Synopsis: Health:

#Cell Structure Discovery Advances Understanding Of Cancer Development, University of Warwick Study University of Warwick researchers have discovered a cell structure

which could help scientists understand why some cancers develop. For the first time a structure called he meshhas been identified

which is found to change in certain cancers, such as those of the breast and bladder.

associate professor and senior Cancer Research UK Fellow at the division of biomedical cell biology at Warwick Medical school.

and support from Cancer Research UK and North West Cancer Research. Dr Royle said: e had been looking in 2d

TACC3, is overproduced in certain cancers. When this situation was mimicked in the lab, the mesh and microtubules were altered

Dr Emma Smith, senior science communications officer at Cancer Research UK, said: roblems in cell division are common in cancer cells frequently end up with the wrong number of chromosomes.

and it might be a crucial insight into why this process becomes faulty in cancer

North West Cancer Research (NWCR) has funded the research as part of a collaborative project between the University of Warwick and the University of Liverpool,

which could potentially better inform future cancer therapies. s a charity we fund only the highest standard of research,

Warwick Medical school division of biomedical cell biology carries out fundamental molecular and cellular research into biomedical problems.

Major human diseases such as cancer inflammation, neurodegeneration and bacterial/viral infection are primarily diseases of cells.

Without a molecular understanding of the underlying cell biology, intelligent directed therapeutic intervention is impossible. The division research focuses on fundamental cell biology processes such as cell division and intracellular communication.

Hey, check out all the research scientist jobs. Post your resume today s

#Could Dissolvable Microneedles Replace Injected Vaccines? Osaka University Study Eric is terrified. He stands outside the clinic and takes a few deep breaths before walking slowly through the automatic doors.

The nurse reassures him as he takes a seat. But then he sees it: the needle.

The blood drains from his head and he faints. An estimated 1 in 5 people suffer from trypanophobia a fear of needles

and studies suggest that around 1 in 12 people cite fear as their reason for not getting vaccinated.

A new vaccine delivery system could solve this problem: dissolvable microneedle patches are simple to use, pain-free and effective.

Flu vaccines delivered using microneedles that dissolve in the skin can protect people against infection even better than the standard needle-delivered vaccine,

according to new research published in Biomaterials. The authors of the study, from Osaka University in Japan, say their dissolvable patch the only vaccination system of its kind could make vaccination easier, safer and less painful.

Downsizing to address the needle problem Most vaccines are injected under the skin or into the muscle using needles.

While this is an effective delivery method it requires medical personnel with technical skills and brings the risk of needle-related diseases and injuries.

It also induces crippling fear in many people, often causing them to avoid vaccination. The new microneedle patch is made of dissolvable material,

eliminating needle-related risks. It is also easy to use without the need for trained medical personnel,

making it ideal for use in developing countries, where healthcare resources are limited. ur novel transcutaneous vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch is the only application vaccination system that is readily adaptable for widespread practical use,

said Prof. Shinsaku Nakagawa one of the authors of the study and Professor of Biotechnology and Therapeutics at the Graduate school of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Osaka University. ecause the new patch is so easy to use,

we believe it will be particularly effective in supporting vaccination in developing countries. The new microneedle patch Microhyala is dissolvable in water.

The tiny needles are made of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance that cushions the joints. When the patch is applied like a plaster,

the needles pierce the top layer of skin without causing pain and dissolve into the body,

taking the vaccine with them. The researchers compared the new system to traditional needle delivery by vaccinating two groups of people against three strains of influenza:

A/H1n1, A/H3n2 and B. None of the subjects had a bad reaction to the vaccine,

showing that it is safe to use in humans. The patch was also effective: people given the vaccine using the microneedles had an immune reaction that was equal to

or stronger than those given the vaccine by injection. e were excited to see that our new microneedle patch is

just as effective as the needle-delivered flu vaccines, and in some cases even more effective, said Dr. Nakagawa. e have shown that the patch is safe and that it works well.

Since it is also painless and very easy for non-trained people to use, we think it could bring about a major change in the way we administer vaccines globally.

New approaches to vaccination According to the World health organization immunization prevents an estimated 2 million to 3 million deaths every year.

The continued threat of pandemics such as H1n1 swine flu and emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola makes vaccine development and mass vaccination a priority for global healthcare.

Delivery methods that do not require needles are safer for the person administering the vaccine,

more pleasant for the person receiving the vaccine, and potentially less expensive. The challenge is developing a delivery method that gets the vaccine into the body effectively.

