Moon research to shed light on Earth’s development
29 May, 2012Researchers from Curtin University have received a three-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project grant to further investigate the early history of the moon. The work builds on previous uranium-lead dating of moon rocks from NASA’s Apollo 14 and 17 missions, adding samples from Apollo 12, 15 and 16.
Cancer treatment discovery opens tumours to immune cells
28 May, 2012Scientists at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) have made exciting progress in their quest to help patients fight cancer using the body’s own immune system.
An antidote to ageing
26 May, 2012Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered a series of biological events that implicate the stem cells’ surroundings, known as their ‘niche’, as the culprit in loss of stem cells due to ageing. Their findings have implications for treatment of age-related diseases and for the effectiveness of regenerative medicine.
Tropical fruit’s role as skin cancer weapon
22 May, 2012An exciting breakthrough on the potential anti-skin-cancer properties of the tropical fruit mangosteen has earned its researcher, Flinders University PhD candidate Jing Jing Wang, a seat in the finals of a prestigious medical prize.
Genetic safety in numbers, platypus study finds
22 May, 2012Platypuses on the Australian mainland and in Tasmania are fighting fit but those on small islands are at high risk of being wiped out from disease, according to a University of Sydney study.
The Hall effect: demonstrate relativistic effects on your mobile phone
21 May, 2012The relativistic Hall effect, describing objects rotating at speeds comparable with the speed of light, has now been reported. The work sheds light on aspects of fundamental physics, and you can demonstrate some aspects of this with your mobile phone.
‘Next generation’ cancer treatment ready for clinical trials
21 May, 2012A new class of anticancer drugs which control the growth and spread of cancers and do so with minimal side effects is being developed by researchers at the University of Sydney.
Build your own solar cells
18 May, 2012 by David L ChandlerPhotovoltaic panels made from plant material could become a cheap, easy alternative to traditional solar cells, according to MIT researcher Andreas Mershin.
Researchers find new atomic structures in metallic glasses
17 May, 2012Drawing on powerful computational tools and a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Iowa State University materials science and engineering researchers has discovered a new nanometre-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses.
Killing two birds with one stone: one fusion protein takes out multiple autoimmune targets
17 May, 2012 by Dina Rufo, GlobalDataRecently, Compugen, an Israel-based biopharmaceutical company with over 17 years of research experience, released animal model data from the company’s proprietary Protein Family Members Discovery Platform. This in-house, in silico bioinformatics system provides a predictive view of protein characteristics leading to gene and protein discovery.
Early biomarker for pancreatic cancer identified
17 May, 2012Following the discovery by Mayo Clinic scientists of biomarkers for prostate cancer, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have identified a new biomarker and therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, an often-fatal disease for which there is currently no reliable method for early detection or therapeutic intervention.
Biomarkers found for prostate cancer detection, recurrence
16 May, 2012Alterations to the ‘on-off’ switches of genes occur early in the development of prostate cancer and could be used as biomarkers to detect the disease months or even years earlier than current approaches, a Mayo Clinic study has found.
Designer medicines beat the ‘food factor’
16 May, 2012Researchers at the University of South Australia’s Ian Wark Research Institute and Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at Monash University have cracked a way to use innovative nanotechnologies to ensure disease-controlling drugs are absorbed in the body much more efficiently.
Bioluminescent technology for easy tracking of GM crops
15 May, 2012Research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Biotechnology shows that products from genetically modified crops can be identified at low concentration, using bioluminescent real time reporter (BART) technology and loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).
Bee research breakthrough might lead to artificial vision
14 May, 2012An international research breakthrough with bees means machines might soon be able to see almost as well as humans.
