Archive for science news

Life sciences, January 2013: 1

January 1, 2013 at 4:55 am · Filed under biotechnology, life sciences, nanotechnology, science news ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Drug side effects

For Athletes, Risks From Ibuprofen Use
Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times — December 6, 2012

New techniques and materials

1,092 genomes and counting
Veronica Meade-Kelly, Broad Communications — November 15, 2012

A New (Old) Player in Cancer Metabolism
Sue McGreevey, Harvard Medical School news — December 6, 2012
Adapted from a Massachusetts General Hospital news release

Combination Therapy Combats Cancer
“Researchers report first success of targeted therapy in most common genetic subtype of non-small cell lung cancer”
Rob Levy, Harvard Medical School news — November 29, 2012
Adapted from a Dana-Farber news release

Gut bacteria may affect cardiovascular risk
Tina Hesman Saey, Science News — December 4, 2012

Life is Suite: Software apps help synthetic biologists work faster and better
Art Jahnke, Boston University — December 5, 2012

On the trail of cell navigation
Nadia Drake, Science News — September 10, 2011

Tissue engineering: Growing new organs, and more
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — December 14, 2012

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Life sciences, December 2012:1

December 7, 2012 at 4:12 am · Filed under biotechnology, life sciences, nanotechnology, science news ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Harvard scientists build tiny structures with DNA Legos
Carolyn Y. Johnson, Boston Globe — December 3, 2012

Laboratories Seek New Ways to look Inside
John Markoff, New York Times — October 8, 2012

Looking into the Matter
Elizabeth Dougherty, Harvard Medical news

More than a Machine
Elizabeth Cooney,Harvard Medical news, November 26, 2012

On the hunt for rare cancer cells
“Jellyfish-inspired device that rapidly and efficiently captures cancer cells from blood samples could enable better patient monitoring.”
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — November 12, 2012

Researchers grow cyborg tissues with embedded  nanoelectronics
Peter Reuell, Harvard Gazette, August 26, 2012

The music of the silks
David L. Chandler, MIT News Office, November 28, 2012

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Life sciences, November 2012:2

November 15, 2012 at 7:26 pm · Filed under biotechnology, life sciences, nanotechnology, science news ·Tagged , , , ,

Rare mutation found to increase Alzheimer’s risk
Gina Kolata, Boston Globe — November 15, 2012

Self-assembling DNA

Cancer-fighting Robots
Harvard Magazine, September — October 2012

Faster, Cheaper DNA Origami
Diana Gitig, BioTechniques — June 4, 2012

Researchers create self-assembling nanodevices that move and change shape on demand
Elizabeth Dougherty, Wyss Institute — June 20, 2010

Wyss Institute Develops New Nanodevice Manufacturing Strategy Using Self-Assembling DNA “Building Blocks”
Mary Tolikas, Wyss Institute — May 30, 2012

Helping children learn

Cuddle Your Kid!
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times — October 21, 2012

Farming without pesticides

A Simple Fix for Farming
Mark Bitmann, New York Times — October 19, 2012

Astronomy

Paintballs may deflect an incoming asteroid
Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office — October 26, 2012

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Life sciences, October 2012:2

October 17, 2012 at 4:59 pm · Filed under biotechnology, life sciences, nanotechnology, science news ·Tagged , , ,

Cellular Calls: Listening in on Body’s Protein “Chatter” May Lead to New Therapies
“Observing signaling molecules before they leave a cell could give researchers insights into how cells in our bodies influence one another”
Marissa Fessenden, Scientific American blogs — October 3, 2012

MIT team builds most complex synthetic biology circuit yet
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — October 7, 2012

Protein networks

See also “Network biology,” September 2:2 below

A (protein) social network
An interaction map of 5000 proteins in fruit fly cells was completed by the Artavanis-Tsakonis lab at Harvard Medical School
Courtney Humphries, Harvard Magazine, May-June 2012

Fly Paper: Mapping the Protein Interactions of Our Distant Relative
Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonis, YouTube talk

“Wired” tissue scaffolds

A heart of gold
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — September 26, 2011

Merging tissue and electronics
“New tissue scaffold could be used for drug development and implantable therapeutic devices”
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office —  August 27, 2012

Wired tissue brings promise of smart cells
“Nanoelectronic scaffold may be 3-D marvel”
Karen Weintraub, Boston Globe — October 15, 2012

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Life sciences, October 2012:1

October 8, 2012 at 2:31 am · Filed under biotechnology, cancer research, life sciences, science news ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Controlling behavior, remotely
“Researchers use precise lasers to manipulate neurons in worms’ brains”
Peter Reuell, Harvard Gazette, September 25, 2012

How Drug Pair Closed Cancer’s Alternate Route
“Combination of targeted treatment drugs delays resistance in melanoma patients”
Harvard Medical School
Sue McGreevey — October 1, 2012

Measuring the universe’s ‘exit door’
An international array of telescopes measures a black hole
Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office — September 27, 2012

Mouse stand-ins leading the way toward cures, treatment
The Takeaway radio show, John Hockenberry — September 27, 2012