Microneedles provide one such delivery method, and they can be made of various different materials. Previous research has evaluated the use of microneedles made of silicon or metal

but they were shown not to be safe. Microneedles made from these materials also run the risk of breaking off in the skin, leaving tiny fragments behind;

dissolvable patches eliminate this risk. For some diseases, vaccines may be more effective when theye absorbed through the mucous membranes in the nose.

For example, studies in mice have suggested that tuberculosis vaccines delivered through the noseare more effective than those that are injected,

as they target the respiratory system. Tuberculosis experts gathered in a workshop at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases at the National institutes of health in Bethesda, Maryland,

in April 2014 to discuss this approach. According to the meeting report, they mphasized the need for greater support to further explore the potential for this delivery methodology

either alone or as an adjunct to traditional parenteral methods of vaccine administration. e

#Bionic Hand Uses Smart Wires To Mimic Muscle fibers, Study Engineers in Germany have built a biologically inspired artificial hand with muscles made from bundles of'smart'wires.

#"Pill On A String"Could Help Spot Early Signs Of Cancer Of The Gullet, University of Cambridge Study A ill on a stringdeveloped by researchers at the University of Cambridge could help doctors detect oesophageal cancer cancer of the gullet at an early stage,

helping them overcome the problem of wide variation between biopsies, suggests research published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

The ytospongesits within a pill which, when swallowed, dissolves to reveal a sponge that scrapes off cells when withdrawn up the gullet.

It allows doctors to collect cells from all along the gullet whereas standard biopsies take individual point samples.

Oesophageal cancer is preceded often by Barrett oesophagus, a condition in which cells within the lining of the oesophagus begin to change shape

and can grow abnormally. The cellular changes are cause by acid and bile reflux when the stomach juices come back up the gullet.

Between one and five people in every 100 with Barrett's oesophagus go on to develop oesophageal cancer in their life-time,

a form of cancer that can be difficult to treat, particularly if not caught early enough.

At present, Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal cancer are diagnosed using biopsies which look for signs of dysplasia, the proliferation of abnormal cancer cells.

This is a subjective process, requiring a trained scientist to identify abnormalities. Understanding how oesophageal cancer develops

and the genetic mutations involved could help doctors catch the disease earlier, offering better treatment options for the patient.

An alternative way of spotting very early signs of oesophageal cancer would be to look for important genetic changes.

However, researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown that variations in mutations across the oesophagus mean that standard biopsies may miss cells with important mutations.

A sample was more likely to pick up key mutations if taken using the Cytosponge, developed by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald at the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit at the University of Cambridge. he trouble with Barrett oesophagus is that it looks bland

and might span over 10cm, explains Professor Fitzgerald. e created a map of mutations in a patient with the condition

and found that within this stretch, there is a great deal of variation amongst cells. Some might carry an important mutation,

If youe taking a biopsy, this relies on your hitting the right spot. Using the Cytosponge appears to remove some of this game of chance.

and oesophageal cancer samples taken at one point in time from 23 patients, as well as 73 samples taken over a three-year period from one patient with Barrett oesophagus.

for example from A c to a t that provided a ingerprintof the causes of the cancer. Similar work has been done previously in lung cancer,

and oesophageal cancer, suggest that these changes occur very early on the process. Even in areas of Barrett oesophagus without cancer, the researchers found a large number of mutations in their tissue on average 12,000 per person (compared to an average of 18,000 mutations within the cancer.

Many of these are likely to have been ystanders genetic mutations that occurred along the way but that were implicated not actually in cancer.

The researchers found that there appeared to be a tipping point, where a patient would go from having lots of individual mutations,

but no cancer, to a situation where large pieces of genetic information were being transferred not just between genes but between chromosomes.

e know very little about how you go from pre-cancer to cancer and this is particularly the case in oesophageal cancer.

Barrett oesophagus and the cancer share many mutations, but we are now a step closer to understanding

which are the important mutations that tip the condition over into a potentially deadly form of cancer.

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. The Cytosponge was trialled in patients at the NIHR Clinical Investigation Ward at the Cambridge Clinical Research Facility

#Smartphone-Based Device That Reads Medical Diagnostic Tests Quickly And Accurately Created, University of California,

or ELISA, is a diagnostic tool that identifies antigens such as viruses and bacteria in blood samples.

ELISA can detect a number of diseases, including HIV, West nile virus and Hepatitis b, and it is used widely in hospitals.

