Science Market Update

UMN Graduate Students Win $10K Prize For Biodegradable Foam

Posted by Sam Asher on Thu, Dec 17, 2015

To avoid clogging up our oceans and land space, companies and researchers have been trying for years to focus on producing biodegradable materials. We saw a University of Illinois team devise a method to convert plastic bags into biofuel just last year. Now a team of graduate students at the University of Minnesota has created a polyurethane foam that is biodegradable.

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Tags: University of Minnesota, 2015, MN, St. Paul, UMinn, BioResearch Product Faire

New $182.5M Facility at the University of Minnesota Underway

Posted by Jennifer Nieuwkerk on Wed, Feb 05, 2014

The University of Minnesota is partnering with Fairview Health Services to build a new $182.5 million outpatient care center. The new University of Minnesota facility is expected to be complete by early 2016 at the latest. One of the economic benefits of this new partnership is that University of Minnesota faculty physicians will also be able to share directly in the revenue of the center.

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Tags: 2014, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, Minneapolis, MN, new facilities, new facility, St. Paul

Minnesota Bacteria Eat Chlorine Waste

Posted by Sam Asher on Thu, Sep 05, 2013

When we jump into the swimming pool for some last-minute summer revelry, the worst part of getting out is the feeling of residual chlorine on our bodies. The environment doesn’t respond well to chlorine either- several synthetic chlorine-based compounds are toxic when released into nature and have taken part in the development of numerous superfund sites. Fortunately, a team from the University of Minnesota’s BioTechnology Institute is working on a way to clean up this chlorine, with help from some hungry bacteria.

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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Rochester, Mayo Clinic, University of Minneapolis, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Minneapolis, Front Line, St. Paul, St.Paul, UMinn, UMinnSP, RMN

Researchers at U of M Design Nicotine Vaccine

Posted by Sam Asher on Fri, Jul 05, 2013

Yesterday the police were on high alert, cracking down harder than ever on the sale, possession and use of illegal fireworks. But every day, several Americans light up something far more lethal. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and remains so dangerous largely due the addictive properties of nicotine. In an effort to curb that dependency, researchers from the University of Minnesota are developing a vaccine that will grant immunity to nicotine.

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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Minneapolis, MN, St. Paul, St.Paul, UMinn, UMinnSP, Twin Cities, U-M

Minnesota Researchers Discover Microbial Electron Traders

Posted by Sam Asher on Thu, May 09, 2013

As humans, we like to think of ourselves as superbly evolved, which is a completely valid standpoint if you place emphasis on things like consciousness and inventiveness. But our cohabitants of Earth have developed some impressive abilities of their own, many of which we can only barely understand. Take for example the bacteria that are shocking several researchers at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities lab with their unique ability to change the electrical state of metals.

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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Minneapolis, MN, Front Line, St. Paul, UMinn, UMinnSP

Minnesota Researchers Fight Cancer With Fungi

Posted by Sam Asher on Thu, Jan 10, 2013

While today’s advancements in biotechnology suggest that there’s nothing we can’t artificially produce, sometimes there’s just no substitute for nature’s own recipes. At least, that’s the philosophy behind the University of Minnesota’s Schmidt-Dannert Lab, whose aim is to harness compounds created in natural organisms like plants and fungi that cannot be produced by chemical means. Many of these compounds have beneficial properties that can be used in further research and drug production.

For example, take chloroplasts, the organelles that perform photosynthesis inside plant cells. They provide energy to plant cells when exposed to light. Animal cells don’t have chloroplasts, which means they’re missing out on a valuable energy source. The Schmidt-Dannert Lab, led by University of Minnesota professor Claudia Schmidt-Dannert, is working toward is creating solar-powered animal cells that are more productive and produce different sorts of organic materials.

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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota St. Paul, Fungi, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Biotechnology, Research, researchers, Minneapolis, lab, MN, Front Line, St. Paul, UMinn, UMinnSP, U-M, fight cancer

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