Oscillating microscopic beads could be key to biolab on a chip
David L. Chandler, MIT News Office — September 26, 2012

Silk-Based Electronics Dissolve on Cue for Vanishing Medical Implants
Katherine Harmon, Scientific American blogs — September 27, 2012

Project ENCODE

Deciphering the language of transcription factors
Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office — September 10, 2012

Mapping a genetic world beyond genes
Project ENCODE, international effort
Haley Bridger, Broad Institute — September 5, 2012

Researchers identify biochemical functions for most of the human genome
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — September 5, 2012

Science policy

US election: Politicians should think like scientists
Nature 489, 493–494 (27 September 2012)

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Life sciences, September 2012:3

September 25, 2012 at 7:18 pm · Filed under biotechnology, cancer research, life sciences, science news ·Tagged , , , , ,

An Autoimmune Basis for Chronic Pain?
Harvard Neurodiscovery Center, Pain Research Forum

As told by the egg
“Fertilization from the female point of view”
Susan Gaidos — Science News, September 8, 2012

Cancer’s Fingerprint
“A stem cell signature across many cancers may guide therapeutic design”
Harvard Medical School
R. Alan Leo — September 14, 2012

Molecule battles drug-resistant cancer
from a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute news release

Natural killer T-cells guard against obesity
Harvard Medical School
Bonnie Prescott — September 13, 2012

Probing matters of the heart
“New study of stem cell differentiation could help researchers better understand the genetic basis of heart disease”
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office — September 14, 2012

Study Shows That Placebo Response Occurs at Nonconscious Level
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Bonnie Prescott — September 10, 2012

The nocebo effect: How health warnings cause health troubles
Chris Berdik — Boston Globe, September 9, 2012

Walking on water mystery solved
“Friction helps surface of cornstarch solution push back”
Devin Powell — Science News, August 25, 2012

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Life sciences, September 2012:2

September 17, 2012 at 3:47 am · Filed under biotechnology, cancer research, life sciences, science news

Airborne pollutants lead a double life
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
July 30, 2012

One molecule thick material has big advantages
David L. Chandler — MIT News Office, August 23, 2012

Reluctant electrons enable extraordinarily strong negative refraction
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
August 1, 2012

Upgrading Synthetic Biology’s Toolkit: New Method Could Enable Reprogramming of Mammalian Cells
Boston University
Mark Dwortzan — August 9, 2012

Network biology

Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (YouTube)
TEDMED 2012: Network medicine proposed to replace organ-based study of disease

Albert-Laszlo Barabasi Q&A at TEDMED 2012  (YouTube video)

Center for Cancer Systems Biology, Network Biology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Going viral: Proteins identify potential cancer-related genes
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Marc Vidal, study leader, July 30, 2012

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Life sciences, September 2012:1

September 7, 2012 at 3:36 am · Filed under biotechnology, cancer research, life sciences, science news

Blinding a CYCLOPS
Elizabeth Cooney — Broad Institute News, August 15, 2012
(See next article)

CYCLOPS Gene an Achilles’ Heel in tumors
Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Science, Health &Medicine
Robert Levy, August 16, 2012
(See preceding article)

New coating evicts biofilms for good
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
July 30, 2012

Synthetic future
Harvard Science, Life Sciences

Teaching a microbe to make fuel
David Chandler — MIT News Office, August 21, 2012

Turning on key enzyme blocks tumor formation
Anne Trafton — MIT News Office, August 27, 2012

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Life sciences, August 2012:1

August 23, 2012 at 11:02 pm · Filed under biotechnology, cancer research, life sciences, science news

Artificial jellyfish swims in a heartbeat
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
July 22, 2012

Astronomy: Dark matter filament illuminated
Devin Powell, Science News, August 11, 2012
After observing light distortion between clusters of galaxies, scientists now believe that a massive filament of dark matter connects galaxy clusters.

Cartilage creation
Nathan Seppa, Science News, August 11, 2012
Bioengineers are getting closer to cartilage regeneration as they discover naturally occurring proteins that can help turn a patient’s stem cells into cartilage.

Delivering on a promise
Elizabeth Cooney, Broad Institute blog, August 22, 2012
See also below: MIT News Office, “New nanoparticles shrink tumors in mice”

New nanoparticles shrink tumors in mice
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office, August 16, 2012
See also above: Broad Institute blog, “Delivering on a promise”

Simple mathematical computations underlie brain circuits
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office, August 9, 2012
To explore what mathematical predictions apply to neuron functioning in the brain, scientists:

  • Made two types of inhibitory neurons light sensitive.
  • Used calcium levels to measure activity in the target neurons.

When they shone light on the inhibitory neurons, the target cells were inhibited at rates that correspond to mathematical predictions.

Success of engineering tissue depends on where it’s grown
Anne Trafton, MIT News Office, August 15, 2012
Artificial tissue grown on 3D scaffolding for use as implants arranges itself throughout target cells and generates fewer inflammatory responses than if grown on 2D flat scaffolds.

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