It can also be used to identify potential allergens in food, among other applications. A team of researchers from the California Nanosystems Institute at UCLA has developed a new mobile phone-based device that can read ELISA plates in the field with the same level of accuracy as the large machines normally found in clinical laboratories.

especially for administering medical tests that are done usually in a hospital or clinical laboratory, said Ozcan,

screening populations for particular diseases, or tracking vaccination campaigns in most resource-poor settings. It fantastic for an undergrad to be first author on the publication.

Traditional ELISA testing is performed with small transparent plates that resemble honeycombs, typically with 96 tiny wells. Samples are placed in the wells first,

followed by small amounts of fluid containing specific antibodies that bind to antigens in the samples.

These antibodies are linked to enzymes, so when a substance containing the enzyme substrate the molecule the enzyme acts upon is added,

and quantify any antigens that may be present. The new device which is created with a 3d printer

The ELISA tests included those for mumps, measles, and herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2. With a total of 571 patient samples used in the comparison,

the mobile platform achieved 99.6 percent accuracy in diagnosing mumps, 98.6 percent for measles, and 99.4 percent each for herpes simplex 1 and 2. ur team is focused on developing biomedical technologies that work with mobile platforms to assist with on-site testing

and health-care in disadvantaged or rural areas, Berg said. e are always looking toward the next innovation,

and are looking to adapt the basic design of this ELISA cellphone reader to create smartphone-based quantified readers for other important medical tests,

The UCLA team included researchers from electrical engineering, physics and astronomy, bioengineering, pathology and laboratory medicine,

and surgery, as well as the California Nanosystems Institute and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The other authors on the paper were UCLA graduate students Bingen Cortazar, Derek Tseng, Haydar Ozkan, Raymond Yan-Lok Chan, and Steve Feng;

postgraduate scholar Qingshan Wei; undergraduates Jordi Burbano and Qamar Farooki; and Michael Lewinski, an adjunct faculty in UCLA bioengineering department.

which the desired rate of molecule delivery could be tuned dynamically over time to achieve the optimal therapeutic outcome.

or the induction of mechanical stress all of which can change the properties of a particular hydrogel designed to be responsive to those triggers. hese experimental and theoretical results provide a new conceptual framework for liquid motion confined by soft,

says Jeffrey Karp, a bioengineer at Brigham and Women Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. ne of the greatest implications of the work is to track thousands of cells simultaneously with a single technique,

He cautions that the technique is not yet ready for therapeutic use. But eventually the modified cells could be used to locate target tissue,

or producing designer therapeutics--and perhaps one day even non-biological polymers. No one has developed ever something of this nature."

#Soon, a single flu shot may offer universal immunity! A single vaccine that immunizes against all types of influenza may soon be a reality,

after a team of scientists from Australia and China have discovered how the body's immunity cells remember flu viruses. The study published in the journal Nature Communications elaborated that body's CD8 cells can memorize strains of influenza

and destroy them. The teams from Australia's University of Melbourne and Shanghai's Fudan University had worked together during the first outbreak of avian flu in China in 2013.

Researchers said that the breakthrough could lead to the development of a vaccine that can fight all new influenza viruses. Professor Xu,

China, said this study would significantly enlighten T-cell based vaccine development and immune intervention during severe influenza infection in the future.

Professor Elizabeth Hartland, head of the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne added that the international collaboration has brought together the immunological expertise in Melbourne

"It exemplifies the approach we are taking at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity,

and 10 mg (lenvatinib mesylate, Lenvima) as a treatment for unresectable thyroid cancer in Japan on May 20, 2015.

Lenvima is the first molecular targeted treatment in Japan approved with an indication for unresectable thyroid cancer

which covers differentiated thyroid cancer as well as medullary thyroid carcinoma and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Discovered at Eisai's Tsukuba Research Laboratories

which are involved especially in tumor angiogenesis and proliferation of thyroid cancer. Furthermore, Lenvima has been confirmed through X-ray co-crystal structural analysis to demonstrate a new binding mode (Type V) to VEGFR2,

and received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in March 2015.

#Oncosil Medical introduces new device that treats cancer The global market for Pancreatic cancer is $1 billion,

and for HCC Liver Cancer an additional $1. 4 billionsingapore: Australia-based lifesciences company Oncosil Medical recently announced the commercialization of its device-Oncosil in the European union.

Oncosil is device that provides localized radiation treatment for cancer, and is the company's lead product candidate.

Oncosil, implantable nuclear medicine (radiotherapy) device, has been piloted successfully for treating pancreatic and liver cancer. The device was found to be safe and effective in laboratory studies

and has demonstrated clinically target tumor regression (tumour shrinkage) in both solid tumor indications of pancreatic and liver cancer.

