Applied Genetics News articles from August 2001

Applied Genetics News archives from August 2001

BASIC SCIENCE: Mice Regenerate Heart Tissue.
August 1, 2001... A particular strain of laboratory mice, MRL, has shown an amazing ability to heal surgical wounds. In the August 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Wistar Institute (3601 Spruce St., Philadelphia,...

Prions Beget More Prions.
August 1, 2001... Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, led by biology professor Susan Liebman, have made the intriguing finding that the presence of one prion protein can spark the formation of other unrelated prions. Their findings are reported...

GENOMICS: Kinase Linked to Childhood Leukemia.
August 1, 2001... In a paper published in the latest issue of Oncogene [(20), 2969- 3978), scientists from Parker Hughes Cancer Center (2665 Long Lake Rd., St. Paul, MN, 55113; Tel: 651/697-9228, Fax: 651/697-9228; Website: www.parkerhughes.org ) report that the...

Muscular Dystrophy Gene Identified.
August 1, 2001... University of Minnesota researchers Laura Ranum and John W. Day have located the gene on chromosome 3 that causes myotonic dystrophy Type 2 (DM2). The findings were reported in the August 3 issue of Science. Myotonic dystrophy (DM), the...

Silencing Daddy's X Chromosome.
August 1, 2001... A study authored by University of North Carolina researchers and published in the August issue of Nature Genetics demonstrates why the gene, eed, which keeps the paternal X chromosome inactive in female mouse embryos, is necessary for embryo...

DNA Analysis by Structure.
August 1, 2001... Scientists at Third Wave Technologies, Inc. (502 Rosa Rd., Madison, WI, 5371-1256; Tel: 608/273-8933; Website: www.twt.com) have demonstrated the ability to analyze genetic sequences based on their structure, a departure from conventional...

GENE THERAPY: Cell Cycle Inhibitor Prevents Restenosis.
August 1, 2001... An engineered cell cycle inhibitor fusion gene, p27/p16, has demonstrated potent inhibition of coronary artery occlusion resulting from restenosis, a complication associated with angioplasty treatment for coronary artery disease, in research...

ANTIBODIES: Antibody Suppresses Skin Hypersensitivity.
August 1, 2001... A human antibody generated and optimized by MorphoSys (Lena- Christ-Strasse, D-82152 Martinsied/Munich, Germany; Tel: + 49 (0)89 99927 0, Fax: +49 (0)89 89927 222) from its HuCAL library had significant in vivo efficacy in a transgenic animal...

Anti-Factor D Reduces Inflammation.
August 1, 2001... Tanox, Inc. (10301 Stella Link, Suite 110, Houston TX, 77025-5497; Tel: 713/664-2288, Fax: 713/664-8914; Website: www.tanox.com) with its collaborators at Baylor, Texas, Children's Hospital, and the Texas Heart Institute (Houston, TX) reported...

VACCINES AND ANTI-INFECTIVES Mice Immunized Against Alzheimer's.
August 1, 2001... NYU School of Medicine researchers have prevented the development of Alzheimer's disease in mice genetically engineered with the human gene that causes the disease using a new vaccine. The researchers believe that this new vaccine is safer than...

Chlamydia Vaccine Effective in Preclinicals.
August 1, 2001... Antex Biologics, Inc. (300 Professional Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20879; Tel: 301/590-0129, Fax: 301/590-0731) announced that immunization with its proprietary Chlamydia trachomatis vaccine has demonstrated protection against infertility in...

Fly Spit Vaccine for Leishmaniasis.
August 1, 2001... If you can't beat the parasite, attack the vector. This standard practice of public health, which usually involves insecticides, has been taken a step farther by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)....

Dendritic Cells for Cancer Vaccines.
August 1, 2001... Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (24 Frank Lloyd Wright Dr., P.O. Box 376, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106; Tel: 313/930-5555, Fax: 313/665- 0485) and BioWhittaker, Inc., a subsidiary of Cambrex Corp. (One Meadowlands Plaza, East Rutherford, NJ 07073; Tel:...

CELL THERAPY: Embryonic Stem Cells Look More Promising.
August 1, 2001... Researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have succeeded in growing the precursors of heart cells from human embryonic stems cells. The research, conducted by Lior Gepstein of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel...

Stem Cells from Fat.
August 1, 2001... The National Institutes of Health has awarded Artecel Sciences, Inc. (801 Capitola Dr., Suite 8, Durham, NC 27713; Tel: 800/431- 2210, or 919/433-1100, Fax: 919/433-1102) two Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants totaling $338,000 to...

Regenisis Wins Regeneration Patent.
August 1, 2001... Regenesis Biomedical, Inc. (1435 North Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85257; Tel: 480/970-4970, Fax: 480/970-8792;Website: www.regenesisbiomedical.com) has received two Notices of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office...

AG-BIO: How Budworms Resist Bt.
August 1, 2001... The August 3 issue of Science contains two papers on the mechanisms that insects use to develop resistance to the Bt toxins used in crop plants. Linda J. Gahan, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Clemson, and coauthors Fred Gould...

Stem Cells for Poultry Production.
August 1, 2001... The Republican Congress may have problems with human embryonic stem cells, but the Bush administration is granting money to develop the technology on behalf of chickens. Origen Therapeutics, Inc. (651 Gateway Blvd. No. 980, S. San Francisco, CA...

Pig Cloning Patent for Infigen.
August 1, 2001... Infigen, Inc. (1825 Infinity Dr., DeForest, WI 53532; Tel: 608/846-0500; Website: www.infigen.com) been awarded a major U.S. patent, entitled "Method of cloning porcine animals," covering the cloning of pigs using any porcine cell, including...

Protein Interactions Visualized in Plants.
August 1, 2001... In an article entitled "Direct Visualization of Protein Interactions in Plant Cells," published in the August issue of Nature Biotechnology, Normand Brisson, Stephen W. Michnick, and colleagues from the University of Montreal used...

Prion Removal Being Developed.
August 1, 2001... Genencor International (4 Cambridge Place, 1870 Winton Rd., Rochester, NY 14618; Tel: 716/256-5200, Fax: 716/244-9988; Website: www.genencor.com) and the U.K.'s Centre for Applied Microbiology & Research (CAMR) have signed an exclusive...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Cell Genesys Buys Calydon.
August 1, 2001... Cell Genesys, Inc. (342 Lakeside Dr., Foster City, CA 94404; Tel: 650/425-4400, Fax: 650/358-0803) has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Calydon, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA), a private biotechnology company focused on...

Coelacanth Swallowed by Lexicon Genetics.
August 1, 2001... Coelacanth Corp., a biotech firm named for a fish once thought extinct, has been acquired by Lexicon Genetics (4000 Research Forest Dr., Woodlands, TX 77381; Tel: 281/364-0100, or 800-578- 1972, Fax: 281/364-0155; Website: www.lexgen.com)....

MUC1 Licensed by Ilex Oncology.
August 1, 2001... ILEX Oncology, Inc. (11550 I.H. 10 West, Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78230; Tel: 210/949-8200, Fax: 210/949-8210; Website: www.ilexoncology.com) has entered into a worldwide, exclusive license with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard...

CALENDAR.
August 1, 2001... September 5-7, 2001. BioFuture Conference and Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Tel: 403/254-9222; Website: www.biofuture.org September 10-13, 2001. Beyond the Human Genome-SBS 7th Annual Conference and Exhibition, Baltimore, MD....