and emulating antibiotic delivery using 3D bone tissues cultured in microfluidic devices.

The enigmatic Möbius strip has long been an object of fascination, appearing in numerous works of art, most famously a woodcut by the Dutchman M.C. Escher, in which a tribe of ants traverses the form's single, never-ending surface.

Northwestern University researchers have taken another step towards realizing a new class of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enzyme mimics, opening the door for the development of highly sensitive chemical detection systems that go beyond nucleic acid targets.

A Case Western Reserve University researcher will receive a $2.3 million New Innovator Award today to further develop and broaden the uses of synthetic platelets and the technology that makes them work.

A team of researchers lead by Fatih M. Uckun, MD, PhD, of The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has determined that radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by selectively attacking a molecular target known as SYK tyrosine kinase.

Rice University physicist Dmitri Lapotko has demonstrated that plasmonic nanobubbles, generated around gold nanoparticles with a laser pulse, can detect and destroy cancer cells in vivo by creating tiny, shiny vapour bubbles that reveal the cells and selectively explode them.

Two UK companies have been awarded joint funding for a research project that could see significant advances in the quest to aid detection and eradication of Tuberculosis (TB), across the world.

The light, tickling tread of a pesky fly landing on your face may strike most of us as one of the most aggravating of life's small annoyances. But for scientists working to develop pressure sensors for artificial skin for use on prosthetic limbs or robots, skin sensitive enough to feel the tickle of fly feet would be a huge advance. Now Stanford researchers have built such a sensor.

The first advanced sensor assisted knee surgery in the world has been performed at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Through collaboration with OrthoSensor, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, the new sensor technology is designed to improve patient recovery and overall implant function.

Two new groundbreaking scientific papers by researchers at UC Santa Barbara demonstrate the synthesis of nanosize biological particles with the potential to fight cancer and other illnesses. The studies introduce new approaches that are considered "green" nanobiotechnology because they use no artificial compounds.

One of the most difficult aspects of working at the nanoscale is actually seeing the object being worked on. Biological structures like viruses, which are smaller than the wavelength of light, are invisible to standard optical microscopes and difficult to capture in their native form with other imaging techniques.

Scientists at the UK's National Physical Laboratory have developed a new strategy for quicker and more precise detection of biomarkers – proteins which indicate disease. The work could pave the way for new tools to detect early stages of Alzheimer's and cancer at the molecular level.

Ayusman Sen, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Penn State University, has been honored with the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Medal. Sen is only the second recipient of the medal, which is awarded exclusively to outstanding chemists of Indian origin who work outside of India.

In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the skull but atop the brain.

Glucose meters and the appropriate test strips for diabetics are expensive. This however might change, since scientists at the Institute of Printing Science and Technology (IDD) at TU Darmstadt are working on a sensor making the electronic devices considerably cheaper. The new sensor is not based on silicon as conducting material, but on plastics.

Marina Biotech, Inc., a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for patent application U.S. 11/745,003 broadly covering amphoteric liposomal formulations, including the Company's proprietary SMARTICLES® technology, for delivery of siRNAs and other compounds with therapeutic application.

Geospiza and Maryland-based SAIC-Frederick Inc. are collaborating to adapt Geospiza's software platform to a new generation of rapid, high-resolution gene sequencing technology to potentially accelerate cancer research and help develop new treatments.