We are excited very to be in the forefront of potentially a new radiation treatment for the dreaded disease of pancreatic and liver cancer."

"The company also announced the appointment of Professor Pierce Chow as chairman to lead primary liver cancer-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)- Scientific Advisory board d

#Re-engineered antibiotic could fight drug-resistant bacteria The US scientists have created a promising second-generation antibiotic to fight against the bacteria that commonly cause respiratory and other infections,

which also includes the sexually transmitted gonorrhea disease. Researchers have led by St jude Children's Research Hospital,

have developed the antibiotics by changing the chemical structure of Spectinomycin, an old and weak antibiotic

and children globally,"said Mr Richard Lee, corresponding author, St jude Children's Research Hospital. In the study, the scientists have constructed based on the research

The second-generation Spectinomycins demonstrated an increased in antibacterial activity against several other commonly caused respiratory infections such as Haemophilus influenza and Moraxella catarrhalis.

which are mostly responsible for the cases like Legionnaires'disease and other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia.

how Spectinomycin binds to the ribosomes of clinically important bacteria with a focus on producing compounds that would work on a broader field of disease-causing bacteria."

#Detecting potent tumors using a smartphone! Ms Maryam Sadeghi shows off an early version of Molescope (Picture courtesy:

an innovative hand-held tool that uses a smartphone to monitor skin for signs of cancer.

Once people take high-quality, high-resolution images of suspicious moles or skin abnormalities, they can archive images

#New device promises to detect cancer in 3 min! Singapore: Japanese researchers claim that they have developed a new device that can detect cancer from a drop of blood in just three minutes!

The device developed as a result of collaboration between Kobe-based medical device manufacturer My Tech researchers from Showa University uses a biochip,

a sensor comprising multiple tiny test sites. The chip, known as proteo, functions by attracting a faintly luminous substance found in cancer patients,

even when the cancer is at a very early stage.""We diagnosed without any errors

whether the tumor is benign or malignant in a study of 20 patients,"said Mr Yuki Hasegawa of My Tech.

Mr Hiroaki Ito, a researcher from Showa University, said the preliminary data suggests that the device could be more accurate and effective than existing blood tests."

"Currently, blood testing can only detect around 10 to 20 percent of cancers. In contrast, we are expecting to detect as much as 90 percent.""

""Most cancers are detectable only after they have developed for 15 to 20 years. Our technology allows diagnosing much earlier than that,

Vaccination will no longer be a painful process as researchers from Japan's Osaka University have developed a new technique that can deliver vaccines without needles.

The new method will encourage vaccination thus aiding in reducing global disease burden. The technique was found to be safe and effective in lab testssingapore:

Vaccination will no longer be a painful process as researchers from Japan's Osaka University have developed a new technique that can deliver vaccines without needles.

The new method will encourage vaccination thus aiding in reducing global disease burden. Through this technology, vaccines are delivered simply by laying a tiny patch onto a person's finger,

before it dissolves into their skin.""We were excited to see that our new microneedle patch is

just as effective as the needle-delivered flu vaccines, and in some cases even more effective,"said Professor Nakagawa, one of the authors of the Osaka University study.

The results of the trials are reported in a paper, linical study and stability assessment of a novel transcutaneous influenza vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch,

'published this month in Biomaterials. The authors further explained that the new delivery mechanism uses a dissolvable material,

meaning that when it is placed onto the skin it will dissolve straight away, not leaving any fragments behind,

#Approval for AIDS Vaccine at Canadian University The Food and Drug Administration has given Canadian researchers approval to test a vaccine for HIV/AIDS on humans.

a vaccine could be on the market in about five years. Similar to the approaches used to develop vaccines for polio, influenza, rabies and Hepatitis a,

the vaccine is the first based on a genetically modified, killed whole virus and is the only HIV vaccine currently under development in Canada,

and one of the only few in the world. Beginning next month a clinical trial on 40 HIV-positive volunteers will begin.

Following the trials, tests will begin on 6, 600 HIV-negative but high-risk category volunteers.

These tests will focus on immune responses and effectiveness of the vaccine in two more phases s

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota have modified genetically domestic cats to resist the feline form of AIDS.

A green fluorescent protein was added to a gene from rhesus macaque monkeys that is known to restrict the feline and human form of the disease.

