You might expect the barrage of brilliant lab-on-a-cell-phone inventions that come out of the Ozcan Nano/Bio Photonics Lab at the University of California Los Angeles to eventually dwindle, or perhaps only leave us moderately impressed after a while, but that's not the case. Less than three weeks into 2013, the Ozcan Research Group published on their development of a new optical microscopy platform which uses liquid nanolenses that self-assemble around tiny objects (in the sub–100-nanometer range), allowing it to detect viruses and nanoparticles. That paper was published online in the journal Nature Photonics and was the subject of a recent UCLA research news release. Also this month, the Royal Society of Chemistry published the paper Cost-effective and Rapid Blood Analysis on a Cell-phone. And the international society for optics and photonics, SPIE, announced a new annual award for 2013: the Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award. One guess who its first recipient is? Not a shabby way to start the new year at all.
Recent Posts
Tags: 2014, CA, University of California Los Angeles, 2013, Photonics, Ozcan Nano/Bio Photonics Lab, Microscopy, Lab-on-a-chip Technology, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, LAVS, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase
With this winter's epic flu invasion maxing out emergency room space and leaving pharmacies without enough flu vaccine, influenza research is a hot topic in the news. Inquiring minds want to know: when will we have the tools to put this mutating foe out of commission once and for all? One very interesting approach to the problem of outsmarting the flu virus involves disrupting its timing by altering a critical protein it needs to exit the cell. At Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, microbiologist and virologist Benjamin R. tenOever recently published an article on his lab research into the molecular basis of virus pathogenicity in the journal Cell Reports. He was also interviewed by NPR just last week for their shots health news program, where he described the carefully-orchestrated maneuvering of the flu virus both into and out of the host cell by likening it to a bank robbery. If one part of the plan doesn't go off like clockwork, the gig is up.
Tags: 2014, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 2013, Northeast, Virology, influenza research, New York, MSSM, BioResearch Product Faire Event, NY, New York City, Life Science Technology, lab supplier, Mt. Sinai
The Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP) is a recently-formed NIH initiative to advance research into biomarkers for the disease in order to better understand its progress and develop treatments. Some funded projects will focus on statistical analysis tools and data sharing among researchers. Others will examine early clinical manifestations of PD in patients. Still more will involve lab studies, including identification of genetic biomarkers as well as antibodies in the blood and changes in body chemistry. All projects "must inform the etiology, pathogenesis or treatment of PD," according to grant program guidelines. Research supported by the PDBP is being carried out at the 11 Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research (logo right), directed by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) within the NIH.
Tags: 2014, 2013, Pennsylvania, Northeast, University of Pennsylvania, UPenn, Thomas Jefferson University, Parkinson's Disease Research, Biomarkers, Philadelphia, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Genomics, Neurology, NIH, Northeast Region, ThomJeff
Dr. Gary Michelson is a retired Los Angeles surgeon who made a lot of money ($1.35B) from a spinal surgical invention in 2005. Since then he's devoted himself and his considerable resources to philanthropy. One of his most passionate causes is reducing the rate of euthanasia for unwanted pets by promoting spaying and neutering, along with shelter adoption, training, and good vet care through the Los Angeles group Found Animals. Not content with the usual invasive practice of sterilizing pets, he also created the Michelson Prize and Grants to challenge research scientists to come up with a cheap, safe, and effective one-dose pill for cats and dogs to induce permanent infertility. The winner of the Michelson Prize in Reproductive Biology will take home $25M and the satisfaction of knowing that fewer pets will be put down because of overpopulation.
Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of Arizona, Northeast, University of Pennsylvania, UPenn, University of Southern California, vet care, veterinary research challenge, Northwest, crowdsourcing, Southwest, USC, Los Angeles, National Jewish Health, animal science, AZ, LAVS, Philadelphia, UAZ, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Denver, Front Line event, PA, CO, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, Tucson, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine, Dr. Gary Michelso, pets, spaying and neutering, NJH, UC Los Angeles
2012 was a big year for the science of snipping DNA to introduce genetic changes into a cell, also known as genome editing. Though Science magazine hailed two new techniques for selectively cutting and pasting DNA in the field of genome engineering as together constituting one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs of the year, those methods may already have been surpassed by researchers at the University of California Berkeley using RNA and a single protein. Faster, simpler, and cheaper, the UCB team led by Dr. Jennifer Doudna published initial results of their work genetically modifying bacteria using the RNA-based DNA cleavage technique last summer. The response from the the life science community was extremely positive, with reviews calling it a "tour de force" and a "a real hit," according to the latest press release. Now three more papers are coming out based on the work of the Doudna Lab showing that the RNA programming technique using a bacterial enzyme known as Cas9 is equally effective in making alterations to human genes.
Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of California Berkeley, AIDS Research, Molecular Engineering, gene therapy, Southwest, California, University of California, genetic engineering, Berkeley, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Harvard, genomics research, UC Berkeley, UCBerk
The southernmost tip of the great state of Texas is known as the Rio Grande Valley (see map below), and University of Texas Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa is campaigning hard for the establishment of a South Texas School of Medicine, to be part of a new regional University of Texas research campus. UT already has two smaller campuses in the Rio Grande Valley, in Edinburg and Brownsville; mid-way between those two border cities is Harlingen, which is currently home to a Regional Academic Health Center that, under the Cigarroa plan, would become a full-fledged medical school. The new UT university campus would incorporate both the Brownsville and Edinburg college campuses, but with greater resources available to strengthen its research capacity. UT System Board of Regents voted to approve both plans last month. The next step is to convince the state legislature to give its support.
Tags: 2014, 2013, University of Texas, Texas Medical Center, Texas, Southwest, UTAust, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, UTxSA, University of Texas Health Science Center, Austin, College Station, TAMU, tmc, BioResearch Product Faire Event, San Antonio, Houston, Front Line event, TX, Texas A&M, new facilities, Southwest Region
Neurobiology research has a long and storied history at Columbia University and its Medical School in New York, dating back to the groundbreaking work of American neurologist Harry Grundfest 60 years ago. 30 years ago Columbia became one of the first universities to bring together diverse, cross-disciplinary researchers in neighboring labs to study behavior at the cellular, molecular, and systems level. By 2004, when Columbia celebrated its 250th anniversary, university president Lee Bollinger (right) announced the formation of a Mind Brain Behavior Initiative to more productively bring scientists into an even more integrated research effort across not only the two existing New York City campuses, but with an anchor (and crossroads) at the new CU Manhattanville campus then in the active planning stages.
Tags: 2014, 2013, Northeast, New York, Columbia University, brain research, Neuroscience, Columbia, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Neurology, NY, New York City, Northeast Region, charitable giving
An historic collaboration between the University of California Davis and China's BGI, the world’s largest genomics organization, has dramatically increased the University's genome sequencing capabilities and promises to open up altogether new research opportunities in the life sciences community with genomic studies of plants, animals, humans and microbes. The new joint endeavor is called BGI@UC Davis and will benefit both UCD and China's first citizen-managed, non-profit research institution.
Tags: 2014, University of California Davis Medical Center, 2013, University of California Davis, New research facilities, Southwest, California, University of California, UCDMC, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Genomics, genomics research, Sacramento, Davis, Sacramento Campus, UCD
In 2002, entertainment mogul David Geffen gave an unrestricted gift of $200M to the University of Calfornia Los Angeles' School of Medicine, which was subsequently named the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) in recognition of his generosity. Now, Mr. Geffen has made a further gift of $100M to establish a medical scholarship fund that will offer full funding to the most qualified and promising medical students, whether they are pursuing the MD degree or the MD/PhD in UCLA's renowned Medical Scientist Training Program. As the aim of the scholarship program is to recruit the best students in the world to DGSOM, both American and international students are eligible. All costs including living expenses and supplies are covered by the award and are offered for all 4 years (or 8 in the combined MD/PhD scientist program).
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, California, 2012, Los Angeles, Funding, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, medical school, charitable giving
Rapamycin has been used as an effective immunosuppresant in organ transplantation for over a decade, but researchers continue to find other potential uses for the drug base, from treating cancer to prolonging aging, including staving off Alzheimer's. The success and promise of this anti-aging research carried out by University of Texas Health Science Center pharmacologist Randy Strong and colleagues has recently led to the announcement of a major biotech spin-off company, Rapamycin Holdings Inc., also based in San Antonio. The new company will pursue development and testing of rapamycin-related drugs based on UTHSC intellectual property, as well as produce enhanced rapamycin for the global research market--something UTHSC currently does. Rapamycin Holdings was formed with aid (and ongoing support) from the Texas Technology Development Center (T3DC), the Texas Research & Technology Foundation (TRTF), as well as other stakeholders, in order to commercialize the research technology and bring new drug treatments to patients.
Tags: Aging, University of Texas, Texas, 2012, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, UTxSA, San Antonio, Drug Development