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Zika Virus Cloned for Drug, Vaccine Development

Aedes aegypti mosquito biting a human (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

17 May 2016. Researchers in Texas produced a genetically-engineered clone of the Zika virus to provide a testing platform for developers of diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments for the growing outbreak. The team from University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, led by geneticist . . . → Read More: Zika Virus Cloned for Drug, Vaccine Development

Biogen, UPenn Partner in $2B Gene Therapy Research Deal

Electrostatic image of adeno-associated virus (National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH)

16 May 2016. The biotechnology company Biogen is collaborating with University of Pennsylvania’s medical school on research into gene therapies and editing, with payments to the university totaling as much as $2 billion. The partnership will fund research in the labs . . . → Read More: Biogen, UPenn Partner in $2B Gene Therapy Research Deal

Smartphone App Helps Deal with Negative Moods

Screens from the Catch It app (University of Liverpool)

13 May 2016. A smartphone app created at two university psychology departments in the U.K. was shown to reduce the intensity of negative moods among its users. The team from University of Liverpool and University of Manchester reported its findings in the May 2016 . . . → Read More: Smartphone App Helps Deal with Negative Moods

Ingestible Robot Designed for Stomach Objects, Wounds

The unfolded origami robot with magnet, at right, folds to fit in the capsule, left. (Melanie Gonick, MIT)

13 May 2016. An engineering team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed a tiny robotic device for swallowing into the stomach to remove foreign objects and repair wounds. Researchers that include team members at University . . . → Read More: Ingestible Robot Designed for Stomach Objects, Wounds

Collaborations Study Microbiome in Cancer, Metabolic Disease

Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, in white, a type of bacteria living on mammalian cells in the gut (MIT Media Lab/NIH)

12 May 2016. The biopharmaceutical company Seres Therapeutics is sponsoring research into the role of gut microbes in cancer and metabolic disorders, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and University of Pennsylvania. Financial ]aspects of . . . → Read More: Collaborations Study Microbiome in Cancer, Metabolic Disease

Portable Genome Device to Combat Wildlife Trafficking

Leopard skin seized in wildlife trafficking raid in Ethiopia (USAID)

12 May 2016. A handheld device for analyzing DNA can be used on the scene to identify products with endangered wildlife, to help stop poachers and smugglers of those species. A team from University of Leicester in the U.K. that devised this solution . . . → Read More: Portable Genome Device to Combat Wildlife Trafficking

Chip Device Simulates Human Gut Interactions

Top view of HuMix device (University of Luxembourg)

11 May 2016. A device simulating the human intestine was shown in lab tests to generate similar responses to interactions between gut microbes and cells, as found in humans and animals. The HuMix system — short for Human Microbial Cross Talk — developed by researchers . . . → Read More: Chip Device Simulates Human Gut Interactions

Personalized Heart Model Devised for Treatment Decisions

Natalia Trayanova (Johns Hopkins University)

11 May 2016. A medical engineering team developed three-dimensional computer models of the heart that better predict heart rhythm problems requiring an implanted defibrillator than current guidelines. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University led by biomedical engineering professor Natalia Trayanova published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature . . . → Read More: Personalized Heart Model Devised for Treatment Decisions

Neurological Biotech Raises $65M in Venture Funds

Brain wiring illustration (Courtesy, Human Connectome Project and NIH)

10 May 2016. A biotechnology company designing treatments for neurological disorders caused by rigidity in nerve cell synapses, is raising $65 million in its first venture funding round. Aptinyx Inc. in Evanston, Illinois, is a spin-off enterprise that formed when Naurex Inc., another biotech . . . → Read More: Neurological Biotech Raises $65M in Venture Funds

Vaccine Shown to Give 1-Year Malaria Protection

Anopheles mosquito that spreads malaria parasite with blood from a human (William Collins, CDC)

10 May 2016. An early-stage clinical trial with healthy volunteers shows an experimental vaccine can protect against malaria infection for as long as 1 year. Results of the trial, conducted by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, . . . → Read More: Vaccine Shown to Give 1-Year Malaria Protection