The real news here is the potential for developing disease resistant genetic lines. And maybe just maybe we#re one step closer to effectively combating this terrible disease b

#State Deficits to Shrink & Taxes Drop-Good News for Biotech Forecasters at the National Conference of State Legislatures2011 Legislative Summit expect a dramatic reduction of state deficits in the coming years,

The farmers went through a tough spot about a year ago, fighting disease. They got their crops to where they were ready to pick.

researchers at the University Medical center Utrecht announced that they have identified a gene that puts women at higher risk for breast cancer.

Their findings are published in the New england Journal of Medicine. MEN1 is the acronym for Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1,

a rare hereditary disease in which a mutation of the MEN1 gene on chromosome 11 makes patients susceptible to developing both benign

and malignant tumors on hormone-producing organs such as the parathyroid gland, the pancreas and the pituitary gland. Animal studies previously linked this gene mutation with breast cancer;

Researchers concluded that the average age of diagnosis of breast cancer with this gene abnormality was 48 years old,

Besides skin cancer, it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer; breast cancer is also the 2nd deadliest type of cancer, right behind lung cancer.

About 85%of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. Even though this study does not offer a cure,

it may provide future scientists with information that can help defeat this devastating disease and it may provide patients the chance to perform early action treatment. t is important that women with the MEN1 syndrome now know that they have to be aware that they run the risk of developing breast cancer,

because early treatment is always better, said Prof. Dr. Elsken van der Wall, a medical oncologist working for the UMC Utrecht Cancer Center e

#A Better Way to Make Unnatural Amino acids Discovered by Yu Certain amino acids that are not found in nature are highly sought after by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

These nnaturalamino acids have traditionally been very difficult to synthesize, so a new and improved technique for doing

and drugs that inhibit the formation of amyloid aggregates seen in Alzheimer, Parkinson and other diseases.

#Uniting To Accelerate Pediatric Medicine Drug companies inherently absorb significant risk when developing compounds and biologics for clinical use.

For many indications, such as Alzheimer and autism, the need for new treatments is enormous, yet investment in these areas is declining due to recent high profile failures.

along with academic institutions and disease foundations. These collaborations are defined coming together, in re-competitivespaces, to generate tools

In the field of autism, stakeholders such as academic researchers, pharma companies, and patient advocacy groups are coming together to better understand the inner workings of the disease in hopes to increase the development and approval of effective therapeutics.

A unified effort in Europe is named underway EU-AIMS a $40 million multi-year collaborative program to develop the infrastructure underpinning new treatments for autism.

These are just two instances of industry coming together to achieve a mutually beneficial goal and tackle challenges that no one organization can tackle alone.

As an industry, pediatric medicine faces many similar challenges. Addressing chronic and complex diseases in kids can improve health outcomes,

quality of life and reduce future medical spending when these children enter their adult lives. Surprisingly, the NIH only allocates five percent of it $30 billion budget to pediatric research

and this has been flat for nearly 20 years (See this blog post)..Other challenges I see include low commercial investment in pediatric medicine and devices, development of effective therapeutics for neurodevelopmental disorders,

and clinical interpretation of genomic data into pediatric clinical care. At the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) at Boston Children, we have the honor

and challenge of turning the research discoveries and clinical innovations made by our scientists and clinicians into new products that can benefit our kids and the public.

But we cannot do it alone. TIDO extends significant effort to set up strategic alliances with pharma

and biotech companies to develop better treatments most recently with Shire around rare diseases. These alliances leverage Boston Children research expertise and companiesdevelopment and commercialization capabilities.

the Technology Development Fund is an internal funding mechanism set up by the hospital in 2009 that invests in

Boston Children is interested in breaking down the barriers that remain in pediatric medicine. We can only do that if the innovation community

This is why Boston Children is convening top thought leaders to address the toughest challenges in pediatric health care today.

The National Pediatric Innovation Summit, to be held in Boston on September 26 and 27, will bring together leading clinicians, scientists and leaders in industry, private equity,

and health care policy to engage in discussions collectively taking on problems that no single organization can solve alone.

Vertex and Johnson & johnson will interact with thought leaders from leading children hospitals in the US

and innovative solutions needed to tackle the toughest challenges in pediatric healthcare because the lives and well being of children all over the world is depending on us.

is the Executive director of Technology & Innovation Development Office and Managing Partner, Technology Development Fund at Boston Children Hospital.

The mission of the Technology and Innovation Development Office (TIDO) is to translate the excellence of the laboratory research and clinical care at Boston Children into lifesaving biomedical products, devices and procedures for the public benefit e

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